ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
19.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT
Meeting Date:			January 27, 2005	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David A. Berger,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Beverly Chaney/Dave Dettman	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: N/A

AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW CONDITIONS: During December 2004, Carmel River streamflow conditions were poor to excellent for juvenile steelhead rearing, depending on the reach. During December, the river advanced from Cal-Am’s Cypress Well (RM 5.4) to Via Mallorca Road (RM 3.24) by December 26, 2004. Heavy rain the last week of the month raised the mean daily flow to the fourth highest on record for December and the river reached the lagoon on December 28, 2004. The December mean daily streamflow recorded at the District’s Carmel River Sleepy Hollow Weir gaging station averaged 120 cubic feet per second (cfs) and ranged from 17 to 1,720 cfs. The estimated peak storm flow at this site was 2,324 cfs on December 31. The estimated peaks at Don Juan Bridge and Highway 1 Bridge were 3,070 cfs and 2,180 cfs, respectively.

In December 2004, 6.87 inches of rainfall were recorded by Cal-Am at San Clemente Dam (SCD), about 175% of the long term December average of 3.91 inches at this site. For Water Year (WY) 2004-2005, rainfall totaled 11.9 inches through December or 75% above the accumulated monthly average of 6.8 inches. October’s rainfall total was the highest in over 82 years and December’s was the highest since 1997.

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON: The Carmel River Lagoon mouth was closed throughout most of December with the water surface elevation (WSE) staying near 6.0 feet above sea level, as shown below. High river flows raised the WSE to approximately 10.50 feet on December 30, 2004, causing Monterey County Public Works crews to breach the sand bar in two locations, consequently lowering the lagoon WSE to approximately 4.5 feet in early January 2005.

Carmel River Lagoon Water Surface Elevation (feet NGVD) – December 2004

SLEEPY HOLLOW FISH REARING FACILITY: Staff began stocking fish at the Sleepy Hollow Steelhead Rearing Facility (Facility) on May 11, 2004. A total of 16,137 fish was stocked in 2004, including 15,481 young-of-the-year (yoy) and 656 yearlings.

Staff began releasing fish from the Facility on November 9, 2004. On December 13, 2004, staff released the last of the fish from the rearing channel back into the Carmel River and shut the Facility down for the winter.

All released fish were in excellent physical condition, and many had grown quite large. The overall survival rate of fish held at the Facility in 2004 was approximately 42%. This is a very favorable result when compared to the survival of wild fish in the lower Carmel River and shows that the combination of the cooling tower, quarantine protocol, feeding regime, and nature-like habitat in the rearing channel is successful in rearing wild-caught juvenile steelhead.

The percentage of fish that died from disease, stress, or handling was very low in 2004 (4.6%), especially when compared to the 2003 results (25%). Conversely, the percentage of unaccounted-for-fish, particularly in the rearing channel, was greater in 2004 (52%) than it was in 2003 (30%). Unaccounted-for-fish are recorded as mortalities and are most likely due to the disparity in growth of some individual fish, which reach smolt size, or greater, approximately 6-14 inches, while other fish remain small. It appears that the larger fish reduce overall survival by preying on smaller juvenile steelhead in the channel. Also, a larger number of very small YOY fish than usual were rescued in 2004, and these fish are easily preyed on by larger, more aggressive steelhead. Removing these large fish from the rearing channel is extremely difficult due to the boulder and log habitat there, and the fact that staff tried to reduce handling stress as much as possible to keep the injury and infection rates low.

The final 2004 results are shown below for fish held in four 8-foot diameter quarantine tanks (QT-1,2,3,4), and the YOY fish in the rearing channel.

SHSRF Fish Summary - May 11 to December 13, 2004
Tank #	# Fish Added	# Morts	Unaccounted For	Total Released	% Survival	Notes
QT-1	96	11	0	85	88.5	1+ fish rescued after 8/15/04
T3/QT-2	401	58	7	117	29.2	1+ Survivors from Tank 3
QT-3	163	10	25	128	78.2	1+ fish rescued 7/7 – 7/23/04
QT-4	596	90	249	257	43.1	Small YOY rescued Aug/Sept
R C	14,993	581	8,111	6,307	42.1	YOY (2 – 14” FL)
Totals	16,249	750	8,392	6,894	42.4
Unaccounted-for-fish were most likely eaten by other larger fish. Approximately twelve “super grower” YOY fish were found in the rearing channel in December. These fish were up to 14” long (fork length) and were capable of eating many small YOY fish over the six-month period.

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1/20/2005 4:55 PM