ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
18.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR JULY 2009
Meeting Date:			August 17, 2009	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			Darby Fuerst,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Cory Hamilton	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: N/A

AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW CONDITIONS: During July 2009, Carmel River streamflow conditions for fish migration were inadequate for both adults and smolts with intermittent flow to the lagoon. The current river front is just downstream of the California American Water (CAW) Pearce well. Juvenile fish rearing was adequate above the Narrows and becomes increasingly adverse downstream as flows continued to decline.

During July 2009, the mean daily streamflow recorded at the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District’s Carmel River at Sleepy Hollow Weir gaging station averaged 13.1 cubic feet per second (cfs) and ranged from 10 to 15 cfs. During July 2009, no measurable rainfall was recorded at CAW’s San Clemente Dam (SCD). The rainfall total for Water Year 2009 through July is 18.08 inches, which is 85% of the long-term average of 21.4 inches for the water year to date.

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON: During July 2009, the lagoon’s water surface elevation (WSE) ranged from approximately 4.61 to 7.88 feet above mean sea level (see graph below). Water quality in the lagoon was considered sub-optimum for steelhead rearing with water temperatures ranging from 66 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the vertical water column.

FISH RESCUE: On June 22, 2009, staff began fish rescues, starting at the Highway 1 Bridge and working up to CAW’s Manor well by the end of July. A total of 9,072 fish were rescued, 8,688 young-of-year, 279 yearlings and 105 mortalities. Staff brought 8,829 fish to the Sleepy Hollow Steelhead Rearing Facility and 138 were released into the Carmel River Lagoon.

SLEEPY HOLLOW STEELHEAD REARING FACILITY: CAW’s fishery consultant, Entrix, stocked one smolt into the facility from the San Clemente Dam Drawdown trapping operations. All fish brought into the facility go through a quarantine process, after which they are recounted and stocked into the rearing channel. During this process there are some numerical differences between the number of fish brought in for quarantine and the number of fish stocked into the channel. These differences represent fish that are consumed by other fish during transport and while in the quarantine tank, or numerical counting errors in the field during rescue. As of July 31, 2009, staff has stocked a total of 8,429 fish into the rearing channel, 8,216 young-of-year, 213 yearlings and 49 mortalities. The survival rate in the rearing channel for the month of July was 99.4%. There are also 306 fish being held in the quarantine tanks, for a total of 8,735 fish at the facility.

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