ITEM: |
INFORMATIONAL
ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS |
||||
|
|||||
21. |
CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR DECEMBER
2014 |
||||
|
|||||
Meeting Date: |
January 28, 2015 |
Budgeted: |
N/A |
||
|
|||||
From: |
David J. Stoldt, |
Program/ |
N/A |
||
|
General Manager |
Line Item No.: |
|||
|
|
|
|||
Prepared By: |
Beverly Chaney |
Cost Estimate: |
N/A |
||
|
|||||
General
Counsel Review: N/A |
|||||
Committee Recommendation: N/A |
|||||
CEQA Compliance: N/A |
|||||
AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW
CONDITIONS: Two weeks of
very wet weather in early December filled Los Padres Reservoir and rewetted the
lower Carmel River with the first significant flow in nearly two years (see the
USGS Near-Carmel Gage graph below). December’s
mean daily streamflow at the MPWMD Highway 1 gage (HW 1) ranged from 0 to 238
cubic-feet per second (cfs) and a total of 3,520 acre-feet of run-off.
Mean daily streamflow in
December at the District’s Carmel River at Sleepy Hollow Weir gaging station
ranged from 1.8 to 857 cfs, with a mean monthly flow of 120 cfs. During December,
8.46 inches of rainfall were recorded at California American Water’s (CAW) San
Clemente Dam (SCD). The rainfall total for WY 2015 (which started on
October 1, 2014) is 10.03 inches, or 148% of the long-term annual average of 6.76
inches to date.
CARMEL RIVER
LAGOON: On December 12, 2014, the
lagoon filled and opened to the sea for the first time since May 24, 2013. The
lagoon’s water-surface elevation (WSE) ranged from approximately 1.0 - 10.3
feet above mean sea level as the lagoon mouth opened and closed several times
throughout the month (see graph below).
ADULT STEELHEAD COUNTS: On December 5, fisheries staff set up the
adult fish counter, located in the San Clemente Dam fish ladder, and CAW opened
the ladder on December 12, 2014 as San Clemente Reservoir (SCR) began to spill
for the final time before its planned removal. During December, three adult steelhead were
counted, one resident fish on the 12th and two likely sea-run adults
on December 24th. Migrating
steelhead must now use the new bypass channel cut between the Carmel River side
and the San Clemente side of SCR. The
dam will be removed in 2015 and the reservoir, fish ladder and counter will be
decommissioned.
DIDSON CAMERA: In 2012, the
District received a grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
to purchase and operate a Dual Frequency Identification Sonar (DIDSON), a lens-based
sonar that makes almost-photographic images with sound in turbid water. For the third year the District is operating
the camera in the lower river to count migrating adult steelhead. This year the DIDSON started operating on
December 22, 2014. The data will be
analyzed and reported on at the end of the adult migration season next summer.
U:\staff\Boardpacket\2015\20150128\InfoItems\21\item21.docx