ITEM: |
INFORMATIONAL
ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS |
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23. |
CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER
2017 |
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Meeting Date: |
December 11, 2017 |
Budgeted: |
N/A |
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From: |
David J. Stoldt, |
Program/ |
N/A |
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General Manager |
Line Item No.: |
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Prepared By: |
Beverly Chaney |
Cost Estimate: |
N/A |
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General
Counsel Review: N/A |
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Committee Recommendation: N/A |
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CEQA Compliance: This action does not constitute a
project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines
section 15378. |
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AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW CONDITIONS: Carmel River flows remained fairly steady in November.
Conditions for juvenile steelhead migration were fair while rearing conditions
were good to fair. Los Padres Dam (LPD) stopped spilling on August 2nd and releases from Los Padres Reservoir
were increased in November by 1-2 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) to 14-16 cfs. The
reservoir elevation was 1,010 feet on November 29 (spills at ~1,040 feet).
Mean daily streamflow at the Sleepy Hollow Weir ranged from 18 to
22 cfs (monthly mean 19.8 cfs) resulting in ~1,179 acre-feet (AF) of
runoff. Mean daily streamflow at the Highway 1 gage ranged from 6.9 to 12 cfs
(monthly mean 10.5 cfs), resulting in ~625 AF of runoff.
There were 0.82 inches of rainfall in November as recorded at
Cal-Am’s San Clemente gauge. The rainfall total for WY 2018 (which started on
October 1, 2017) is 0.97 inches, or 34% of the long-term year-to-date average
of 2.87 inches.
CARMEL RIVER
LAGOON: During November
the lagoon mouth remained closed and the water surface elevation (WSE) gradually
rose from 10.5 to 12 feet above mean-sea-level as higher seasonal inflow begins
to fill the lagoon (see graph below).
Surface water-quality
was sampled twice in November (3rd and 13th). The
salinity, DO and temperature all improved later in the month with generally
excellent steelhead rearing conditions down to 1.5 meters depth.
FALL FIELD SURVEYS:
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District Fisheries staff,
in partnership with National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) and California Department
of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) staff, completed ~34 Carmel River watershed juvenile
steelhead population surveys between Highway 1 and Carmel River Bluff Camp in
the Los Padres Wilderness, along with several tributaries. All fish larger than
65 mm were tagged.
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Substrate size and embeddedness
surveys were completed at 11 sites.
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Bioassessment surveys were completed at seven sites using the state’s SWAMP
protocol (surface water ambient monitoring program) to look at the health of
the benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) assemblages in the Carmel River. BMI are a
major food source for steelhead.
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Results and discussion
will be available in the MPWMD 2017-18 Annual Mitigation Report.
SLEEPY HOLLOW STEELHEAD REARING FACILITY:
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Construction was
completed on the rearing channel repair project. Scardina Builders, Inc.
replaced the redwood planking along the top edge of the channel with new boards
and repaired the bird netting and framework over the rearing channel from
winter storm damage.
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On November 7, District
fisheries and engineering staff hosted a productive site tour and discussion
session with approximately 20 representatives from regulatory agencies (NMFS,
CDFW, State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) and various local fisherman’s groups
(CRSA, TU) regarding the District’s proposed intake system retrofit project. All
groups were in support of the project. The SCC Board approved the funding for
the intake project at their November 30, 2017 meeting. Staff hopes to start the project in mid-2018.
U:\staff\Boardpacket\2017\20171211\InformationalItems\23\Item-23.docx