ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
25.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR MARCH 2018
Meeting Date:			April 16, 2018	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: This action does not constitute a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378.

AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW CONDITIONS:  Following five dry fall and winter months, Los Padres Reservoir finally spilled on March 2, 2018. Several weeks of wet March weather brought peak flows up to ~3,000 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) in the lower river, creating excellent migration and rearing conditions for both adult and juvenile steelhead throughout much of the watershed.

Mean daily streamflow at the Sleepy Hollow Weir ranged from 62 to 1,890 cfs (monthly mean 297 cfs) resulting in 18,290 acre-feet (AF) of runoff, while mean daily streamflow at the Highway 1 gage ranged from 22 to 1,160 cfs (monthly mean 245 cfs), resulting in 15,040 AF of runoff.

There were 5.99 inches of rainfall in March as recorded at Cal-Am’s San Clemente gauge, nearly twice the long term monthly average of 3.28 inches. The rainfall total for WY 2018 (which started on October 1, 2017) is 12.07 inches, or 67% of the long-term year-to-date average of 18.83 inches. 

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON:  The lagoon was opened through an outlet channel by the county on January 9 and again on January 21 after waves rebuilt the sandbar. After a period of opening and closing with the tides, the mouth closed on February 11 for the remainder of the month, slowing filling to 11.5 feet above mean-sea-level before breaking open on March 2 with the high river flows (see graph below).

Water quality depth-profiles were conducted at five sites on March 12 while the lagoon mouth was open and inflow was 72 cfs. Salinity level varied with depth (1-25 ppt), temperature ranged from (54-61 degrees F), and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were good throughout the lagoon (4-10 mg/l) resulting in “excellent” steelhead rearing conditions above the 0.75-meter halocline, and generally “good” conditions in deeper water.

LIFE CYCLE MONITORING:

Los Padres Dam Adult Counts - Cal-Am maintains a fish ladder and trap at the Los Padres Dam site. All adult steelhead captured in the trap are trucked to the reservoir and released. As of March 31, six sea-run adult steelhead and six resident adult trout have been captured and moved above the dam. All fish captured in the trap since March 1 are now scanned for the presence of tags. So far, there have been no tagged fish. The downstream smolt bypass facility was activated on February 8^th.

Redd Surveys – Staff has been spot checking for redds and spawning activity and plans to conduct a thorough redd survey once flows drop low enough to safely walk the river.

Rescues – Staff began monitoring the lower tributaries for fish that may need rescuing once the dry-back begins.

Tagging - District staff is currently operating four Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag arrays on the Carmel River in a partnership between the District and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Data is being collected for future analysis and reporting.

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