ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
18.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2018
Meeting Date:			December 17, 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:  A storm system in late November brought Los Padres Reservoir’s (LPR) water surface elevation up 8 feet to 1,026.70 feet (~1,040’ is spilling) (1,083.7 acre-feet storage). The river front started to advance in the lower valley reaching the Cypress Well area (river mile 5.4). Rearing conditions for juvenile steelhead are fair to good above Schulte Bridge. All lower valley tributaries remain dry at the confluence.

Mean daily streamflow at the Sleepy Hollow Weir ranged from 6.9 to 40 cfs (monthly mean 10.7 cfs) resulting in 639 acre-feet (AF) of runoff, while it remained dry at the Highway 1 gage.

There were 1.89 inches of rainfall in November as recorded at Cal-Am’s San Clemente gauge (4.68 inches at LPR). The rainfall total for WY 2019 (which started on October 1, 2018) is 2.21 inches, or 77% of the long-term year-to-date average of 2.87 inches. 

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON:  The lagoon mouth is closed and the water surface elevation rose from 6.5 to 9.75 feet (North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) due primarily to local runoff and seawater overtopping the beach berm (see graph below).

Water quality depth-profiles were conducted at five sites on November 30 while the lagoon was closed and no river inflow. The water surface elevation was 9.75 feet. Steelhead rearing conditions near the surface were fair, but conditions generally worsened in deeper water. Salinity ranged from 5-28 ppt, water temperatures were much lower this month, ranging from 56-61 degrees F, and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were 3-10 mg/l.  

SLEEPY HOLLOW STEELHEAD REARING FACILITY: General contractor Mercer-Fraser Company of Eureka, CA, was hired for the Intake Upgrade Project and started construction in September on the $2 million project. The main features of the project include installing a new intake structure that can withstand flood and drought conditions as well as the increased bedload from the San Clemente Dam removal project two years ago, and a new Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) that can be operated in times of low flow or high turbidity to keep the fish healthy. November work included completion of the intake system, installing new piping and electrical conduits, and pouring the new concrete pad for the cooling tower and degasser.

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