ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
30.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR MARCH 2019
Meeting Date:			April 15, 2019	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:   Though less dramatic than February, wet weather continued in March 2019 and streamflow remained high. Upstream migration conditions for adult steelhead were excellent. Downstream migration and rearing conditions for smolts and juvenile steelhead were also excellent throughout the watershed. 

Mean daily streamflow at the Sleepy Hollow Weir ranged from 215 to 1,030 cfs (monthly mean 519 cfs) resulting in 31,910 acre-feet (AF) of runoff. Mean daily streamflow at the Highway 1 gage ranged from 285 to 1,280 cfs (monthly mean 681 cfs) resulting in 41,890 acre-feet (AF) of runoff.

There were 3.19 inches of rainfall in March as recorded at the San Clemente gauge. The rainfall total for WY 2019 (which started on October 1, 2018) is 28.46 inches, or 151% of the long-term year-to-date average of 18.88 inches. 

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. Most fish are now being tagged by NMFS staff before being released into LPR.

The first sea-run adult steelhead arrived at the trap on January 16, 2019 and as of March 31, 50 adults (18 males/32 females) have been captured and translocated above the dam. Late-March return numbers were much higher than in February as river flows returned to more normal levels under 300 cfs.

The downstream smolt bypass facility was activated in early January.

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON:  The lagoon mouth opened for the season on January 6, 2019. In March the WSE ranged from approximately 4.8 to 9.9 feet due primarily to changes in tidal and wave action (North American Vertical Datum of 1988; NAVD 88) (see graph below).

Water quality depth-profiles were conducted at five sites on March 25, 2019 while the lagoon mouth was open, the water surface elevation was ~6 feet, and river inflow was 357 cfs. Steelhead rearing and migration conditions were generally “good to excellent”. Throughout the lagoon, salinity was low ranging from 0.1-12 ppt (higher below 1.5m depth), dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were variable at 4-11mg/l, and water temperatures remained cool, ranging from 52-57 degrees F.  

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. 

U:\staff\Boardpacket\2019\20190415\InfoItems\30\Item-30.docx