| Purpose: |
Potential routes to spawning habitats for migratory fish such as the Central Valley steelhead are believed to have been historically unhindered in the San Joaquin River before completion of the Friant Dam. Although little detailed information on steelhead distribution and abundance in the San Joaquin River is available (McEwan 2001, Lindley et al. 2006), steelhead in the Klamath River Basin typically overlapped with distributions of Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) though steelhead may distribute further upstream (Voight and Gale 1998, as cited in McEwan 2001). Therefore, steelhead may have spawned at least as far upstream as the natural barrier located at the present-day site of Mammoth Pool and the upper reaches of San Joaquin River tributaries. Modeling of potential steelhead habitat by Lindley et al. (2006) suggests that a portion of the upper San Joaquin River basin historically supported an independent steelhead population. However, much of the habitat downstream from this population's modeled distribution may have been unsuitable for rearing because of high summer water temperatures. Lindley et al. (2006) concluded that suitable steelhead habitat existed historically in all major San Joaquin River tributaries. Additionally, steelhead are historically documented in the Tuolumne and Kings River systems (McEwan 2001).
Steelhead abundance and distribution in the San Joaquin River basin have substantially decreased (McEwan 2001), and steelhead have been extirpated from the Restoration Area of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program since the construction of Friant Dam. Based on their review of factors contributing to steelhead declines in the Central Valley, McEwan and Jackson (1996) concluded that basin-wide population declines were related to water development and flow management that resulted in habitat loss. Dams have blocked access to historical spawning and rearing habitat upstream, thus forcing steelhead to spawn and rear in the lower portion of the rivers where water temperatures are often high enough to be lethal (Yoshiyama et al. 1996, McEwan 2001, Lindley et al. 2006). However, steelhead continue to persist in low numbers in San Joaquin tributaries downstream of the Restoration Area (McEwan 2001, Zimmerman et al. 2008).
The Central Valley Steelhead Distinct Population Segment (DPS) includes naturally spawning populations of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and their progeny, in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries and is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act; 61 FR 4722 (NMFS 2005); tributaries include those that drain the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (i.e., Mokelumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Chowchilla, Fresno, upper San Joaquin, Kings, Kaweah, and Kern Rivers, and Caliente Creek; NMFS 2009). Currently, CV steelhead DPS critical habitat extends upstream on the San Joaquin River to the confluence with the Merced River (NMFS 2011). According to Eilers et al. (2010), CV steelhead are currently extirpated from all waters upstream of the Merced-San Joaquin River confluence. However, irrigation return and Restoration flows could attract adult steelhead into the Restoration Area. Attracted steelhead would not have access to appropriate spawning habitat due to a number of impassable barriers and risk stranding. During the ESA consultation process with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for the Program, the Bureau of Reclamation did not believe that the impacts of the Program would affect steelhead and thus did not request incidental take for steelhead. Instead, Reclamation proposed to implement a steelhead monitoring plan in order to demonstrate whether steelhead are using the lower Restoration Area. The proposed steelhead monitoring plan will be implemented in accordance with the 2012 SJRRP NMFS BO.
Two to three year-old Central Valley steelhead generally migrate to freshwater (Reynolds 1993), and occurrence of adults in the San Joaquin River range between July and April of the following year, but peaks in January (CDFG 2007) when small streams and tributaries are cool and well- oxygenated (Williams 2006). Unlike other salmonids which can only spawn once before death, a percentage of steelhead population (17.2%) in California streams can return to the ocean and migrate back upstream to spawn again in subsequent years (Shapovalov and Taft 1954).
Because Central Valley steelhead are thought to be extirpated from the Restoration Area, and none have been recovered in previous study years, it is anticipated that no steelhead will be recovered during these efforts. However, ancillary data that will be collected is valuable in providing foundational baseline information of fish community assemblages and native fishes for downstream reaches of the Restoration Area. Continued monitoring of adult Central Valley steelhead migration in the Restoration Area provides important information regarding this species' distribution. This San Joaquin River Restoration Program's Steelhead Monitoring Plan will also provide valuable information on the most southern extent of Central Valley Steelhead to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife comprehensive monitoring plan for steelhead in the California Central Valley. Monitoring of the San Joaquin River upstream of the Merced River confluence will provide data necessary to help assess the recovery of Central Valley Steelhead by determining its distribution, abundance, and populations trends. The objectives of the study are to: 1) Monitor for adult Central Valley Steelhead on the wetted sections of the San Joaquin River below Mendota Dam (or lower, depending on passage conditions) to the Merced River confluence, and 2) Relocate Central Valley steelhead, in the event of a capture, to more suitable habitat below the confluence with the Merced River. Relocation of Central Valley Steelhead caught within the Restoration Area to a release location downstream of the Merced River confluence was initially requested by NMFS as there is currently no accessible spawning habitat due to impassable barriers including seasonally dry riverbed and false migratory pathways from agricultural and Refuge wetland effluents. The elevated stranding and entrainment risk due to fluctuating water conditions along with potentially high water temperatures may compromise the survival of Central Valley Steelhead within the Restoration Area until passage and entrainment issues are alleviated. Relocation of fish caught within the Restoration Area would save them from entrainment in areas that do not have suitable spawning habitat and allow them to continue their migration to potentially suitable spawning habitat on other San Joaquin River tributaries downstream of the Restoration Area.
There have been no observed Spring-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) thus far in the Restoration Program. In 2016, there was potential that two and three year old adult Spring-run Chinook salmon would have returned to the San Joaquin River from Restoration Program smolt releases. There is no known information on run timing for both Steelhead and Spring-run Chinook salmon on the upper San Joaquin, but it is believed that there may be some overlap in upstream migration to spawning areas for both salmonids in late-February, March and April. It is anticipated that adult steelhead will migrate through the San Joaquin River near the confluence of the Merced (beginning of Restoration Area) in December–April and Spring-run Chinook salmon from March–May. Because spring-run Chinook may be encountered during this effort, some take of spring-run is included in this permit. Because spring-run are a non-essential experimental population in the sampling area, take is requested for tracking purposes only. The post capture handling of spring-run Chinook salmon is covered under 10(a)(1)(A) permit #17781. High water temperatures and low flows may restrict movement of salmonids into the San Joaquin upstream of the Merced River confluence in June and July. The San Joaquin River Restoration Program under 10(a)(1)(A) permit #17781 is authorized to monitor spring-run Chinook Salmon using fyke nets, weirs, and sampling with a Vaki Riverwatcher on the San Joaquin River from the confluence of the Merced River to Sack Dam during February through August. Fyke nets or temporary weirs with electronic counting devices (e.g., Vaki) attached will be used to evaluate the distribution and abundance of adult spring-run Chinook salmon returning to the San Joaquin River upstream of the confluence to the Merced River to Sack Dam. Trapping (Fyke Net/Weir) would only occur if the 7-day mean daily water temperature at the capture site and the release location is below the upper thermal limit of 23.1°C (73.6°F) but preferably below 20°C (68°F). A fyke net or temporary weir with a Vaki Unit will be placed near the Hill's Ferry Barrier area and will be checked or maintained daily or as needed. Fish counted by the Vaki Unit will only be observed by the device as they pass through an opened portion of the fyke net or temporary weir, and will not be handled. |
| Description: |
Flows could attract adult steelhead into the San Joaquin River Restoration Area and attracted fish would not have access to appropriate spawning habitat due to a number of impassable barriers. The Bureau of Reclamation is implementing a steelhead monitoring and detection plan (SMP) for the SJR, upstream of the confluence with the Merced River, that, in the event of a capture, would result in in recording and subsequent transportation of the fish downstream of the Restoration Area. The Steelhead Monitoring Plan is regulatory requirement triggered when Friant Dam flows reach the confluence with the Merced River. During the ESA consultation process with NMFS for the Program, Reclamation did not believe that the impacts of the Program would affect steelhead and thus did not request ESA coverage for steelhead. Instead, Reclamation proposed to implement a steelhead monitoring plan in order to demonstrate whether steelhead were using the lower Restoration Area or not. The thought being that if steelhead were detected, then Reclamation would reinitiate ESA consultation with NMFS. The Steelhead Monitoring Plan was developed by the Fisheries Management Workgroup and presents a broad set of sampling techniques that could be employed depending on river conditions. The monitoring plan also became part of the project description in the ESA consultation for the Arroyo Canal/Sack Dam project and Operation of Hills Ferry Barrier. The Steelhead Monitoring Plan will conduct monitoring activities from December 1 through April 31 within the following areas: the San Joaquin River between the base of Mendota Dam and just upstream of the confluence of the San Joaquin River and Merced River, the mouth of Mud Slough, the San Joaquin River near the Highway 140 bridge, the mouth of Salt Slough, just below Sack Dam, and at the return points of the Eastside and Mariposa bypasses on the San Joaquin River. All monitoring sites lie within the Middle San Joaquin-Lower Stream hydrologic unit code (HUC), Mile 182.0 to mile 118.0. In addition, the Steelhead Monitoring Plan proposes to rescue Central Valley steelhead that would not have access to suitable spawning habitat further upstream on the San Joaquin River due to the presence of numerous upstream passage impediments and the greater likelihood for entrainment or death in Reaches 4 and 5.
Take activities for subadult-adult Central Valley Steelhead associated with the proposed action include: capture (raft-mounted electrofisher), fyke nets with wing walls and fish traps, and steelhead-specific trammel nets), handling (conducting length measurements, gender identification, tissue and scale collection assessment of condition, checking for the presence of tags, and Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tagging of steelhead. Captured steelhead will be transported by tank truck and released in the San Joaquin River downstream of the mouth of the Merced River. Recaptured steelhead will be identified by the presence of a PIT tag.
Because CV steelhead are thought to be extirpated from the Restoration Area, and none have been recovered in previous study years, it is anticipated that no steelhead will be recovered during these efforts. However, ESA consultation for the Program will be reinitiated if a single steelhead is determined to be present in the Restoration Area. Upon consultation with NMFS, the need for a specific steelhead monitoring effort will be re-evaluated at that time based on the monitoring information that was collected to date. |
