Santa Ynez River Fish Management Plan

Background

In 1999, Congress approved $58 million to be included in FY 2000 budget for Pacific Coastal Salmonid Conservation and Recovery Initiative, with the money going directly to four states (California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska).  The Pacific Coastal Salmonid Conservation and Recovery Initiative began in early 1998 when the Sonoma County Water Agency, with King County, Washington and the City of Portland, Oregon, began efforts to form a four-state initiative to develop a federal funding request for recovery of the Pacific Northwest and California Coastal salmon and steelhead.  The proposed funding will be placed in the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Account and requires dollar-for-dollar matching funds from state and local governments.

Since this bill was passed, thirteen California Coastal Counties have united in requesting the Resources Agency to support proposals submitted by the counties and other local agencies for funding through the Pacific Coastal Salmonid Conservation and Recovery Program.

Through a cooperative process, the thirteen Coastal Counties and other local agencies prepared and submitted projects in anticipation that about $750,000 would be available per county.  Local government agencies were also anticipating that the total funds available would approximate $18 million ($9 million federal grant, $9 million state match). The Resources Agency counted prior and/or current expenditures for salmon habitat restoration as the State match for the federal $9 million.  This would limit the total new monies for projects funded from the salmon restoration program to $9 million.  For additional information of specific projects, please see "enhancement projects and actions that benefit steelhead'.

Projects

Several projects have been identified that will help the overall recovery of the steelhead within the Santa Ynez River watershed.  The summaries of the projects are provided below.  Click the link for detailed descriptions.

1) Hilton Creek Water Supply Pump and Flexible Intake - a $1 million water supply pipeline has recently been completed to provide Cachuma Reservoir water to Hilton Creek.  With the exception of very wet years (i.e., 1995 and 1998) the lower portions of the creek typically dry during the late spring or early summer.  The proposed project will enhance the quality and quantity of existing habitat by providing year round flows.  The project also extends the availability of habitat to approximately 2,800 feet of critical summer rearing and spawning habitat for steelhead trout by extending from 63% to 98% the time that adequate surface flows exist in Hilton Creek.  The pump project also ensures that water from Lake Cachuma is released at appropriate cool temperatures (< 18 C).

2) Hilton Creek Fish Passage Enhancement - Approximately 1,300 feet upstream from the confluence with the Santa Ynez River, a cascade and slick rock chute impede access to spawning and rearing habitats in Hilton Creek.  The impediment acts to block migrating fish in two ways:

First, due to inadequate pool depth, migrating steelhead do not have enough pool depth to gain speed to jump over the impediment and second, due to the relatively high gradient of the chute section upstream of the impediment, it is suspected that if steelhead do jump over the impediment, they will be pushed back into the pool habitat because the water velocities coming down the chute are greater than the fish can swim.  The project will place concrete weirs in strategic locations to:

1. create a deeper pool directly below the impediment to provide greater depth in the pool which in turn will decrease the height the steelhead have to jump to pass the impediment and

2. slow water velocities in the chute region directly upstream of the impediment which will provide velocity shadows for the fish to rest behind before continuing through the chute region.

3) Lake Cachuma Surcharge - The storage capacity in Cachuma Reservoir will be increased by installing taller flashboards on the spillway radial gates at Bradbury Dam.  The surcharge will be conducted in two increments, 1.8 feet and 3.0 feet.  The extra volume of water impounded will increase spill year storage dedicated to fish and habitat enhancement, by 5,500 and 9,000 acre-feet respectively.

4) Increase Fish Passage at Road Crossings - Priority road crossings and bridge culverts that block access for migrating steelhead trout and can be reasonable modified include a culvert under Highway 154 on Hilton Creek, a bridge crossing on Highway 1 over Salsipuedes Creek, and a number of county road crossings on Quiota Creek

5) Streambank Erosion Pilot Projects - This project addresses severe streambank erosion and sedimentation in creeks that provide prime spawning and rearing habitats.  A series of pilot projects on private property will provide feasible solutions to these problems through demonstration workshops that highlight erosion and sedimentation issues.

6) Tributary Conservation Easements - Acquisition of conservation easements with private landowners along key streams that support steelhead trout will allow implementation of habitat improvement actions, such as reduction of fine sediments through bank stabilization, and creation of off-channel watering sources for cattle.  Other types of actions such as riparian planting will help decrease warm summer water temperatures.  Installing instream structures will help increase the complexity of instream habitats by providing additional areas for rearing steelhead trout to use for cover to escape predators.

7) Hilton Creek Channel Extension - Construction of an extension at the lower end of Hilton Creek will take advantage of the permanent watering system by providing water to an additional 1500 feet of newly created habitat.  Habitats created within the channel extension include pools, riffles, and runs constructed with boulders, woody debris, gravels, and riparian vegetation.

8) Public Education and Outreach - The program will provide the public with an understanding of the importance of the steelhead enhancement programs and will be useful in soliciting voluntary participation from private landowners.  Program elements will include public workshops, newsletters, web pages, field trips, slide shows, and press releases.