Since 2006 California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) has given high priority to its campaign to reintroduce Central Valley salmon to their historic habitats in the upper reaches of rivers that feed into the valley.
Today, Central Valley salmon are confined to the valley floor which amounts to 5-10% of their historic habitat. Limiting salmon to the valley floor is a strategy for extinction, widespread extirpation, and/or reduction of salmon to a few boutique tourist attractions.
The confinement of Central Valley salmon to the valley floor is caused by dams that create a physical barrier and inadequate flows. Flows are inadequate for salmon due to political pressure, regulatory timidity, and poor management of water resources.
Fish that spawn in Central Valley rivers are affected by extensive hydraulic infrastructure and by dozens of management decisions affecting water operations in the Delta and its tributaries. This is true even in smaller rivers like Butte Creek, where the largest population of Central Valley spring-run salmon is kept in existence by weekly and sometimes daily oversight.
California’s entire water system is managed. What can and must change is how it is managed. Management must include getting wild salmon back to historic, higher elevation, cold water habitat.
Where conditions support it, CSPA believes that dam removal is the best and cleanest way to get wild salmon back into their upper watersheds.
Obsolete Dams CSPA is Currently Working to Remove:
Eel River – Potter Valley Project
- Scott Dam
- Cape Horn Dam
Battle Creek
- Inskip Dam
- Coleman Diversion Dam
- South Diversion Dam
- Eagle Canyon Diversion Dam
- North Battle Creek Feeder Dam
- Keswick Diversion Dam
- Al Smith Diversion Dam
Butte Creek – Desabla-Centerville Project
- CSPA is working to repurpose existing infrastructure of the DeSabla Centerville Project to support spring run Chinook salmon.
Other Hydropower Campaigns
Recent News
Remove Obsolete Dams