Hatchery Reform and the Coleman National Fish Hatchery – Adaptive Management Plan

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Tom Cannon

The Coleman National Fish Hatchery (CNFH) on lower Battle Creek near Redding, CA (see map below) was constructed in 1942 to mitigate for the Shasta Dam project on the Sacramento built just upstream from Redding. It annually produces 12,000,000 fall-run salmon smolts and a million late–fall-run salmon smolts. Operation of CNFH is in need of reform because it fails to meet its mitigation goal and because it may interfere with the Battle Creek Restoration Program (BCRP¹).

Efforts to improve salmon runs in recent drought years by trucking smolts to the lower river and Bay-Delta have resulted in increased straying of CNFH adult salmon to other Central Valley Rivers.² Releasing millions of smolts into lower Battle Creek at the hatchery negatively affects wild smolts emigrating from Battle Creek through competition and stimulation of an annual spring striped bass feeding frenzy in the Sacramento River.³ Straying also limits adult salmon return to the hatchery and in some years makes it difficult for the hatchery to meet egg quotas. Plans to reduce these conflicts have drawn criticism from fishermen groups⁴ because of the potential of reducing smolt production and survival, and subsequent fishery harvests. CNFH production likely contributes a third or more of California’s ocean and freshwater salmon catch, and is a major contributor to natural salmon spawning in the Central Valley.

Recommendations

In the Central Valley Salmon Recovery Plan (NMFS 2009/2011, p. 201), NMFS suggests moving the production hatchery to the Sacramento River from Battle Creek to reduce conflicts. The existing hatchery could be used as a conservation hatchery to support recovery of wild Battle Creek salmon and steelhead.
Fall-run salmon smolt production should be trucked/barged to the Bay to maximize contribution to fisheries, recognizing substantial straying of fall-run occurs throughout the Central Valley. Barging smolts from above the mouth of the Feather River to the Bay should reduce straying to the Feather, American, and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries.
Fall-run CNFH fry can be trucked/barged to high quality lower river floodplain and tidal estuary habitats historically important to fall-run, but presently unavailable or unreachable. Such habitats were important and reachable before the dams were built.
Late-fall-run and steelhead smolts should be released at the hatchery in wet winters, but barged to the Bay in dry years.

June Update and Possible Solution to 2016 Fish Woes

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Tom Cannon

Over the past month I related water issues involving Delta and longfin smelt, striped bass, green and white sturgeon, and winter-run and spring-run salmon. All of these species need river flow and cooler water over the next several months. Shasta releases to the upper Sacramento River need to be cold, stable, and sufficient to sustain winter-run salmon eggs in the river near Redding and to sustain moderate flows and cooler water temperatures for 200 miles of river to protect sturgeon and other lifestages of salmon. Sufficient flows needs to pass through the Delta to keep the low salinity zone downstream of the Delta in the cool waters of eastern Suisun Bay, away from Delta exports.

Shasta releases are now 8000 cfs, with Bend Bridge water temperature near the Red Bluff target of 56°F. In June and July of drought years 2012 and 2013, releases were 11,000-14,000 cfs. However, concern over carryover storage and sustaining cold-water releases through summer has led to a more conservative management strategy in 2016. The cold-water pool in Shasta Reservoir is being rationed to make it through the summer. Flows will rise over the next six weeks to 9,000 or 10,000 cfs to satisfy irrigation demands in the upper river.

Flows in the lower Sacramento River at Wilkins Slough need to be greater than 5000 cfs in summer, if only to keep water temperature down closer to the Basin Plan’s 68°F. Flows are now 3000-4000 cfs, with water temperatures up to 75°F. In dry years 2012 and 2013, flows at Wilkins Slough were 6000-9000 cfs, and water temperatures were cooler, as some of Shasta’s storage was allocated for Delta export. This year’s management strategy to hold back Shasta releases will, if continued, keep both Wilkins Slough flows and Delta exports down.

Delta outflows need to be sustained near 10,000 cfs to keep the low salinity zone and X2 (2 ppt salinity) near Collinsville in eastern Suisun Bay. However, July outflow to the Bay required by water quality standards will be only about 8000 cfs. To help save the last of the two smelt species, 10,000 cfs would be far better.

A reasonable solution is apparent: raise Shasta releases through most of the summer by 2000 cfs to 10,000-12,000 cfs and require that the extra release be passed down the river to and through the Delta. While such a management strategy would benefit the fish, it would decrease Shasta storage by 120,000 acre-ft of water per month. At present, Shasta is 90% full at 4.1 million acre-feet (the cold-water pool volume is about 2.4 maf). At 12,000 cfs, the total Shasta release would rise to 600,000 acre-feet per month, which is about the current total release from Oroville (Feather River) and Folsom (American River) reservoirs. NMFS and USBR have determined that a 10,000 cfs Shasta cold-water release can be sustained through the summer, while a 12,000 cfs release could be problematic. Protests would no doubt come from water users who would want the extra 2000 cfs. But note that of the 20,000 cfs being released today from the three main Sacramento Valley reservoirs, only 8000 cfs is reaching the Bay.¹

This solution of raising total reservoir releases to 22,000-24,000 and Bay outflow to 10,000 cfs is reasonable to help the fish after four years of drought. In 2014-2015, water quality standards were drastically reduced, with catastrophic effects to fish. The continuing legacy of these catastrophic effects creates the urgency to do better in 2016.

If higher releases from Shasta become problematic for whatever reason, then some compromise should be achievable, noting that water deliveries of Shasta water are to be provided only after the needs of the fish are first considered, including conservation of Shasta’s cold-water pool through the summer and early fall (Water Rights Orders 90-05 and 92-02). Further, Central Valley water rights are provided via the Trinity River trans-basin diversion to Keswick Reservoir on the Sacramento River below Shasta Dam, but the Trinity supply is much in doubt because Trinity storage has failed to recover after the drought, unlike Shasta storage. A lack of Trinity supply this summer will further limit water available for irrigation in the Central Valley. Yet another constraint is whether the available storage in Oroville and Folsom reservoirs is able to satisfy Delta demands without compromising the needs of endangered fish in the Feather and American rivers.

Sorting out these conflicts and needs is the responsibility of the State Water Resources Control Board. The Board’s top priority should be the basic needs of the endangered salmon, sturgeon, and smelts of the Central Valley. At minimum, the Board should require the following conditions this summer:

Below Shasta – Stable flows of 9,000 to 10,000 cfs and 56°F average daily water temperatures near Red Bluff (Jellys Ferry or Bend Bridge).
Lower Sacramento River – minimum 5000 cfs at Wilkins Slough (RM 125 on the Sacramento River)
Delta Outflow – 9,000 cfs in July, 5,000 cfs in August, and 4,000 cfs in September.

A further complication is that South Delta export criteria allow an increase from 35% of inflow to 65% starting July 1. Exports in June are limited to 5000 cfs. In July, exports can be raised to 65% of inflow, but only if outflow is kept at 8000 cfs. Delta ag diversions are also near 4000 cfs. Thus July Delta inflow of 20,000 cfs or more (compared to the present inflow of 15,000 cfs) would be needed to allow 10,000 cfs of Delta export. ↩

Spring 2016 Efforts to save Salmon in the Sacramento River below Shasta

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Tom Cannon

Management of flows and water temperatures in the upper Sacramento River near Redding for endangered salmon is frequently presented to the public as complicated, but it is really not that difficult to understand. Chart 1 below depicts about everything that is involved with Sacramento River flows and their history so far this spring. The box outlined in red indicates what has been wrong this spring. The high temperatures shown in this box have hurt winter-run salmon, spring-run salmon, late-fall-run salmon, and green sturgeon, as well as fall-run salmon, steelhead, trout, and white sturgeon. All of these species have suffered unnecessarily from this spring’s water management below Shasta.

Graph of Management of flows and water temperatures in the upper Sacramento River near Redding for endangered salmon is frequently presented to the public as complicated, but it is really not that difficult to understand. Chart 1 below depicts about everything that is involved with Sacramento River flows and their history so far this spring. The box outlined in red indicates what has been wrong this spring. The high temperatures shown in this box have hurt winter-run salmon, spring-run salmon, late-fall-run salmon, and green sturgeon, as well as fall-run salmon, steelhead, trout, and white sturgeon. All of these species have suffered unnecessarily from this spring’s water management below Shasta.

Chart 1. Latest update (6/9/16) from USBR on management of the upper Sacramento River below Shasta for winter-run Chinook salmon. The “spill” in late March was a managed flood release of over 200,000 acre-feet of storage, which kept Shasta (SHA) from filling (4.5 MAF). A key list of the location abbreviations pictured can be found in Table 1 at end of this post. A map of the locations is shown in Chart 3.

The red box in Chart 1 shows that water temperatures since April 1 have exceeded the 56°F target water temperature as defined in the State’s Sacramento Valley Basin Plan, the State’s Water Right Order 90-05 for Shasta Reservoir, and NMFS’s Biological Opinion for salmon and sturgeon as it applies to Shasta operations. These standards have been in place for many decades and are based on sound science.

In a March 31, 2016 letter to Reclamation¹, a week after the flood control release from Shasta, NMFS stated: “Winter-run brood years in 2014 and 2015 experienced very low egg-to-fry survival to Red Bluff as a result of high water temperatures during their egg and alevin incubation stages. As brood year 2016 is the third of three winter-run cohorts, it is very important to operate Shasta Reservoirs conservatively to provide and maintain adequate water temperatures throughout the winter-run early life stages.” The letter concludes as shown immediately below:

So, within a week of the flood release, and based on a pre-spill March 15 forecast by Reclamation, NMFS changed the management compliance point to 55°F 7-day-average-daily-maximum at CCR (Bonneville Bridge in Redding) as a surrogate for a 56°F daily compliance at Balls Ferry (BSF) and Jellys Ferry (JLF). Note that Chart 1 above shows that this surrogate did not satisfy the requirements for either BSF or JLF. Note also that none of the flows prescribed in the table above for April (was 4700), May (6000), or June (7500 so far) have been met. (These flows should have been daily average minimum flows, not monthly averages.)

In an April 22 letter to Reclamation, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council recommended a 56°F compliance point at Jellys Ferry (JLF). That too has been exceeded in May and June.

In a May 2 letter, NMFS changed the compliance point to Keswick Dam: “We will continue to use the maintenance of 52°F daily average temperature (DAT) at Keswick Dam as an indicator of the ability to meet 55°F 7-day average of the daily maximum temperatures (7DADM) at the Bonnyview Bridge temperature compliance point (CCR CDEC location) throughout the temperature management season.” Note this new Keswick criterion was not met in late April or early May, but seems to be controlling after mid-May (Chart 1).

So why has there been so much compromise this spring (red box, Chart 1)? Why not simply meet the longstanding objective of keeping the daily average water temperature at Bend (BND) near Red Bluff? The reason is an unfounded fear by the managing agencies that they will run out of cold water in Shasta before the end of summer, as occurred in 2014 and 2015. Storage in Shasta in spring 2016 started with 4.2 maf. In contrast, storage in Shasta in spring 2014 and 2015 started out at 2.4 and 2.7 maf, respectively. Storage in Shasta in spring 2013 started out at 3.8 maf and met the standard. Storage in Shasta in spring 2009 started out at 3.2 maf and met the standard. There was more cold-water volume stored in Shasta this spring than the total spring storage in 2009 or 2013.

Between March 18 and March 28, 2016, a “flood release” of over 200,000 AF occurred, but the reservoir storage still rose from 3.9 to 4.0 maf. Most of the water released during the flood release was warmer surface water (Chart 2). Even then, the average water temperature from the surface outlets (upper gates) was only 48-50°F.

There is simply no information that indicates the reservoir will run out of cold water by the end of summer. Even Reclamation’s own conservative modeling indicates that a compliance point of 56°F at Balls Ferry can be met, which appears to be the present target in early June (Chart 1).

In conclusion, there is no reason why the Bend or at least the Jellys Ferry 56°F compliance point cannot be met. Perhaps more important is NMFS’s prescribed 9000 cfs June Keswick release. The lower release of 7500 cfs so far in June has resulted in (and allowed) the increased water temperature at Bend (and Red Bluff). These low flows and higher temperature (60-62°F at Red Bluff and higher downstream) have, in addition to adding stress on winter-run salmon, also jeopardized green sturgeon, white sturgeon, spring-run salmon, and steelhead (see previous post). Of the present 7500 cfs release, over 5000 cfs is diverted by downstream Sacramento CVP water contractors. An extra 2000 cfs Keswick release would increase mid-river flows at Wilkins Slough from the existing level of 3000-4000 cfs to 5000-6000 cfs, which would lower Water temperature at Wilkins at least several degrees from daily highs of 75-78°F, which are lethal to migrating adult salmon and young sturgeon.

Chart 2. Shasta Dam Temperature Control Device configuration on March 15, 2016.

Chart 3. Map of key monitoring stations in upper Sacramento River below Shasta.

Table 1. List of abbreviations for locations in Chart 1. A map of locations is shown in Chart 3 above.

All communications cited are available at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/drought/sacramento_river/ ↩

Sturgeon are being Decimated by Water Management in Spring 2016

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Tom Cannon

Green and White sturgeon spawn in the Sacramento River in spring, usually in April and May. Green sturgeon spawn predominantly above Red Bluff (RM 243) to near Redding (RM 264); they also spawn below Red Bluff, downstream to Hamilton City (RM 200) (see Figure 1). White sturgeon spawn primarily below Hamilton City in the lower river above and below Wilkins Slough (RM 125, downstream of area shown on map). Like other endangered fish in the Central Valley, sturgeon too were hurt during the recent four years of drought ¹ by low flows and high water temperatures.

Figure 1. Map of the upper Sacramento River Basin (Princeton Ferry to Keswick Dam)

But this year is supposed to be different. Water Year 2016 is a wetter year (designated “Below Normal” for Sacramento Valley), and Shasta Reservoir is nearly full. Reclamation’s Central Valley Project should be able to meet the criteria set forth in the Basin Plan, Water Right Order 90-05, and the salmon and green sturgeon Biological Opinion that are designed to maintain habitat for salmon and sturgeon in the Sacramento River. Those criteria have a common element of maintaining Red Bluff (RM 243) spring-summer water temperature below a daily average of 56°F. The Basin Plan extends the criteria downstream to Hamilton City (RM 200) and adds a 68°F criterion from there downstream to Sacramento (RM 60) to protect salmon, sturgeon, and other fish. The criteria have been in place for decades, and are based on extensive science. Salmon spawning requires daily average water temperatures below 56°F. Water temperatures above 68°F are lethal to juvenile sturgeon.² Governing requirements in each of the documents cited above allow the applicable criteria to be applied further upstream in drier years when Shasta storage and cold-water pool resources are less than adequate.

This year, the responsible agencies have apparently decided that the cold-water pool volume is inadequate despite the fact that Shasta is virtually full. The agencies have set the Control Point at Redding, with a 58°F daily average limit. By allowing the Red Bluff 56°F objective to be substantially weakened, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the federal agency responsible for salmon and sturgeon, is thus accepting great risk not only to Winter Run salmon (decimated over the past two years), but also to green and white sturgeon.

To save the Shasta cold-water pool, Reclamation has been releasing a minimum amount of water from Shasta and is taking the water primarily from the upper warm surface layers of the reservoir.³ This has resulted in water temperatures in the lower river at Red Bluff in excess of 56°F (Figure 2). It has also resulted in water temperatures below Red Bluff (Figure 3) that exceed 65°F, the upper thermal optima for sturgeon embryo development, and even 68°F, the lethal level for newly hatched sturgeon juveniles.⁴ The warm water in the lower river is also a consequence of unusually low seasonal flows in the lower Sacramento River in spring 2016 (Figures 4 and 5).

May and June are precisely the months of concern for the sturgeon. Sturgeon begin spawning when water temperatures start to exceed 55°F, which generally occurs in April. Green sturgeon young spawned above Red Bluff pass downstream through Red Bluff in May and June (Figure 6). Those passing Red Bluff and those spawned between Red Bluff and Hamilton City likely encountered their upper thermal optima of 65°F during May and early June. White sturgeon spawned in the lower river were subjected to lethal water temperature during much of May 2016. Lethal water temperatures predominated in May 2014 and 2015 (Figure 7), Critically Dry years, as well as in Below Normal 2016 (Figures 3 and 7). River flows at Wilkins Slough were also very low in these same years (Figure 5). In contrast, higher flows and lower water temperature were maintained in spring of years 2008-2013, which included four drought years.

The overall risk is greatest to White sturgeon, which spawn in the lower river where water temperatures are highest. That high risk is the result of unusually low seasonal river flows from a seemingly overzealous need by Reclamation to conserve Shasta storage this year. This effect is compounded by the fact that, of the 7000 cfs being releases from Shasta, only 3000 cfs is reaching the lower river. The rest is diverted by Reclamation’s north of Delta contractors, who received 100% of their allocations this year.

The sturgeon deserve 100% of their needs as well. That would require colder water and higher releases from Shasta to get flows at Wilkins Slough into the range of 5000-7000 cfs that was achieved in drought years 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013 (Figure 5). That would amount to 4000-8000 acre-feet per day (0.1-0.2%/day) of a nearly full Shasta Reservoir (currently with 4,200,000 acre-feet of stored water). Such releases will be required in any event to meet export demands from the Delta in June.

For more detail on the issue see the following:

Figure 2. Water temperature of Sacramento River at Red Bluff (RM 243) in May and early June 2016. Target for salmon and other fish is 56°F (red line).

Figure 3. Water temperature of Sacramento River at Wilkins Slough (RM 125) in May and early June 2016. Target for sturgeon and other fish is 68°F (red line).

Figure 4. Daily average Sacramento River flow at Wilkins Slough (RM 125) in May 2016.

Figure 5. Sacramento River flow at Wilkins Slough (RM 125) 2008-2016. Circles denote unusually low flows 2014-2016.

Figure 6. Capture patterns of young Green sturgeon in USFWS traps at Red Bluff 2003-2012.

Figure 7. Water temperature in the Sacramento River at Wilkins Slough 2008-2016. The Basin Plan objective and the lethal water temperature for young sturgeon of 68°F is depicted with red line.

USBR – Increase Shasta Cold Water Releases

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Tom Cannon

Water Year 2016 on the Sacramento River has been designated a “Below Normal” year. Water Year 2010 was also a Below Normal year. Both years followed multiyear droughts. In both years, Shasta Reservoir was nearly full at the end of April (2010 was 4.4 maf; 2016 was 4.2 maf). In early May 2010, Keswick releases were 7500 cfs, and release water temperatures were 50-52°F. In early May 2016, Keswick releases have been 5200-6200 cfs, and release water temperatures have been 53-55°F.

In April and May, 2010, water temperatures in the upper river remained below 56°F. In contrast, the warmer, lower flows in 2016 have led to excessively warm water temperatures in the upper Sacramento River. Water temperatures have reached 60-62°F in the upper river (Figure 1), which are well above the prescribed water quality standard of 56°F necessary to protect spawning salmon and sturgeon. Winter-run salmon began spawning in late April. Green and white sturgeon spawn in May.

Figure 1. Water temperature in the upper Sacramento River below Shasta Reservoir in early May 2016. In contrast, water temperatures at these locations during early May 2010 were 56°F or lower.

Reclamation’s CVP operations should strive to maintain the 56°F standard through the spring and summer, as prescribed in the Basin Plan and in the NMFS biological opinion for Shasta operations. This temperature can be achieved by increasing Shasta releases or by lowering the water temperature of releases using the temperature control tower/device (TCD) at the dam, or by a combination of these elements. In the last few days, Reclamation has increased releases and has added colder water, resulting in slightly colder Keswick releases (Figure 1). Reclamation has decreased the temperature of releases by opening one the six middle outlets of the Shasta Temperature Control Device (Figure 2). However, downstream temperatures remain high, because air temperatures and water diversions downstream are also increasing.

While there is some logic behind Reclamation’s decision to minimize reservoir releases to save Shasta storage, it is inappropriate to jeopardize endangered fish in the upper Sacramento River with excessively warm water this year, given the abundance of cold water in the reservoir. ¹

With Shasta releases expected to increase soon to meet increasing irrigation demands, it will be imperative that water temperatures upstream of Red Bluff remain below 56°F to protect spawning salmon and sturgeon and their young into and through the summer.

The “official” temperature target and control point since April 15, 2016 have been 58°F at Redding (station CCR). In 2010, the target temperature was 56°F, and the control point was at Jellys Ferry (RM 267), 20 miles downstream of Redding. The State Board and NMFS should immediately change the target temperature to 56°F, and move the control point at least downstream to Jellys Ferry. Preferably, the compliance point should be further downstream at Red Bluff, to be in compliance with the NMFS biological opinion (56°F at Red Bluff – RM 243). The Basin Plan puts the compliance point further downstream still, (56°F at Hamilton City – RM 200). ²

Following catastrophic losses of winter-run in the Sacramento below Shasta during the past two years, it is imperative to meet the summer water temperature goals as prescribed in the NMFS biological opinion. The Shasta cold-water pool and storage available are more than adequate to meet these objectives.

Figure 2. Shasta Dam’s temperature control tower/device or TCD has multiple options for releasing water from the reservoir. One middle outlet was recently opened to reduce the temperature of the water released to the Sacramento River. (Source: USBR MidPacific Division)

A disproportionate amount of Sacramento River Delta inflow this spring has come from Oroville Reservoir (Feather River) and Folsom Reservoir (American River) storage releases. Excessive use of Folsom storage to meet Bay-Delta needs could lead to loss of its cold-water pool this summer and greater mortality of over-summering juvenile salmon and steelhead in the American River. ↩
A plan for summer operations from Reclamation is due by May 15, 2016 ↩

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