![\"Winter](\"http:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screenshot_2016-03-31-09-53-46_20160331100027813.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nThe National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has included the Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon in its \u201cSpecies in the Spotlight,\u201d1<\/a><\/sup> one of the eight species under NMFS\u2019s jurisdiction nationwide that are most at risk of extinction.<\/p>\n On its website, NMFS describes the condition of Winter-Run (in italics below):<\/p>\n State and Federal Agencies, public organizations, non-profit groups and others in California\u2019s Central Valley have formed strong partnerships to save Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon. Efforts to protect winter-run Chinook salmon include restoring habitat, utilizing conservation hatchery programs, closely monitoring the population, and carefully managing scarce cold water. Additional key actions needed to safe guard winter-run Chinook salmon from further declines include:<\/em><\/p>\n The most serious threat to Winter Run and the major cause of the nearly complete loss of the past two years\u2019 production relates to the first item in the above list: improving management of Shasta Reservoir cold water storage is essential. The change from a 58\u00b0F daily-average water temperature standard at Redding (last summer) to 53\u00b0F as proposed by NMFS will greatly help by alleviating sporadic lethal conditions that occurred last summer (Figures 1 and 2).<\/p>\n Achieving non-lethal conditions through the summer is possible by conserving Shasta Reservoir\u2019s cold-water pool, which is best achieved by reducing inputs of warm water from Whiskeytown Reservoir (from Lewiston-Trinity reservoirs) into Keswick Reservoir via the Spring Creek Powerhouse (Figure 3). This source of warm water made up about 15% of the release to the Sacramento River from Keswick Reservoir, and required use of extra Shasta\u2019s cold-water pool water to meet the relaxed temperature standard of 58\u00b0F in the upper Sacramento River below Keswick in Redding.<\/p>\n Another source of warm water to Keswick Reservoir was from daily afternoon peak power releases from Shasta Dam (Figure 4). High releases in afternoons raised water temperatures in Keswick Reservoir, requiring more cold-water pool release to compensate for warm water inputs. Apparently, the operations were too complicated for Reclamation to maintain the required 58\u00b0F average daily temperature at the mouth of Clear Creek (CCR gage: Figure 1). Operations at other times (e.g., first week in August) indicate clearly that Reclamation had the capability of keeping the water temperature well below lethal levels.<\/p>\n Figure 1. Lethal water temperature extremes for salmon eggs and fry (red circles) near Redding in summer 2015. Green circles denote non-lethal conditions that can be maintained with proper management of Shasta\u2019s cold-water pool.<\/p><\/div>\n Figure 2. Episodes of high water temperature in Keswick Reservoir (red circles) in summer 2015. Peaks were due to hydropower peaking and specific operations of the Shasta Temperature Control Intake Tower to powerhouses at Shasta Dam.<\/p><\/div>\n Figure 3. Warm water (red circle) entering Keswick Reservoir from Whiskeytown Reservoir via Spring Creek Powerhouse in summer 2015. Daily range of 1\u00b0F is due to hydropeaking operations.<\/p><\/div>\n Figure 4. Warm water releases (red circle) from Shasta Reservoir during daily hydropeaking operations in summer 2015. Release water temperatures in the first week of August and September were lower because of lower afternoon hydropower peaking releases of warm water along with more night-morning cold water pool releases.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Species in the Spotlight The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has included the Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon in its \u201cSpecies in the Spotlight,\u201d1 one of the eight species under NMFS\u2019s jurisdiction nationwide that are most at risk of extinction. … Continue reading \n
Number One Threat<\/h1>\n
![\"Figure](\"http:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screenshot_2016-03-31-08-30-43.jpg\")
![\"Figure](\"http:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screenshot_2016-03-31-08-30-49_20160331092938376.jpg\")
![\"Figure](\"http:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screenshot_2016-03-31-08-30-57.jpg\")
![\"Figure](\"http:\/\/calsport.org\/fisheriesblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Screenshot_2016-03-31-08-31-02.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n\n