ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
21.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2014
Meeting Date:			January 28, 2015	Budgeted:	N/A
From:			David J. Stoldt,	Program/	N/A
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Beverly Chaney	Cost Estimate:	N/A
General Counsel Review: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance: N/A

AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW CONDITIONS:  Two weeks of very wet weather in early December filled Los Padres Reservoir and rewetted the lower Carmel River with the first significant flow in nearly two years (see the USGS Near-Carmel Gage graph below). December’s mean daily streamflow at the MPWMD Highway 1 gage (HW 1) ranged from 0 to 238 cubic-feet per second (cfs) and a total of 3,520 acre-feet of run-off. 

Mean daily streamflow in December at the District’s Carmel River at Sleepy Hollow Weir gaging station ranged from 1.8 to 857 cfs, with a mean monthly flow of 120 cfs.  During December, 8.46 inches of rainfall were recorded at California American Water’s (CAW) San Clemente Dam (SCD).  The rainfall total for WY 2015 (which started on October 1, 2014) is 10.03 inches, or 148% of the long-term annual average of 6.76 inches to date.

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON:  On December 12, 2014, the lagoon filled and opened to the sea for the first time since May 24, 2013. The lagoon’s water-surface elevation (WSE) ranged from approximately 1.0 - 10.3 feet above mean sea level as the lagoon mouth opened and closed several times throughout the month (see graph below).  

ADULT STEELHEAD COUNTS: On December 5, fisheries staff set up the adult fish counter, located in the San Clemente Dam fish ladder, and CAW opened the ladder on December 12, 2014 as San Clemente Reservoir (SCR) began to spill for the final time before its planned removal. During December, three adult steelhead were counted, one resident fish on the 12^th and two likely sea-run adults on December 24^th. Migrating steelhead must now use the new bypass channel cut between the Carmel River side and the San Clemente side of SCR. The dam will be removed in 2015 and the reservoir, fish ladder and counter will be decommissioned.

DIDSON CAMERA: In 2012, the District received a grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to purchase and operate a Dual Frequency Identification Sonar (DIDSON), a lens-based sonar that makes almost-photographic images with sound in turbid water. For the third year the District is operating the camera in the lower river to count migrating adult steelhead. This year the DIDSON started operating on December 22, 2014. The data will be analyzed and reported on at the end of the adult migration season next summer.

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