ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
23.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2017
Meeting Date:			December 11, 2017	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: This action does not constitute a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines section 15378.

AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW CONDITIONS:  Carmel River flows remained fairly steady in November. Conditions for juvenile steelhead migration were fair while rearing conditions were good to fair. Los Padres Dam (LPD) stopped spilling on August 2^nd and releases from Los Padres Reservoir were increased in November by 1-2 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) to 14-16 cfs. The reservoir elevation was 1,010 feet on November 29 (spills at ~1,040 feet).

Mean daily streamflow at the Sleepy Hollow Weir ranged from 18 to 22 cfs (monthly mean 19.8 cfs) resulting in ~1,179 acre-feet (AF) of runoff. Mean daily streamflow at the Highway 1 gage ranged from 6.9 to 12 cfs (monthly mean 10.5 cfs), resulting in ~625 AF of runoff.

There were 0.82 inches of rainfall in November as recorded at Cal-Am’s San Clemente gauge. The rainfall total for WY 2018 (which started on October 1, 2017) is 0.97 inches, or 34% of the long-term year-to-date average of 2.87 inches. 

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON:  During November the lagoon mouth remained closed and the water surface elevation (WSE) gradually rose from 10.5 to 12 feet above mean-sea-level as higher seasonal inflow begins to fill the lagoon (see graph below).  

Surface water-quality was sampled twice in November (3^rd and 13^th). The salinity, DO and temperature all improved later in the month with generally excellent steelhead rearing conditions down to 1.5 meters depth.

FALL FIELD SURVEYS:

- District Fisheries staff, in partnership with National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) staff, completed ~34 Carmel River watershed juvenile steelhead population surveys between Highway 1 and Carmel River Bluff Camp in the Los Padres Wilderness, along with several tributaries. All fish larger than 65 mm were tagged.

- Substrate size and embeddedness surveys were completed at 11 sites.

- Bioassessment surveys were completed at seven sites using the state’s SWAMP protocol (surface water ambient monitoring program) to look at the health of the benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) assemblages in the Carmel River. BMI are a major food source for steelhead.

- Results and discussion will be available in the MPWMD 2017-18 Annual Mitigation Report.

SLEEPY HOLLOW STEELHEAD REARING FACILITY:

- Construction was completed on the rearing channel repair project. Scardina Builders, Inc. replaced the redwood planking along the top edge of the channel with new boards and repaired the bird netting and framework over the rearing channel from winter storm damage.

- On November 7, District fisheries and engineering staff hosted a productive site tour and discussion session with approximately 20 representatives from regulatory agencies (NMFS, CDFW, State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) and various local fisherman’s groups (CRSA, TU) regarding the District’s proposed intake system retrofit project. All groups were in support of the project. The SCC Board approved the funding for the intake project at their November 30, 2017 meeting. Staff hopes to start the project in mid-2018.

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