ITEM:

INFORMATIONAL ITEM/STAFF REPORT

 

23.

CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR JANUARY 2020

 

Meeting Date:

February 19, 2020

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:  After a wet December that saw Los Padres Reservoir fill and spill and the lagoon open all in a few days, January conditions have been mild. Mainstem flows slowly dropped during the month, but steelhead passage and rearing conditions remained “good” allowing the return of migrating adult sea-run steelhead to the upper watershed.

 

January’s mean daily streamflow at the Sleepy Hollow Weir dropped from 132 to 72 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) (monthly mean 94 cfs) resulting in 5,770 acre-feet (AF) of runoff. Mean daily streamflow at the Highway 1 gage dropped from 144 to 75 cfs (monthly mean 97 cfs) resulting in 5,960 acre-feet (AF) of runoff.

 

There were 1.25 inches of rainfall in January as recorded at the San Clemente gauge. The rainfall total for WY 2020 (which started on October 1, 2019) is 11.48 inches, or 103% of the long-term year-to-date average of 11.17 inches. 

 

LOS PADRES DAM ADULT STEELHEAD COUNT:  The Los Padres fish ladder and trap started operating on December 12, 2019. As of January 31st, 12 adult steelhead have been trapped and transported above the dam, seven of those were tagged by NMFS crews.

 

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON:  The lagoon mouth opened on December 3, 2019. The lagoon’s water surface elevation (WSE) was variable in January, primarily from wave and tidal action, ranging from ~4 – 12.9 feet (North American Vertical Datum of 1988; NAVD 88) (See graph below).

 

Water quality depth-profiles were conducted at five sites on January 21, 2020 while the lagoon mouth was closed due to large wave and tidal action, the water surface elevation was ~6.5 feet and filling, and river inflow was 92 cfs. Steelhead rearing conditions were generally “fair” throughout the lagoon due to the high salinity levels below 0.5m depth from the tidal and wave action (range was 2 - 28 ppt). Dissolved oxygen (DO) levels (8 – 11 mg/l) and water temperatures (50 - 53 degrees F) were excellent.

                                                                            

Carmel River Lagoon Plot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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