ITEM:		INFORMATIONAL ITEM/STAFF REPORT
21.	CARMEL RIVER FISHERY REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 2021
Meeting Date:			October 18, 2021	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: Continued dry weather and low river flow resulted in poor rearing conditions for juvenile steelhead throughout the watershed. By month’s end, most of the lower valley below Robinson Canyon Road, as well as the De Dampierre Park reach, was dry or had isolated pools.

September’s mean daily streamflow at the Sleepy Hollow Weir ranged from 1.4 to 3.9 cfs (monthly mean 3.57 cfs) resulting in 205 acre-feet (AF) of runoff, while the river at the Highway 1 gage remained dry.

There were 0.01 inches of rainfall in September as recorded at the San Clemente gauge. Since January there have only been 1.42 inches of rain. The rainfall total for WY 2021 (which ended on September 30, 2021) was 10.86 inches, or 51% of the long-term year-to-date average of 21.13 inches. 

CARMEL RIVER LAGOON:  During September, the lagoon mouth remained closed. The water surface elevation (WSE) ranged from 6.0 to 7.0 feet (North American Vertical Datum of 1988; NAVD 88) (See graph below).

Water quality depth-profiles were conducted at five sites on September 30, 2021, while the lagoon mouth was closed, water surface elevation was 7.0 feet, and river inflow was 0.0 cfs. Steelhead rearing conditions were generally “fair to good”. Salinity was generally low, ranging from 1 - 16 ppt, dissolved oxygen (DO) levels were variable, ranging from 5 – 12 mg/l, while water temperatures ranged from 62 - 70 degrees F.

CARMEL RIVER MAINSTEM STEELHEAD RESCUES:  Mainstem rescues began on May 27, 2021. In September, Staff completed two days of emergency fish rescues in the De Dampierre reach after the Los Padres Dam syphon failed and river flows dropped drastically. Several hundred steelhead below the dam, and unknown numbers elsewhere, were killed by the dewatering. By the end of September, a total of 7,840 steelhead had been rescued including: 6,780 young-of-the-year (yoy), 1017 age 1+ fish, 11 kelts, with 36 mortalities (0.46%). Most juvenile fish were transported to the Sleepy Hollow Steelhead Rearing Facility while the adult kelts were released in the ocean at Stewart’s Cove.

SLEEPY HOLLOW STEELHEAD REARING FACILITY:  The first rescued fish were brought to the facility on May 27, 2021.  Due to the very small size of many of the fish, fry/yoy are being quarantined and held in the rectangular “rearing troughs” until they are large and healthy enough to be transferred to the rearing channel.

By the end of September, 6,212 fish had been stocked in the rearing channel, including 5,219 yoy fish (small/medium size) and 993 age 1+ fish. The survival rate has remained high at 94%, indicating the new upgrades to the Facility, along with the modified stocking and handling protocols, are working.

Carmel River Lagoon Plot:

U:\staff\Boardpacket\2021\20211018\Informational Items\21\Item-21.docx