2 nd Steelhead Summit. October 27 & 28, 2016 in San Luis Obispo, CA

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Juliet Harvey
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1 + 2 nd Steelhead Summit October 27 & 28, 2016 in San Luis Obispo, CA 1

2 + Session Overview Sponsors: California Trout City of San Luis Obispo Sustainable Conservation California Conservation Corps Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board Wildnote The year's Summit agenda highlighted adaptive genomic variation, steelhead recovery planning, coastal monitoring status reports, fish passage planning, and water conservation efforts. The full-day symposium was followed by concurrent field tours to restoration sites that showcase fish passage improvements and water conservation projects. 2

3 + Presentations Instream Flow Needs for Improving for Steelhead Recovery Part 1 (Slide 4) Assessing Instream Flow Needs for Steelhead in Coastal California Creeks Ethan Bell, Aquatic Ecologist, Stillwater Sciences (Slide 38) Creative Water Transactions to Enhance Streamflow Matt Clifford, JD, California Water Project, Trout Unlimited 3

4 Salmonid Restoration Federation Steelhead Summit 2016 ASSESSING INSTREAM FLOW NEEDS FOR STEELHEAD IN COASTAL CALIFORNIA Ethan Bell 4

5 INTRODUCTION Central California is experiencing prolonged, extreme, drought. Interest in protecting and enhancing instream flows for coastal steelhead populations. Our goal is to identify watershed-specific flow requirements for steelhead. 5

6 APPROACH 1. Develop appropriate metrics to measure flow requirements for steelhead 2. Implement methods to estimate flow requirements 1. CDFW Critical Riffle SOP 2. PHABSIM 3. Habitat Criteria Mapping 4. Regional methods 6

7 Spring Summer MEASURABLE METRICS Steelhead biology Minimum flows to grow in spring Minimum flows to survive in summer Fish migration during winter and spring Water Depth Water Velocity 7

8 Methods Fish Passage CDFW Critical Riffle SOP Transect Adult >0.7 ft deep Juv >0.3 ft deep >25% of total width >10% of the continuous width 8

9 Methods Fish Passage CDFW Critical Riffle SOP Transect Adult >0.7 ft deep Juv >0.3 ft deep >25% of total width >10% of the continuous width Average total usable width (% of total wetted width) 60% 55% 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 10,000 Daily mean discharge (cfs) 1, Flow cfs December - April 0 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Exceedence probability 9

10 Methods Fish Passage Obstacle assessment CDFW guideline depth of a pool > 1.25 times jump height 10

11 PHABSIM Physical Habitat Simulation Modeling Study Sites Transect selection Hydraulic data Calibration flows Habitat Suitability Criteria (HSC) 11

12 PHABSIM WUA (percent of maximum) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Flow (cfs) Spawning Fry Age 0+ Juvenile Age 1+ Juvenile 12

13 Habitat Criteria Mapping (HCM) Study sites Flow selection Habitat Suitability Criteria Habitat mapping 13

14 HABITAT CRITERIA MAPPING Flow (cfs) 14 Total Available Habitat Area (x1,000ft2)

15 PHABSIM AND HCM 180% Habitat Area Index (percent of maximum) 160% 140% 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Flow (cfs) PHABSIM Criteria Mapping 15

16 Santa Maria River Upstream passage events one or two years per decade Downstream steelhead passage about one-half of all years 16

17 San Gregorio Creek Age 1+ steelhead rearing habitat during summer. 17

18 Pismo Creek Habitat segregation Fish Passage Age 1+ steelhead rearing habitat during spring 18

Goleta Slough Tributaries Fish passage obstacles Age 1+ spring 1000 100 10

19 Goleta Slough Tributaries Fish passage obstacles Age 1+ spring Discharge (cfs) Exceedance Probability (%) 19

SUMMARY CDFW fish passage SOP works well.

A little bit of water is hard to find in many streams.

20 SUMMARY CDFW fish passage SOP works well. HCM works well and is consistent with PHABSIM. In small coastal streams, a little bit of water can be sufficient to provide suitable habitat. A little bit of water is hard to find in many streams. Age 1+ juveniles most sensitive lifestage. Fish passage and instream flows are related. 20

21 NEXT STEPS Instream flows support additional environmental factors Geomorphic function Lagoon habitat Other species, including tidewater goby Water temperature 21

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District, Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District, San Luis Obispo County, David Boughton (National Marine Fisheries Service),

22 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District, Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District, San Luis Obispo County, David Boughton (National Marine Fisheries Service), Central Coast Salmon Enhancement, Department of Water Resources, the Integrated Regional Water Management program, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, and San Mateo County Resource Conservation District. Contact me at: Ethan Bell Full reports: 22

23 Water Transactions to Enhance Instream Flow in Coastal California Matt Clifford, Staff Attorney, Trout Unlimited 23

24 24

25 Water is locally-sourced 25

26 26

27 Project Elements: Alternative source of water for dry season Incentive for water user to change water management Means of enforcing management changes Water rights and other permitting Funding 27

28 Need to have: alternative source of water for dry season incentive for water user to change water management Means of enforcing management changes water rights/ permitting Funding 28

29 29

30 Tanks: Usually for domestic use Typical size: 40k 80k gal. Typical cost: $70k $110k Largest to date: 180k gal. Usually permitted via SDU Storage 30

31 Other Sources of Dry Season Water Rainwater Groundwater Conservation/ Efficiency 31

32 Incentives Why am I doing this? 32

33 Enforcement 33

34 Water Rights Changes 34

35 Grant Sources Prop 1 CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife NOAA NRCS USFWS IRWMP NRCS (Farm Bill funds) Water Districts Coastal Conservancy Private foundations 35

36 Sample Project Little Arthur Creek Series of residential tanks on key Steelhead tributary of Upper Pajaro 36

37 Example Pescadero/ San Gregorio Creeks Important steelhead/ coho tributaries on San Mateo Coast Water use dominated by a few large high value farms 37

38 Water Transactions to Enhance Instream Flow in Coastal California Matt Clifford, Staff Attorney, Trout Unlimited 38

FISH PASSAGE IMPROVEMENT in California s Watersheds. Assessments & Recommendations by the Fish Passage Forum

FISH PASSAGE IMPROVEMENT in California s Watersheds Assessments & Recommendations by the Fish Passage Forum FISH PASSAGE IMPROVEMENT in California s Watersheds The mission of the Fish Passage Forum is