Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in the Upper Truckee River: Restoration of a Threatened Species in a Fluvial Headwater Environment
Project Area N Expansion Area 2008-2011: beginning of manual removal of brook trout in additional 10 miles stream Future - 2023: continue implementation in streams and begin removal of brook trout in 85 acres of lake Meiss Meadows 1988-1990: rotenone to remove brook trout early 1990s: LCT re-introduced & brook trout found mid 1990s: manual removal of brook trout in upper 5 miles stream & 8 acres lake 2007-2009: no brook trout found, resting treatment one of the only high meadow LCT populations in Sierra Nevada
Project Area Expansion Area Meiss Meadows
Manual Removal Methods Late August thru October Delineated reaches by natural barriers (low water barriers, falls, and beaver dams) 3-pass depletion, on varying reach lenght Species identified and measured to size class Brook and Rainbow trout sacrificed Speckled dace returned to upstream reach LCT returned upstream of Barrier T1BA4 in RL trib and 36B in UTR; sacrificed below due to hybridization threats
# of fish # of fish 3 Pass Depletion Depletion B37-B36A (307 m) 30 LCT 20 BKT SPD 10 0 1 2 Pass 3 Depletion B34-B33 (254 m) 40 LCT 30 BKT 20 RBT 10 0 1 2 3 Pass
Meiss Meadows
LCT in Meiss Meadows 1996-2009 Lahontan Cutthroat Trout Catch Upper Truckee River 1996-2009 NUMBER OF FISH OBSERVED 2000 1500 1000 500 Adult Juveniles 0 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 YEAR
Brook Trout Catch in Meiss Brook Meadows Trout 1996-2009 Upper Truckee River Electrofishing Catch 2009-1996 Frequency 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 11.5 2009 2006 2003 2000 1997 Total Length (Inches)
Expansion Area
Accomplishment Summary 2008 0.8 miles treated 3 passes completed 230 brook trout removed 213 speckled dace sampled 194 LCT sampled 2009 1.1 miles treated 2-3 passes completed 100 brook trout removed 353 speckled dace sampled 369 LCT sampled 2010 5.8 miles treated 1-3 pass completed 9,252 brook trout removed 82 rainbow trout removed 211 speckled dace sampled 509 LCT sampled Round Lake
2011 3.6 miles treated 1-3 passes completed 729 brook trout removed 27 rainbow trout removed 337 speckled dace sampled 820 LCT sampled 734 returned upstream of T1BA4 and 36B 86 removed below T1BA4 and 36B Hybrids sampled in 2010 (thanks USFWS & M. Peacock!) Round Lake
# of fish Upper Truckee River 140 N 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0-5cm 5-10cm 10-15cm 15-20cm 20-25cm 25-30cm 30+cm LCT 22 116 84 85 37 3 0 BKT 39 68 96 83 18 2 0 SPD 123 5 1 0 0 0 0 RBT 0 7 3 6 0 1 0 Species Rainbow trout LCT Speckled dace Brook trout
# of fish Round Lake tributary LCT had last been planted in Round Lake in 2008 CDFG surveyed Round Lake in summer 2010, and found only LCT and dace 200 180 N 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0-5cm 5-10cm 10-15cm 15-20cm 20-25cm 25-30cm 30+cm LCT 52 196 153 54 0 0 12 BKT 29 86 162 122 24 0 0 SPD 162 46 0 0 0 0 0 RBT 0 9 1 0 0 0 0 Species Rainbow trout LCT Speckled dace Brook trout Round Lake
2011: TOTAL FISH = 1,193 2011 UTR mainstem LCT BKT SPD RBT 2011 Round Lake tributary LCT BKT SPD RBT 2010 Round Lake tributary brook trout Lahontan cutthroat trout rainbow trout speckled dace
Progress Reach B41-B41A = the most upstream reach in the Expansion Area 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Brook Trout B41-B41A 2008 2009 2010 2011 BKT 35 30 25 20 15 LCT B41-B41A 2008 2009 2010 2011 10 5 0
UTR Fish Assessment CTC, CalTrout, CDFG, UC Davis, City SLT Late July and August Survey mouth to headwaters of perennial streams (where possible) 1 pass electro-shocking 100 meter reaches where possible Record species and size class
UTR Fish Assessment Species Total bluegill 44 brook trout 6 bluegill brown bullhead brown trout Lahontan redside shiner mountain sucker Paiute sculpin rainbow trout speckled dace Tahoe sucker brown bullhead 9 brown trout 1954 Lahontan cutthroat trout 2 Lahontan redside shiner 108 mountain sucker 119 mountain whitefish 12 Paiute sculpin 1613 rainbow trout 971 speckled dace 7528 Tahoe sucker 118 unknown sucker 37
UTR Fish Assessment