Volume 2009/10, Issue 3
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November 19, 2009 | |
Nov 19: VAMP Biology Technical Committee Meeting
Dec 10: TRTAC Meeting
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Underwater photo by FISHBIO.
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Key Highlights
2009 Stanislaus River Weir Monitoring continued during the reporting period. A total of 215 Chinook salmon were detected as they passed upstream of the Stanislaus River Weir increasing the season total to 801.
2009 Tuolumne River Weir Monitoring continued during the reporting period. A total of 82 Chinook salmon were detected as they passed upstream of the Tuolumne River Weir increasing the season total to 107. 2009 San Joaquin Basin Escapement Surveys. Annual carcass surveys conducted by CDFG continued during the reporting period.
Mokelumne River Fish Ladder Monitoring. continued during the reporting period. A total of 564 Chinook salmon were detected as they passed through the Woodbridge Dam fish ladder increasing the season total to 1,508.
2009/10 Calaveras River Migration Monitoring began at Shelton Rd (RM 28) on November 9. The trap will be sampled intermittently (i.e., 3 to 5 days per week) through June. Four Age 1+ O. mykiss were captured during the first week of sampling.
San Joaquin River Conditions. San Joaquin River flows at Vernalis decreased from 2,470 cfs to 1,340 cfs between October 26 and November 8. Water temperatures in the San Joaquin River fluctuated between 54.3�F and 64.9�F. Average daily dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River fluctuated between 8.3 mg/L and 10.0 mg/L.
Delta Exports. Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) exhibited an overall decreasing trend during the reporting period ranging from 7,928 cfs to 3,469 cfs.
We encourage subscribers to contribute any relevant information for future issues of the newsletter (e.g., additional monitoring studies, announcements of upcoming meetings and events, etc). If you would like to contribute, please contact Chrissy Sonke.
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2009 Stanislaus River Weir Monitoring
Between October 26 and November 8 a total of 215 fall-run Chinook salmon were detected as they passed upstream of the Stanislaus River  Weir increasing the  season total to 801. Daily passage ranged between three and 26 Chinook salmon. Total year to date passage of Chinook salmon this year is similar to total passage during the same period in 2008 (Table 1 and Figure 1).
Zero O. mykiss were detected passing the weir during the reporting period however a total of five O. mykiss were detected as they passed upstream of the weir this season thus far. Length measurements were not available for all of the detected O. mykiss due to some technical difficulties with the Vaki Riverwatcher (Table 2).
Table 1. Annual Fall-run Chinook passage prior to November 8, 2003-2009.
Table 2. Passage date, passage direction, total length, and age class for O. mykiss detected at the Stanislaus River Weir.
Figure 1. Cumulative Chinook salmon upstream passage recorded at the Stanislaus River Weir, 2003 to 2009.
 Daily average flow in the Stanislaus River at Goodwin Dam (GDW; RM 58) decreased from a fall-run migration attraction pulse flow of 1,500 cfs to a base flow of 250 cfs (Figure 2). Flows at Ripon (RIP; RM 15) ranged between 1,150 cfs and 306 cfs (Figure 3). Note: flows downstream of Goodwin Dam may be higher than dam releases due to irrigation returns and other factors. Instantaneous water temperatures measured at the weir ranged between 51.4˚F and 57.6˚F and daily average water temperatures at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged between 53.8˚F and 58.4˚ (Figure 4). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.1 NTU and 1.7 NTU (Figure 5). Instantaneous dissolved oxygen ranged between 9.4 mg/L and 10.5 mg/L and daily average dissolved oxygen at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged between 6.7 mg/L and 11.1 mg/L (Figure 6).
 Figure 3. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Stanislaus River Weir in relation to instantaneous water temperature recorded at the weir and daily average water temperature recorded in the Stanislaus River at Ripon (RPN) and in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis (VER), Mossdale (MSD) and Rough & Ready (RRI), 2009.
Figure 4. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Stanislaus River Weir in relation to instantaneous turbidity recorded at the weir, 2009.
Figure 5. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Stanislaus River Weir in relation to instantaneous dissolved oxygen recorded at the weir and daily average dissolved oxygen recorded in the Stanislaus River at Ripon (RPN) and in the San Joaquin River at Mossdale (MSD) and Rough & Ready (RRI), 2009.
Figure 6. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Stanislaus River Weir in relation to daily average flows (cfs) recorded in the Stanislaus River at Goodwin (GDW) and Ripon (RIP) and in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis (VNS), 2009.
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2009 Tuolumne River Weir Monitoring
Between October 26 and November 8 a total of 82 Chinook salmon were detected as  they passed upstream of the Tuolumne River Weir increasing the season total to 107. Daily passage ranged between one and 19 Chinook. On November 7 one Age 1+ (100-299 mm) O. mykiss was detected passing upstream of the weir and total length was estimated to be 276 mm. Daily average  flow in the Tuolumne River at La Grange (LGN; RM 51.8) was relatively stable ranging from 238 cfs to 241 cfs. Flow at Modesto (MOD; RM 17) ranged between 258 cfs and 357 cfs (Figure 7; Figure 8). Note: flows at Modesto may be higher than La Grange due to accretion and Dry Creek inflow. Instantaneous water temperatures measured at the weir ranged between 54.0˚F and 60.6˚F and daily average water temperatures at Modesto (MOD; RM 17) ranged between 55.7˚F and 61.0˚F (Figure 9). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.5 NTU and 1.3 NTU (Figure 10), and instantaneous dissolved oxygen ranged between 7.0 mg/L and 10.5 mg/L (Figure 11). Figure 8. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Tuolumne River Weir in relation to instantaneous water temperature recorded at the weir and daily average water temperature recorded in the Tuolumne River at Modesto (MOD) and in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis (VER), Mossdale (MSD) and Rough & Ready (RRI), 2009.
Figure 9. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Tuolumne River Weir in relation to instantaneous turbidity recorded at the weir, 2009.
Figure 10. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Tuolumne River Weir in relation to instantaneous dissolved oxygen recorded at the weir and daily average dissolved oxygen recorded in the San Joaquin River at Mossdale (MSD) and Rough & Ready (RRI), 2009.
Figure 11. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Tuolumne River Weir in relation to daily average flows (cfs) recorded in the Tuolumne River at La Grange (LGN) and Modesto (MOD) and in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis (VNS), 2009.
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2009 San Joaquin Basin Escapement Surveys
Annual carcass surveys conducted by CDFG continued during the reporting period. Similar to 2008, numbers are low on all tributaries with live counts of 181 Chinook on the Stanislaus, 29 on the Tuolumne, and 50 on the Merced Rivers during the week of November 2. During the same week redd counts of 136 Chinook on the Stanislaus, eight on the Tuolumne, and 23 on the Merced Rivers were recorded.
Eight female salmon were spawned at the Merced River Fish Facility (MRFF) during the week of November 2.
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Mokelumne River Fish Ladder Monitoring
Fall-run Chinook salmon returning to the Mokelumne are
counted annually by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) as they ascend
the fish ladder at Woodbridge Dam. Between October 26 and November 8 a total
of 564 Chinook salmon were detected as they passed through the Woodbridge Dam
fish ladder increasing the season total to 1,508. Daily passage ranged between
nine and 103 Chinook.
Daily
average flow in the Mokelumne River at Camanche Dam (CMN) fluctuated between
328 cfs and 606 cfs.
Figure 12. Daily upstream Chinook passage recorded at the Woodbridge Dam fish ladder in relation to daily average flows (cfs) recorded in the Mokelumne River at Camanche Reservoir (CMN), 2009.
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During the reporting period, flows in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis decreased from 2,470 cfs to 1,340 cfs between October 26 and November 8 (Figure 13). Water temperatures in the San Joaquin River fluctuated ranging between 54.3�F and 60.6�F at Vernalis; between 55.1�F and 62.0�F at Mossdale; and between 59.8�F and 64.9�F at Rough 'n Ready Island (Figure 14). Average daily dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River fluctuated between 8.3 mg/L and 10.0 mg/L in the deep water ship channel (measured at Rough 'n Ready Island) and fluctuated between 8.9 mg/L and 9.7 mg/L at Mossdale (Figure 15).
Figure 13. San Joaquin River flow at Vernalis, October 1, 2008 through November 8, 2009.
Figure 14. San Joaquin River daily average water temperature at Vernalis, Mossdale, and Rough 'n Ready, October 1, 2008 through November 8, 2009.
Figure 15. San Joaquin daily average dissolved oxygen at Mossdale and Rough 'n Ready, October 1, 2008 through November 8, 2009. |
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Delta Exports
Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) exhibited an overall decreasing trend during the reporting period ranging between 7,928 cfs and 3,469 cfs. Mean daily pumping at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant (state pumps) ranged between zero cfs and 3,856 cfs. Mean daily pumping at the C.W. Jones Pumping Plant (federal pumps previously known as Tracy Pumping Plant) ranged between 3,455 cfs and 4,089 cfs (Figure 16).
Figure 16. Daily exports at the C.W. Jones Pumping Plant (federal) and Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant (state), October 1, 2008 through November 8, 2009.
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