Volume 2010/11, Issue 5
| December 2, 2010 |
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HTI Advanced Post-Processing Workshop:
Dec. 7-8
VAMP Biology Meeting:
Dec. 14
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Photo by FISHBIO.
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Key Highlights
Calaveras River Juvenile Migration Monitoring at Shelton Road (RM 28) was initiated immediately after installation of the rotary screw trap on November 1. A total of eight O. mykiss were captured during the reporting period.
Stanislaus River Weir Monitoring continued during the reporting period and 1,229 Chinook salmon have been counted as of November 21.
Tuolumne River Weir Monitoring continued during the reporting period and 684 Chinook salmon have been counted as of November 21.
Merced River. As of November 19, twenty-seven Chinook salmon have been spawned at the Merced River Fish Facility.
San Joaquin Basin Escapement Surveys. Annual carcass surveys conducted by California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) continued during the week of November 15. A total of 75 Chinook were observed on the Tuolumne River, 348 on the Stanislaus River and 196 on the Merced River.
Mokelumne River Woodbridge Dam Fish Ladder Monitoring. As of November 21, a total of 6,158 Chinook passed upstream of the dam.
San Joaquin River Conditions. San Joaquin River flows at Vernalis ranged between 1,589 cfs and 2,727 cfs. Water temperatures in the San Joaquin River ranged between 54.3�F and 63.0�F. Average daily dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River fluctuated between 8.5 mg/L and 9.9 mg/L at Mossdale, and between 7.5 mg/L and 8.2 mg/L at Rough 'n Ready.
Delta Exports.Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) fluctuated during the reporting period and ranged from 5,668 cfs to 10,855 cfs.
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2010/11 Calaveras River Juvenile Migration Monitoring
 | | Figure 1. O. mykiss captured at Shelton Road rotary screw trap. |
The Calaveras River rotary screw trap at Shelton Road (RM 28) was operated twelve days between November 1 and November 21. A total of eight O. mykiss were captured during the reporting period, with daily catches ranging between zero and two individuals (Figure 1). All eight O. mykiss captured were Age 1+ (100-299 mm) and were rated as parr (n=1) and silvery parr (n=7). Average forklengths and weights of O. mykiss are provided in Table 1.
No Chinook salmon were captured during this reporting period.
Instantaneous temperature recorded at the trap ranged from 51.4�F to 57.7�F, and turbidity ranged from 0.60 NTU to 4.46 NTU. Daily average flow fluctuated between 25 cfs and 96 cfs at New Hogan Dam (NHG), 0 cfs to 35 cfs at Bellota (MRS), and 0 cfs to 16 cfs at Cosgrove Creek (COS; Figure 2).
Table 1. Biosampling data for O. mykiss captured at Shelton Road between November 1 and November 21, 2010. Parenthesis indicates range.
Figure 2. Daily O. mykiss catch at Shelton Road, and Calaveras River flow recorded by New Hogan Dam (NHG) and Cosgrove Creek (COS) combined and flow recorded at Bellota (MRS), between November 1 and November 21, 2010.
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2010/11 Stanislaus River Weir Monitoring
 | | Figure 3. Live and dead Chinook salmon in the Stanislaus River. Read more about Chinook salmon on our Field Notes page. |
Between November 1 and November 21 a total of 550 fall-run Chinook salmon were detected by the Vaki Riverwatcher as they passed upstream of the Stanislaus River weir, increasing the season total to 1,229 (Figures 3). Daily passage ranged from 2 to 109 Chinook (Figure 5). The number of Chinook passages observed so far this year is consistent with passages observed during this period last year (Table 2; Figure 4).
Instantaneous water temperature measured at the weir ranged between 51.2˚F and 60.4˚F, and daily average water temperature at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged between 53.8˚F and 60.8˚F (Figure 6). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.62 NTU and 3.72 NTU (Figure 7). Instantaneous dissolved oxygen at the weir ranged between 8.74 mg/L and 10.66 mg/L, and daily average dissolved oxygen at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged from 9.25 mg/L to 10.70 mg/L (Figure 8).
Daily average flows in the Stanislaus River at Goodwin Dam (GDW; RM 58) remained stable between 200 cfs and 207 cfs. Flows at Ripon (RIP; RM 15) fluctuated between 238 cfs and 345 cfs. Note: flows downstream of Goodwin Dam may differ from dam releases due to irrigation, precipitation and other factors.
Table 2. Annual fall-run Chinook passage prior to November 21, 2003-2010.
  Figure 4. Cumulative passage of fall-run Chinook salmon recorded at the Stanislaus River weir from 2003-2010.
Figure 5. Daily upstream Chinook passage 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) in 2010.
Figure 6. 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) in 2010.
Figure 7. Daily upstream Chinook passage at the Stanislaus River weir in relation to instantaneous turbidity recorded at the weir in 2010.
Figure 8. Daily upstream Chinook passage 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) in 2010.
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2010/10 Tuolumne River Weir Monitoring
Between November 1 and November 21 a total of 197 Chinook salmon were detected by the Vaki Riverwatcher as they passed upstream of the Tuolumne River weir, increasing the season total to 684 (Figures 9). Daily passage ranged from 2 to 25 Chinook (Figure 10). The number of Chinook passages observed so far this year has exceeded the total passage count observed last year (Table 3).
Instantaneous water temperature measured at the weir ranged between 54.5˚F and 60.7˚F. Daily average water temperature at Modesto (MOD; RM 17) was not available during the reporting period (Figure 11). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.80 NTU and 3.40 NTU (Figure 12), and instantaneous dissolved oxygen ranged between 7.72 mg/L and 10.87 mg/L (Figure 13).
Daily average flows in the Tuolumne River remained stable between 358 cfs and 362 cfs at La Grange (LGN; RM 50) and from 417 cfs to 496 cfs at Modesto (MOD; RM 17). Note: flows downstream of La Grange may be higher than dam releases due to accretion and Dry Creek inflow.
Table 3. Annual fall-run Chinook passage prior to November 21, 2009 and 2010.
 
Figure 9. Cumulative passage of fall-run Chinook salmon recorded at the Tuolumne River weir in 2009 and 2010.
Figure 10. Daily upstream Chinook passage 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) and Maze Road Bridge (MRB) in 2010.
Figure 11. Daily upstream Chinook passage 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 Maze Road Bridge (MRB), Vernalis (VER), Mossdale (MSD) and Rough & Ready (RRI) in 2010.
Figure 12. Daily upstream Chinook passage at the Tuolumne River weir in relation to instantaneous turbidity recorded at the weir in 2010.
Figure 13. Daily upstream Chinook passage 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) in 2010.
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Merced River Conditions
CDFG reported that 13 salmon were spawned at Merced River Fish Facility as of November 19 increasing the season total to 27. During carcass surveys conducted the week of November 15, a total of 196 live Chinook and 152 redds were observed.
During the reporting period, flows in the Merced River at Cressy (CRS; RM 52) fluctuated from 203 cfs to 395 cfs, and at Stevinson (MST; RM 5) from 319 cfs to 845 cfs (Figure 14). Water temperatures in the Merced River decreased from 60.6�F to 55.2�F at Cressy, and from 67.9�F to 52.1�F at Stevinson (Figure 15).
Figure 14. Daily average flows (cfs) recorded in the Merced River at Cressy (CRS) and Stevinson (MST) in 2010.
Figure 15. Daily average water temperatures (�F) recorded in the Merced River at Cressy (CRS) and Stevinson (MST) in 2010.
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San Joaquin Basin Escapement Surveys
 | | Figure 16. Salmon tagged during escapement surveys. Read more about escapement surveys on our Field Notes page. |
Annual carcass surveys conducted by CDFG continued during the week of November 15 (Figure 16). The largest number of live fish was observed on the Stanislaus River with 348, followed by the Tuolumne River with 75 and the Merced River with 196 Chinook.
The number of redds increased during the reporting period with 280 redds observed on the Stanislaus River, 105 on the Tuolumne River and 152 on the Merced River.
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Mokelumne River Woodbridge Dam 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. As of November 21, a total of 6,158 Chinook have passed upstream of the dam this season (Figure 17).
Figure 17. 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) in 2010. Note: Graph does not include fish observed before September 22.
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San Joaquin Conditions
During the reporting period, flows generally decreased in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis ranging from 2,727 cfs to 1,589 cfs (Figure 18). Water temperatures in the San Joaquin River fluctuated between 53.7�F and 62.2�F at Vernalis, between 54.3�F and 63.0�F at Mossdale, and between 58.1�F and 62.2�F at Rough 'n Ready Island (Figure 19). Average daily dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River fluctuated from 7.7 mg/L to 8.2 mg/L in the deep water ship channel (measured at Rough 'n Ready Island), and between 8.5 mg/L and 9.9 mg/L at Mossdale (Figure 20).
Figure 18. San Joaquin River flows at Vernalis from November 1, 2009 through November 21, 2010.
Figure 19. San Joaquin River daily average water temperatures at Vernalis, Mossdale, and Rough 'n Ready from November 1, 2009 through November 21, 2010.
Figure 20. San Joaquin daily average dissolved oxygen at Mossdale and Rough 'n Ready, from November 1, 2009 through November 21, 2010.
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Delta Exports
Mean daily pumping at the C.W. Jones Pumping Plant (federal pumps previously known as Tracy Pumping Plant) remained relatively stable during the reporting period and fluctuated between 3,913 cfs and 4,226 cfs (Figure 21). Mean daily pumping at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant (state pumps) ranged between 1,549 cfs and 6,629 cfs. Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) during this period ranged from 5,668 cfs to 10,855 cfs.
Figure 21. Daily exports at the state and federal pumping stations from November 1, 2009 through November 21, 2010.
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