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Volume 2013/14, Issue 5
| November 19, 2013 |
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Stanislaus River Honolulu Bar Revegetation |
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Key Highlights
October 28, 2013 - November 10, 2013
Stanislaus River Weir Monitoring continued and 4,341 Chinook salmon have passed upstream through the weir this year.
Tuolumne River Weir Monitoring continued and 2,834 Chinook salmon have passed upstream through the weir this year.
Mokelumne River Woodbridge Dam Fish Ladder Monitoring continued and 7,166 Chinook salmon passed upstream of the dam this year.
San Joaquin Basin Escapement Surveys conducted by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) continued through the week of November 4.
Calaveras River Juvenile Migration Monitoring at the Shelton Road (RM 28) rotary screw trap was initiated on November 5. A total of 18 O. mykiss and 9 Chinook salmon were captured during the reporting period.
San Joaquin River Conditions. San Joaquin River flow at Vernalis decreased from 2,671 cfs to 1,080 cfs. Daily average water temperature in the San Joaquin River ranged from 54.3�F to 57.9�F at Vernalis, and from 54.8�F to 58.4�F at Mossdale. Daily average dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River ranged from 9.1 mg/L to 10.0 mg/L at Mossdale, and from 8.7 mg/L to 9.0 mg/L in the deep-water ship channel (measured at Rough 'n Ready Island).
Delta Exports. Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) fluctuated during the reporting period, ranging from 1,623 cfs to 5,501 cfs.
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2013 Stanislaus River Weir Adult Migration Monitoring
A total of 2,751 Chinook salmon were detected passing upstream of the Stanislaus River Weir (RM 31) between October 28 and November 10, increasing the season  total to 4,341 (Figure 1). Daily passage ranged between 4 and 93 Chinook salmon. Year-to-date passage in 2013 is lower than during the same period in 2012 when 5,882 Chinook salmon were counted through November 10 (Table 1).
One O. mykiss was detected passing upstream during the reporting period, increasing the season total to twelve.
Instantaneous water temperature measured at the weir ranged between 53.6˚F and 56.1˚F, and daily average water temperature at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged between 54.0˚F and 56.7˚F (Figure 3). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.93 NTU and 3.21 NTU (Figure 4). Instantaneous dissolved oxygen at the weir ranged between 9.91 mg/L and 13.25 mg/L, and daily average dissolved oxygen at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged from 9.47 mg/L to 10.15 mg/L (Figure 5).
Daily average flows in the Stanislaus River at Goodwin Dam (GDW; RM 58) decreased from 912 cfs to 252 cfs. Flows at Ripon (RIP; RM 15) decreased from 1,090 cfs to 324 cfs (Figure 1). Note: flows downstream of Goodwin Dam may differ from dam releases due to irrigation, precipitation, and other factors.
Table 1. Annual fall-run Chinook passage at the Stanislaus River weir, 2003-2013.
Figure 1. Cumulative passage of fall-run Chinook salmon recorded at the Stanislaus River weir from 2003-2013.
Figure 2. 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), 2013.
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) in 2013.
Figure 4. Daily upstream Chinook passage at the Stanislaus River weir in relation to instantaneous turbidity recorded at the weir in 2013.
Figure 5. 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 2013.
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2013 Tuolumne River Weir Adult Migration Monitoring
A total of 777 Chinook salmon were detected passing upstream of the Tuolumne River Weir (RM 24) between October 28 and November 10, increasing the season  total to 2,834 (Figure 1). Daily passage ranged between 4 and 185 Chinook salmon (Figure 6). Year-to-date passage is higher than any other year and is nearing the highest season total observed since monitoring began in 2009 (Table 2).
No O. mykiss have been detected at the Tuolumne River weir this season.
Daily average flow in the Tuolumne River decreased from 457 cfs to 160 cfs at La Grange (LGN; RM 50) and 630 cfs and 179 cfs at Modesto (MOD; RM 17) (Figure 7). Note: flows downstream of La Grange may be higher than dam releases due to accretion and Dry Creek inflow.
Instantaneous water temperature measured at the weir ranged between 55.2˚F and 59.5˚F and daily average water temperature at Modesto (MOD; RM 17) ranged between 55.0˚F and 56.7˚F (Figure 8). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.62 NTU and 2.28 NTU (Figure 9), and instantaneous dissolved oxygen ranged between 8.90 mg/L and 12.28 mg/L (Figure 10).
Table 2. Annual Fall-run Chinook salmon passage, 2009 - 2013.
Figure 6. Fall-Run Chinook salmon cumulative passage recorded at the Tuolumne River Weir in 2009 - 2013.
Figure 7. 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 Maze Road Bridge (MRB) and Vernalis (VNS) in 2013.
Figure 8. 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 2013.
Figure 9. Daily upstream Chinook passage at the Tuolumne River Weir in relation to instantaneous turbidity recorded at the weir in 2013.
Figure 10. 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 2013.
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2013 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. Video monitoring continued during the reporting period and 4,620 Chinook salmon were observed passing upstream of the dam between October 28 and November 10, increasing the season total to 7,166 (Figure 11). Daily passages ranged between 81 and 875 Chinook salmon. During the reporting period, daily average flow in the Mokelumne River fluctuated between 255 cfs and 374 cfs at Camanche Reservoir (CMN).
Figure 11. 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 2013.
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San Joaquin Basin Escapement Surveys
Annual carcass surveys conducted by CDFW continued through the week of November 4. Counts of live fish observed on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers continued to increase, with 865, 841 and 743 Chinook salmon observed, respectively.
Redd counts also increased and a total of 798 redds were observed on the Stanislaus River, 448 on the Tuolumne River, and 335 were recorded on the Merced River. A peak in the number of redds observed for the fall-run season typically occurs in mid- to late-November.
A total of 194 females have been spawned at the Merced River Fish Facility (MRFF) as of November 10. Only 79 females had been spawned by this time last year.
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2013/14 Calaveras River Juvenile Migration Monitoring
Calaveras River rotary screw trap monitoring at Shelton Road (RM 28) began monitoring on November 5. The trap was operated four days between November 5  and November 10 and a total of 18 O. mykiss were captured during the reporting period. Daily catches ranged from 0 to 11 individuals (Figure 1), and all O. mykiss captured were Age 1+ (100-299 mm) and were rated as silvery parr. Average forklengths and weights of O. mykiss are provided in Table 3.
Nine Chinook salmon were captured during this reporting period.
Instantaneous temperature recorded at the trap ranged from 51.4�F to 53.4�F, and turbidity ranged from 0.99 NTU to 1.98 NTU. During the reporting period, daily average combined flow from New Hogan Dam (NHG) and Cosgrove Creek (COS) ranged between 31 cfs and 39 cfs, and at Bellota (MRS) flow ranged between 12 cfs and 21 cfs (Figure 12).
Table 3. Biosampling data for O. mykiss captured at Shelton Road between November 5 and November 10, 2013. Parenthesis indicates range.
Figure 12. 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), in 2013.
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San Joaquin River Conditions
During the reporting period, flow in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis decreased from 2,671 cfs to 1,080 cfs (Figure 13). Water temperature in the San Joaquin River ranged from 54.3�F to 57.9�F at Vernalis, from 54.8�F to 58.4�F at Mossdale, and from 58.4�F to 62.4�F at Rough 'n Ready Island (Figure 14). Average daily dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River fluctuated from 8.7 mg/L to 9.0 mg/L in the deep-water ship channel (measured at Rough 'n Ready Island), and from 9.1 mg/L to 10.0 mg/L at Mossdale (Figure 15).
Figure 13. San Joaquin River flow at Vernalis from November 1, 2012, and November 10, 2013.
Figure 14. San Joaquin River daily average water temperature at Vernalis, Mossdale, and Rough 'n Ready from November 1, 2012, and November 10, 2013.
Figure 15. San Joaquin River daily average dissolved oxygen at Mossdale and Rough 'n Ready, from November 1, 2012, and November 10, 2013.
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Delta Exports
Mean daily pumping at the C.W. Jones Pumping Plant (federal pumps previously known as Tracy Pumping Plant) ranged from 809 cfs to 2,513 cfs (Figure 16). Mean daily pumping at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant (state pumps) ranged from 805 cfs to 3,200 cfs. Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) during this period ranged from 1,623 cfs to 5,501 cfs.
Figure 16. Daily exports at the state and federal pumping stations from November 1, 2012, and November 10, 2013.
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