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Volume 2013/14, Issue 7
| December 23, 2013 |
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Fish Passage Design & Engineering Field SchoolJanuary 14-16
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Key Highlights
December 2, 2013 - December 15, 2013
Stanislaus River Weir Monitoring continued and 5,401 Chinook salmon have passed upstream through the weir this year.
Tuolumne River Weir Monitoring continued and 3,607 Chinook salmon have passed upstream through the weir this year.
Mokelumne River Woodbridge Dam Fish Ladder Monitoring continued and 12,163 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 December 9.
Calaveras River Juvenile Migration Monitoring continued at Shelton Road (RM 28) and a total of 22 O. mykiss were captured, increasing the season total to 48.
San Joaquin River Conditions. San Joaquin River flow at Vernalis ranged from 988 cfs to 1,113 cfs. Daily average water temperature in the San Joaquin River ranged from 42.8�F to 52.8�F at Vernalis, and from 43.8�F to 53.7�F at Mossdale. Daily average dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River ranged from 10.1 mg/L to 11.7 mg/L at Mossdale, and from 8.4 mg/L to 9.8 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 1,966 cfs to 4,033 cfs. |
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2013 Stanislaus River Weir Adult Migration Monitoring
A total of 141 Chinook salmon were detected passing upstream of the Stanislaus River Weir (RM 31) between December 2 and December 15, increasing the season  total to 5,401 (Figure 1). Daily passage ranged between 2 and 24 Chinook salmon. Year-to-date passage in 2013 is lower than during the same period in 2012 when 7,110 Chinook salmon were counted through December 15 (Table 1), but is still greater than year-to-date counts in all other years.
No O. mykiss were detected passing upstream during the reporting period. The season total remains at 20.
Instantaneous water temperature measured at the weir ranged between 43.1˚F and 51.6˚F, and daily average water temperature at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged between 43.0˚F and 51.9˚F (Figure 3). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.67 NTU and 2.33 NTU (Figure 4). Instantaneous dissolved oxygen at the weir ranged between 8.82 mg/L and 13.15 mg/L, and daily average dissolved oxygen at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged from 10.40 mg/L to 12.20 mg/L (Figure 5).
Daily average flows in the Stanislaus River at Goodwin Dam (GDW; RM 58) ranged from 202 cfs to 209 cfs. Flows at Ripon (RIP; RM 15) ranged from 248 cfs to 258 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 103 Chinook salmon were detected passing upstream of the Tuolumne River Weir (RM 24) between December 2 and December 15, increasing the season total to 3,607 (Figure 1). Daily passage ranged between 4 and 18 Chinook salmon (Figure 6). Year-to-date passage is higher than any other year 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 ranged from 161 cfs to 169 cfs at La Grange (LGN; RM 50) and from 197 cfs and 214 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 45.2˚F and 55.0˚F and daily average water temperature at Modesto (MOD; RM 17) ranged between 43.2˚F and 52.3˚F (Figure 8). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.52 NTU and 1.99 NTU (Figure 9), and instantaneous dissolved oxygen ranged between 8.47 mg/L and 12.77 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 River 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 349 Chinook salmon were observed passing upstream of the dam between December 2 and December 15, increasing the season total to 12,163 (Figure 11). Daily passages ranged between 6 and 69 Chinook salmon. During the reporting period, daily average flow in the Mokelumne River fluctuated between 255 cfs and 258 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 December 9. Counts of live fish observed on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers have been decreasing since the week of November 11. Current live counts for the week of December 9 were 57, 93 and 49 Chinook salmon, respectively.
Redd counts have also been decreasing since the week of November 11. A total of 97 redds were observed on the Stanislaus River, 194 on the Tuolumne River, and 22 were recorded on the Merced River during the week of December 9. Spawning activity is expected to continue to decrease as the season comes to a close.
A total of 418 females have been spawned at the Merced River Fish Facility (MRFF) as of December 15. A total of 299 females had been spawned by this time last year.
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2013/14 Calaveras River Juvenile Migration Monitoring
The Calaveras River rotary screw trap at Shelton Road (RM 28) operated nine days between December 2 and December 15 and a total of 22 O. mykiss were captured,  increasing the season total to 48. Daily catches ranged from 0 to 7 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.
No Chinook salmon were captured and the season total remains at 11.
Instantaneous temperature recorded at the trap ranged from 42.0�F to 52.8�F, and turbidity ranged from 0.64 NTU to 2.03 NTU. During the reporting period, daily average combined flow from New Hogan Dam (NHG) and Cosgrove Creek (COS) was stable at 26 cfs, and at Bellota (MRS) flow ranged between 8 cfs and 21 cfs (Figure 12).
Table 3. Biosampling data for O. mykiss captured at Shelton Road between December 2 and December 15, 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 ranged from 988 cfs to 1,113 cfs (Figure 13). Water temperature in the San Joaquin River ranged from 42.8�F to 52.8�F at Vernalis, from 43.8�F to 53.7�F at Mossdale, and from 48.5�F to 55.1�F at Rough 'n Ready Island (Figure 14). Average daily dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River fluctuated from 8.4 mg/L to 9.8 mg/L in the deep-water ship channel (measured at Rough 'n Ready Island), and from 10.1 mg/L to 11.7 mg/L at Mossdale (Figure 15).
Figure 13. San Joaquin River flow at Vernalis from December 1, 2012, and December 15, 2013.
Figure 14. San Joaquin River daily average water temperature at Vernalis, Mossdale, and Rough 'n Ready from December 1, 2012, and December 15, 2013.
Figure 15. San Joaquin River daily average dissolved oxygen at Mossdale and Rough 'n Ready, from December 1, 2012, and December 15, 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 986 cfs to 996 cfs (Figure 16). Mean daily pumping at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant (state pumps) ranged from 1,180 cfs to 3,041 cfs. Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) during this period ranged from 1,966 cfs to 4,033 cfs.
Figure 16. Daily exports at the state and federal pumping stations from December 1, 2012, and December 15, 2013.
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