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Volume 2013/14, Issue 8
| January 7, 2014 |
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Fish Passage Design & Engineering Field SchoolJanuary 14-16
Salmonid Restoration Conference
March 19-22
Cal-Neva AFS Conference
March 27-29
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Key Highlights
December 16, 2013 - December 29, 2013
Stanislaus River Weir Monitoring continued and 5,434 Chinook salmon have passed upstream through the weir this year.
Tuolumne River Weir Monitoring continued and 3,696 Chinook salmon have passed upstream through the weir this year.
Mokelumne River Woodbridge Dam Fish Ladder Monitoring continued and 12,221 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 23.
Calaveras River Juvenile Migration Monitoring continued at Shelton Road (RM 28) and a total of 27 O. mykiss were captured, increasing the season total to 75.
Mokelumne River Juvenile Migration Monitoring at Vino Farms (RM 54) began on December 17 and a total of 12 Chinook salmon were captured.
Stanislaus River Juvenile Migration Monitoring began January 2.
Tuolumne River Juvenile Migration Monitoring began January 2.
San Joaquin River Conditions. San Joaquin River flow at Vernalis ranged from 959 cfs to 1,034 cfs. Daily average water temperature in the San Joaquin River ranged from 45.3�F to 48.4�F at Vernalis, and from 46.0�F to 48.9�F at Mossdale. Daily average dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River ranged from 11.5 mg/L to 12.2 mg/L at Mossdale, and from 10.0 mg/L to 11.0 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 1,248 cfs to 3,639 cfs. |
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2013 Stanislaus River Weir Adult Migration Monitoring
A total of 33 Chinook salmon were detected passing upstream of the Stanislaus River Weir (RM 31) between December 16 and December 29, increasing the season total to 5,434 (Figure 1). Daily passage ranged between 0 and 6 Chinook salmon. Year-to-date passage in 2013 is lower than during the same period in 2012, when 7,131 Chinook salmon were counted through December 29 (Table 1), but is still greater than the year-to-date total in all other years.
Two O. mykiss were detected passing upstream during the reporting period, increasing the season total to 22. Five of the O. mykiss observed were positively identified as adipose fin clipped.
Instantaneous water temperature measured at the weir ranged between 46.4˚F and 49.7˚F, and daily average water temperature at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged between 46.2˚F and 49.8˚F (Figure 3). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.40 NTU and 1.97 NTU (Figure 4). Instantaneous dissolved oxygen at the weir ranged between 10.24 mg/L and 12.94 mg/L, and daily average dissolved oxygen at Ripon (RPN; RM 15) ranged from 11.00 mg/L to 11.79 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 241 cfs to 251 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 89 Chinook salmon were detected passing upstream of the Tuolumne River Weir (RM 24) between December 16 and December 29, increasing the season total to  3,696 (Figure 1). Daily passage ranged between 0 and 31 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 163 cfs at La Grange (LGN; RM 50) from 199 cfs to 203 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 47.8˚F and 50.3˚F and daily average water temperature at Modesto (MOD; RM 17) ranged between 45.0˚F and 47.7˚F (Figure 8). Instantaneous turbidity ranged between 0.51 NTU and 1.94 NTU (Figure 9), and instantaneous dissolved oxygen ranged between 10.40 mg/L and 11.86 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 as they ascend the fish ladder at Woodbridge Dam. Video monitoring continued during the reporting period and 58 Chinook salmon were observed passing upstream of the dam between December 16 and December 24, increasing the season total to 12,221 (Figure 11). Daily passages ranged between 1 and 13 Chinook salmon. During the reporting period, daily average flow in the Mokelumne River was stable at 256 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 23. Counts of live fish observed on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers have been decreasing since the week of November 11. Live counts for the week of December 23 were 15, 61 and 14 Chinook salmon, respectively.
Redd counts have also been decreasing since the week of November 11. During the week of December 23, a total of 8 redds were observed on the Stanislaus River, 88 on the Tuolumne River, and 3 were recorded on the Merced River. 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 29. 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 10 days between December 16 and December 29 and a total of 27 O. mykiss were captured,  increasing the season total to 75. Daily catches ranged from 0 to 9 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 44.4�F to 48.2�F, and turbidity ranged from 0.54 NTU to 1.87 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 6 cfs and 18 cfs (Figure 12).
Table 3. Biosampling data for O. mykiss captured at Shelton Road between December 16 and December 29, 2013. Parentheses indicate 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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2013/14 Mokelumne River Juvenile Migration Monitoring
The Mokelumne River rotary screw trap at Vino Farms (RM 54) began operation on December 17 and was sampled intermittently during the reporting period. A total of 12 juvenile Chinook salmon were captured prior to December 24.
Average daily flow from Camanche Reservoir (CMN) was stable at 256 cfs (Figure 4). Instantaneous temperature ranged between 49.1�F and 51.4�F, and instantaneous turbidity ranged between 1.44 NTU and 2.24 NTU.
Figure 13. Daily juvenile Chinook catches at Vino Farms and Mokelumne River flow recorded at Camanche Reservoir (CMN), between December 1, 2013, and December 29, 2013.
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San Joaquin River Conditions
During the reporting period, flow in the San Joaquin River at Vernalis ranged from 959 cfs to 1,034 cfs (Figure 14). Water temperature in the San Joaquin River ranged from 45.3�F to 48.4�F at Vernalis, from 46.0�F to 48.9�F at Mossdale, and from 47.1�F to 48.1�F at Rough 'n Ready Island (Figure 15). Average daily dissolved oxygen (DO) in the San Joaquin River fluctuated from 10.0 mg/L to 11.0 mg/L in the deep-water ship channel (measured at Rough 'n Ready Island), and from 11.5 mg/L to 12.2 mg/L at Mossdale (Figure 16).
Figure 14. San Joaquin River flow at Vernalis from December 1, 2012, and December 29, 2013.
Figure 15. San Joaquin River daily average water temperature at Vernalis, Mossdale, and Rough 'n Ready from December 1, 2012, and December 29, 2013.
Figure 16. San Joaquin River daily average dissolved oxygen at Mossdale and Rough 'n Ready, from December 1, 2012, and December 29, 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 980 cfs to 989 cfs (Figure 17). Mean daily pumping at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant (state pumps) ranged from 263 cfs to 2,650 cfs. Combined total exports (state and federal pumps) during this period ranged from 1,248 cfs to 3,639 cfs.
Figure 17. Daily exports at the state and federal pumping stations from December 1, 2012, and December 29, 2013.
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