Over the last six years, the Water Forum has partnered with the Bureau of Reclamation, the City and County of Sacramento and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to provide 140 thousand square feet of spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead trout and Chinook salmon in the lower American River. The project began earlier this month to create a habitat for salmon to swim upstream to the hatchery – below the Nimbus Dam.
“The Water Forum is pleased to continue this partnership with the City of Sacramento, County of Sacramento, Bureau, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Native and threatened fish like salmon and steelhead trout need gravel or small round river rocks for spawning,” said Tom Gohring, Executive Director of the Water Forum.
Using river-friendly front-end loaders, bulldozers and other heavy equipment, City Utilities equipment operators excavate a channel along the river and add gravel to the main river channel to create a spawning habitat. For weeks, many motorists and those enjoying recreation in the area west of the Nimbus Dam and Hazel Avenue, may have noticed the construction. The gravel and channel helps the fish construct nests, assists in survival of eggs, and provides a habitat for the offspring to thrive along the American River.
This Project is one of many to help meet the requirements of the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Section 3406 (b)(13), to restore and replenish spawning gravel and rearing habitat.