Dam removal and anadromous salmonid (Oncorhynchus spp.) conservation in California

Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (Springer) | June 4th, 2014

Dam removal is often proposed for restoration of anadromous salmonid populations, which are in serious decline in California. However, the benefits of dam removal vary du

Dam removal is often proposed for restoration of anadromous salmonid populations, which are in serious decline in California. However, the benefits of dam removal vary due to differences in affected populations and potential for environmental impacts. Here, we develop an assessment method to examine the relationship between dam removal and salmonid conservation, focusing on dams that act as complete migration barriers. Specifically, we (1) review the effects of dams on anadromous salmonids, (2) describe factors specific to dam removal in California, (3) propose a method to evaluate dam removal effects on salmonids, (4) apply this method to evaluate 24 dams, and (5) discuss potential effects of removing four dams on the Klamath River. Our flexible rating system can rapidly assess the likely effects of dam removal, as a first step in the prioritization of multiple dam removals. We rated eight dams proposed for removal and compared them with another 16 dams, which are not candidates for removal. Twelve of the 24 dams evaluated had scores that indicated at least a moderate benefit to salmonids following removal. In particular, scores indicated that removal of the four dams on the Klamath River is warranted for salmonid conservation. Ultimately, all dams will be abandoned, removed, or rebuilt even if the timespan is hundreds of years. Thus, periodic evaluation of the environmental benefits of dam removal is needed using criteria such as those presented in this paper.

Degradation of floodplain integrity within the contiguous United States

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | June 15th, 2023

Delta Islands and Levees Feasibility Study, Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | April 10th, 2014

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Water Resources propose to restore approximately 89.5 acres of lost or degraded tidal marsh habitat in t

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Water Resources propose to restore approximately 89.5 acres of lost or degraded tidal marsh habitat in the west central portion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The restoration work would involve transporting and placing dredged material into open water habitat to restore 80.3 acres and 9.2 acres of tidal marsh at Big Break and Little Franks Tract, respectively, in the Delta. The work would be conducted over 5 years as part of the annual operation and maintenance (O&M) dredging of the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel. Previously stockpiled dredged material from existing dredged material storage sites would also be placed in conjunction with O&M. The draft report describes the affected environment in the Big Break and Little Franks Tract area; evaluates the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects and the benefits of the tentatively selected plan and two alternative plans; and recommends avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures. Most potential adverse effects would either be short term and insignificant, or would be avoided or reduced to less than significance using best management practices. Beneficial effects on vegetation and wildlife, special status species, other resources, and the historic floodplain from the alternative plans are also discussed.

Delta Islands and Levees Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta, California Interim Integrated Feasibility Report/ Environmental Impact Statement

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | November 15th, 2018

USACE initiated the Delta Study in 2006 at the request of the DWR, the non-Federal sponsor for the study. USACE is the lead agency for the Feasibility Study and is also t

USACE initiated the Delta Study in 2006 at the request of the DWR, the non-Federal sponsor for the study. USACE is the lead agency for the Feasibility Study and is also the lead under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This report: (1) identifies flood risk management and ecosystem restoration problems and opportunities in the Delta; (2) develops and evaluates measures to solve identified problems; (3) formulates and compares alternatives for ecosystem restoration; and (4) identifies a Recommended Plan (RP) for implementation. A draft of this FR/EIS was concurrently released for public review, internal policy review, Agency Technical Review (ATR), and Independent External Peer Review (IEPR). The present report has been updated based on comments received during these reviews and finalized to present the RP for eventual authorization. The RP is the most reasonably efficient contribution to the Delta, restoring 340 acres of intertidal marsh habitat in the Delta at a cost of $25M. The RP provides a unique opportunity to restore intertidal marsh, habitat which is now greatly reduced in this ecosystem of national significance. The RP links the proposed ecosystem restoration actions to historic and ongoing USACE navigation projects, providing a cost effective mechanism to implement otherwise costly subsidence reversal goals. This action would restore habitat for multiple Federally listed species, notably salmonids and Delta smelt. The restored habitat would also benefit millions of migratory fowl on the Pacific Flyway as they travel through the Delta.

Delta Landscapes Executive Summary

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | December 1st, 2017

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta supplies freshwater to a large portion of California’s cities and agriculture, supports an agricultural economy and culture, and is hom

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta supplies freshwater to a large portion of California’s cities and agriculture, supports an agricultural economy and culture, and is home to native wildlife found nowhere else in the world. This complex region is hampered by many environmental challenges, including an over-allocated water supply, invasive species, water quality problems, novel ecosystems that no longer support desired functions, aging infrastructure, and a complex management structure. Beyond these challenges, sea level rise, other impacts from climate change, and earthquakes pose significant risks to Delta ecosystems, agriculture and water supply. There is general consensus that ecosystem restoration and planning for future resilience needs to take place, within the context of the Delta’s unique culture and economy. Imagining a healthy Delta ecosystem in the future and taking bold, concrete steps toward that future requires an understanding and vision of what that healthy ecosystem could look like. For a place as extensive, unique, and modified as the Delta, critical knowledge can be acquired through the study of the past, investigating the Delta as it existed just prior to the substantial human modifications of the past two centuries. Though the Delta is irrevocably altered, its history is still relevant. Underlying geologic and hydrologic processes still influence the landscape. Native species adapted to live in the historical ecosystems, so restoring functional landscapes that reflect historical patterns can increase the success of restoration efforts.  The Delta Landscapes project investigates the historical ecosystems of the Delta and how they have been modified in the current landscape in order to produce a holistic, aspirational approach to restoration of desired ecological functions. The project goes beyond immediate planning horizons and mandated protection of particular species to explore how restoration of large-scale processes of sediment and water could drive a broad suite of ecological benefits. Restoration or emulation of such processes requires large areas and long time scales. The Delta Landscapes project produced three reports, summarized here, that speak to the past, present, and potential future Delta. The final report, A Delta Renewed, provides a framework for how individual projects planned in the near-term can contribute to a coherent, long-term vision of improving ecosystem function across the Delta. The purpose of this planning framework is to foster more effective and economical restoration of desired functions in a smaller footprint, because each project is contributing to improving a larger system, than could be achieved by projects planned in isolation that each focus on more narrow, varied benefits. The project is purposefully conceived to address only ecological benefits, in the context of a working agricultural landscape with critical water-supply and cultural considerations. The reports can contribute to discussions where social and economic benefits are also evaluated in planning the future Delta landscape. A Delta Renewed User Guide was developed to help different audiences access the information in this report and apply it effectively.  This research was conducted at the request of the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) and the Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP). 

Delta Landscapes: A Delta Renewed User Guide

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | December 1st, 2017

A Delta Renewed User Guide aims to increase the accessibility of the technical findings in A Delta Renewed for easier application to restoration and conservation efforts

A Delta Renewed User Guide aims to increase the accessibility of the technical findings in A Delta Renewed for easier application to restoration and conservation efforts across the Delta. The recommendations in A Delta Renewed focus on landscape-scale ecological guidance. We present three examples of how the information in A Delta Renewed might be used to address different management and restoration questions. Because of the complexity of the Delta system, this guide does not address all possible questions and does not replace the need for detailed, site-specific data and expertise. Rather, it shows how the information in A Delta Renewed might provide a common foundation for restoration planning.  The User Guide was written for a broad audience, including restoration practitioners, landowners, and local, state and federal agencies. The guide provides a step-by-step path through A Delta Renewed; a user is walked through how to apply the findings of the report via a series of steps to address each of the three restoration and management questions. This process is intended to help the user access regionally-specific recommendations and strategies to plan and manage future Delta landscapes that can support desired ecological functions over the long term.  The goal of A Delta Renewed and this guide is not to recreate the Delta of the past. Rather, the objective is to understand how we can re-establish or mimic important natural processes and patterns within this altered system to support desirable ecological functions (such as healthy native fish populations, a productive food web, and support for endangered species), now and into the future. 

Delta Vision Strategic Plan

State of California | October 17th, 2008

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less th

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less than to create a vision to repair the ecological damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), and then prepare a strategic plan which would sustain the Delta in future decades while ensuring a reliable water supply for the two-thirds of California’s population who depend in whole or in part on water from the Delta.

Delta Vision Strategic Plan -- from Phil Isenberg, 1939-2023

State of California | October 17th, 2008

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less th

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less than to create a vision to repair the ecological damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), and then prepare a strategic plan which would sustain the Delta in future decades while ensuring a reliable water supply for the two-thirds of California’s population who depend in whole or in part on water from the Delta.

Delta Working Landscapes Program Final Report

Delta Protection Commission (DPC) | October 14th, 2013

The Delta Working Landscapes Program (Program) is a group of projects which demonstrate how farmers can integrate habitat restoration into farming practices. The objectiv

The Delta Working Landscapes Program (Program) is a group of projects which demonstrate how farmers can integrate habitat restoration into farming practices. The objectives of the Program are to improve the environmental quality of existing landscapes in the Delta; coordinate programs with local farmers; understand the social, economic, environmental and governmental policy hurdles and/or incentives to perform conservation practices; and communicate to farmers the advantages of implementing wildlife friendly agricultural practices. The Delta Protection Commission was awarded a three year grant to construct the program through the California Bay-Delta Program in 2005. Program partners included California Department of Fish and Wildlife Ecosystem Restoration Program, Hart Restoration (Hart) and Ducks Unlimited (DU). Hart established vegetative buffers along irrigation ditch banks and hedgerow grass plantings. These plantings were designed to provide habitat for wildlife, improve water quality by reducing runoff of pesticides and sediment, enhance levee stability, and retard levee erosion. DU coordinated restoration enhancement projects which included creating seasonal and permanent wetlands on marginal farmlands. These projects provide waterfowl brooding habitat, a food source, and additional habitat sites which promote healthier waterfowl flocks. These projects total 312 acres of seasonal and permanent wetlands and 6.5 miles enhanced levees and waterways. Project areas established native plant life, have been repopulated by wildlife, and filter agricultural drainage which improves water quality and enhances levee stability. Multiple species of waterfowl are using the restoration habitat for brooding and feeding as well as staying later into the season. No easements, MOUs, fee purchases, or eminent domain were used. Challenges to Working Landscapes projects include prior long term use of pesticides and herbicides which have created a hostile environment for native plants and wildlife. Additionally, some cultural practices are not conducive to habitat creation such as practices which rely on herbicides instead of tillage. Furthermore, economic costs are affiliated with physical land alterations, and in some cases permit requirements are cumbersome. Despite these challenges, successful public/private partnerships are possible. Working Landscapes projects can be expanded through better communication between policy and regulatory agencies and publicizing successful projects.

Delta Working Landscapes: Public and Private Partnerships for Habitat

Delta Protection Commission (DPC) | October 1st, 2012

The Delta Working Landscapes Program (Program) is a group of projects which demonstrate how farmers can integrate habitat restoration into farming practices. The objec

The Delta Working Landscapes Program (Program) is a group of projects which demonstrate how farmers can integrate habitat restoration into farming practices. The objectives of the Program are to improve the environmental quality of existing landscapes in the Delta; coordinate programs with local farmers; understand the social, economic, environmental and governmental policy hurdles and/or incentives to perform conservation practices; and communicate to farmers the advantages of implementing wildlife friendly agricultural practices. The Delta Protection Commission was awarded a three year grant to construct the program through the California Bay-Delta Program in 2005. Program partners included Hart Restoration (Hart) and Ducks Unlimited (DU). Hart established vegetative buffers along irrigation ditch banks and hedgerow grass plantings. These plantings were designed to provide habitat for wildlife, improve water quality by reducing runoff of pesticides and sediment, enhance levee stability, and retard levee erosion. DU coordinated restoration enhancement projects which included creating seasonal and permanent wetlands on marginal farmlands. These projects provide waterfowl brooding habitat, a food source, and additional habitat sites which promote healthier waterfowl flocks. To date, these projects total 312 acres of seasonal and permanent wetlands and 6.5 miles of enhanced levees and waterways. Many of the revegetated areas are thriving with native plant life, have been repopulated by wildlife, and filter agricultural drainage which improves water quality and enhances levee stability. Multiple species of waterfowl are using the restoration habitats for brooding and feeding as well as staying later into the season. Challenges to Working Landscapes projects include prior long term use of pesticides and herbicides which have created a hostile environment for native plants and wildlife. Additionally, some cultural practices are not conducive to habitat creation such as practices which rely on herbicides instead of tillage. Furthermore, economic costs are affiliated with physical land alterations, and in some cases permit requirements are cumbersome. Despite these challenges, successful public/private partnerships are possible. Working Landscapes projects can be expanded through better communication between policy and regulatory agencies and publicizing successful projects.