Today, partners in a two decade-old effort to benefit spring-run Chinook salmon gathered on the banks of Butte Creek to celebrate the program’s enduring success. Headlining the event this morning was Bruce Babbitt, who was Department of Interior Secretary in the late 1990s and participated in a similar ceremony twenty years ago to initiate the program with the removal of the McPherrin diversion dam.
This event commemorates the 20th anniversary of a diverse group of stakeholders coming together and collaborating in efforts to make structural improvements to Butte Creek with the goal of improving the numbers of spring-run Chinook salmon returning to the creek to spawn. At the time, the numbers of adult salmon were less than 100 in some years and the concern was that there would no longer be a spring-run on the creek.
Multiple projects were undertaken and sponsored by local landowners and water management entities, state and federal agencies, municipal water agencies from other parts of the state and conservation organizations to eliminate barriers to fish passage and enhance habitat throughout the system. These projects, along with water management in the upper reach of the creek to create functional flows for spawning and holding habitat and the fish food production and holding habitat provided downstream in the Sutter Bypass, created a comprehensive effort that addressed salmon needs for all lifecycle stages that occur in the creek. The result was swift, impressive and has been sustainable. Returning adult numbers are now measured in the thousands.
The lessons learned on Butte Creek twenty years ago provide a sound foundation of science to inform decisions being made today. The recognition that a program to recover the species must address all portions of the salmon’s life cycle is the basis of the Sacramento Valley Salmon Recovery Program, which is working to replicate the success on Butte Creek throughout the region. The Natural Resources Agency has also issued its Sacramento Valley Salmon Resiliency Strategy, which should serve as a further catalyst for efforts to help recover salmon in the Sacramento Valley (see last week’s NCWA blog).
The press release below provides more information from the event.
The following infographic describes the projects that were completed to enhance fish passage on Butte Creek.
Butte Creek Salmon Recovery 20th Anniversary
Celebrating environmental stewardship in our valley. Video of today's commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Butte Creek Salmon Recovery Program. Today's speakers included former US Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Jennifer Harrison has more.
Posted by Sacramento Valley Water on Thursday, June 15, 2017
