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State Fish and Game wants PG&E to put more water in Butte Creek for salmon

Posted by: Maven on July 2, 2009 at 1:45 pm

From the Chico Enterprise-Record:

The state Department of Fish and Game wants PG&E to put more water in Butte Creek to benefit salmon. The stream has one of the last remaining runs of naturally spawning spring-run salmon in California. It’s believed more water would contribute to keeping the run viable, and it might help prevent fish from being stranded downstream, said Joe Johnson, a senior environmental scientist with Fish and Game.

On Tuesday, 26 salmon were rescued by Fish and Game workers from the creek below Highway 99. The fish were caught with nets and trucked upstream. If they had been left in the creek, they would have died once the water warmed up, Johnson said.

Spring-run salmon in Butte Creek and other waters of the Sacramento River system are classified as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Special efforts have been made to restore them, such as removing dams and increasing water flows. These seem to have helped. The Butte Creek run, which once numbered only a few fish, has grown to several thousand in recent years.

This year, however, the numbers of salmon generally have been down. Johnson said it’s impossible to say exactly why because there are so many potential factors.

Read more from the Chico Enterprise Record by clicking here. Related coverage from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

July 2, 2009 · Filed Under Northern California

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