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CSPA's Suisun Creek Steelhead Restoration Program Update

by John Beuttler, Conservation Director
June 9, 2009 -- Suisun Creek lies in Napa and Solano counties and has a remnant steelhead run that migrates through Suisun Marsh near Fairfield into the Suisun Valley watershed. Given the importance of this run, CSPA has been working closely with local landowners, state agencies and the City of Vallejo to restore the habitat needed to recover the steelhead while this is still possible. Steelhead are listed under both the state and federal Endangered Species Acts.

During the first phase of the project we developed the Suisun Creek Watershed Enhancement Plan with our project consultant and subcontractor Laurel Marcus and Associates. In the spring of 2003 we received a $160,000 grant from the Coastal Conservancy to monitor the instream habitat and define the habitat restoration necessary to begin restoration of this fishery. After completing the watershed assessment and enhancement plan two years later, we obtained $580,000 of state funding under Proposition 50 to begin the Suisun Creek Watershed Restoration Program

We are now in the process of restoring the habitat required to reverse the steelhead decline and begin recovery. This phase of the project was to be completed by this June, but the Governor's response to the state's budget crisis resulted in freezing bond funding and temporarily delaying the project. We are currently in a holding pattern until funding is restored. Should all go well, we expect the funding to become available this July to complete the project by June of 2010.

The primary focus of our restoration work has been monitoring and developing instream flow and temperature regimes to sustain the steelhead and supporting food web. It includes restoring essential riparian vegetation to reduce erosion and provide shade to maintain proper water temperatures necessary for increased productivity and population sustainability.  This includes eradication of invasive plants, like arundo donax, and restoration of native plants and trees (box elder, willows, buckeye, valley oak, etc.) to reestablish the historic the riparian canopy.

Expectations for success are high and we'll keep providing updates on the progress of this program.