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Fish Passage Improvement Program (FPIP)

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Calaveras River

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Background

The Calaveras River, located in Calaveras and San Joaquin counties, is in the range of historical and essential fish habitat for fall-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and part of the historical distribution for the Central Valley steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In 1963, completion of the New Hogan Dam, located on the Calaveras River approximately 38 miles upstream from the confluence with the San Joaquin River, blocked all access to spawning habitat upstream of the dam. Downstream of New Hogan Dam, anadromous fish currently have access to suitable spawning habitat when flows permit. However, migration is hindered by numerous instream structures which have the potential to impair fish passage. These potential barriers include low-flow road crossings, bridges, dams, and other structures.


alt text Budiselich Dam Fish Passage Improvement Project COMPLETED! A rock ramp roughened channel fishway was designed by Fish Passage Improvement Program engineers and was constructed in September 2011.

Calaveras River Fish Migration Barriers Assessment Report

The CALFED Bay Delta Program has identified improvements to anadromous fish passage on the Calaveras River as a priority under its Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP). To further the protection and recovery of anadromous salmonids in this river system, DWR's Fish Passage Improvement Program (FPIP) prepared the Calaveras River Fish Migration Barriers Assessment Report. This publication provides an inventory and evaluation of potential barriers downstream of New Hogan Dam on the Calaveras River, the Mormon Slough flood control channel, and the Stockton Diverting Canal in Calaveras, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties. In addition, the report includes possible solutions to aid fish passage at the different types of barriers found in the system. Results of the report will be used in conjunction with salmon and steelhead life history data to identify and prioritize potential fish passage improvement projects and guide modification or removal of fish passage barriers in the river system.

Cooperating with FPIP on the development of the report was Stockton East Water District, with assistance from the ERP implementing agencies: the CA Department of Fish and Game, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The ERP funded the development of the report.

The report has three sections - Assessments, Appendices, and Selected Preliminary Designs.
  •      The Assessments section (5.2 MB) gives a general overview of the report, discusses the river system's biological and hydrological condition, describes the types of instream structures inventoried and assessed, and provides the results of the assessments.
  •      The Appendices section includes site descriptions (with photos) gathered during an inventory of approximately 100 instream structures within the study area, samples of the data sheets used for each type, hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, and a table of instream structure locations:

          Front Pages (665 KB) front cover, acknowledgments, table of contents
          Site Descriptions (10.2MB) instream structure site descriptions and photos
          Data Sheets (61 KB) samples of instream structure evaluation data sheets by type
          Hydrologic Analyses (366 KB) details of the flow duration analyses
          Hydraulic Models (5.2 MB) overview of hydraulic models, fish passage criteria, hydraulic analyses results
          Structure Locations (86KB) table of instream structure locations
  •      The Selected Preliminary Designs section presents concepts to improve fish passage for eight instream structures. This section is under final development.

For more information, please refer to the Calaveras Watershed Group at www.calaverasriver.com or the Calaveras River Fish Group at http://www.sjbfish.com/crfg/.


All files are in PDF format. If your computer is currently unable to download PDF files, please visit the Adobe Systems, Inc. website to download free reading software. If you have trouble converting a PDF file to speech by an assistive device, please contact Megan Sheely at msheely@water.ca.gov for an accessible version of the document. If you use Internet Explorer and have trouble downloading a PDF file, right click on the file and choose "save target as."