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Fish Passage Improvement Program (FPIP)

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Clover Creek

photo of creek

Background

Clover Creek is located in Shasta County on the eastern side of the Sacramento River and is a tributary to Cow Creek. Cow Creek enters the Sacramento River just east of the city of Anderson. Clover Creek is 27.5 miles long and drains an area of 54 square miles. In 1995, the Anadromous Fish Restoration Program Core Group reported that salmon and steelhead spawning habitat in Cow Creek and its tributaries was in "relatively good condition" (Cow Creek Watershed Assessment (25.3 MB), 2001). Salmon and steelhead may not be able to access spawning habitat in upstream areas of Clover Creek because a diversion dam and siphon structure are partial barriers to upstream fish passage.

Project

The Millville Ditch is the largest diversion on Clover Creek and consists of a concrete dam, originally built in the 1920's, and a siphon structure (to pass the diverted water under the creek about 300 yards downstream of the dam). The Fish Passage Improvement Program is working with the Western Shasta Resource Conservation District and others as members of a technical advisory committee to determine a preferred alternative for fish passage at this site. In support of this effort, the Fish Passage Improvement Program has conducted a preliminary investigation of the site, including a Clover Creek Habitat Assessment (7 MB), topographic survey and geologic investigation. Providing fish passage at the dam and siphon will open up approximately 10 miles of habitat for fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead. This project will also help CALFED achieve fish passage goals for the Ecosystem Restoration Program, specifically Milestone 67, providing unimpeded upstream and downstream passage for salmon and steelhead on the Sacramento River Basin tributaries. Other cost share partners and cooperators for the project include: the Millville Ditch Association, the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Cow Creek Watershed Management Group, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

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