PROJECTS: Fish passage

The San Francisquito watershed is home to a native run of steelhead trout, which are listed as "threatened" under the Federal Endangered Species Act and are protected by law. In response to the decline of steelhead population, the Steelhead Task Force was created to advise the Watershed Council about developing restoration projects that will improve steelhead habitat in the watershed.

In 2001, the Task Force commissioned a study that identifies instream structures that act as barriers to steelhead migrating between the Bay and spawning grounds in the upper tributaries of the watershed (download report at right). The report recommends modifications to these structures to improve steelhead passage.

To date, eleven weirs (concrete berms), small dams, and other barriers have been modified to improve fish passage in Portola Valley, Woodside, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and East Palo Alto. Plans are now underway for projects at seven more locations.

Steelhead image by Stuart Helmintoller (http://helmintoller.com/streamside/)

The Steelhead Task Force is a voluntary work group that involves the participation of the San Francisquito Watershed Council, the San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority, the California Department of Fish and Game, and Stanford University, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fishers, the California Coastal Conservancy, the United States Geological Survey, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the California Department of Water Resources, American Rivers, and the cities of Menlo Park and Palo Alto.

"Adult Steelhead Passage in the Bear Creek Subwatershed"
(6.4 MB)