This project advanced design and community engagement for the replacement of a failing fish ladder on lower Wildcat Creek in unincorporated North Richmond, Contra Costa County — the most downstream of three significant barriers to Central California Coast steelhead migration on the creek. Phase 2 was the second of three Forum-supported phases in a multi-year effort to move the project from early design concepts to a shovel-ready state, with Forum funding supporting an ecological engineering assessment of existing design drawings and extensive community outreach, including K-12 education programming and tribal consultation, with the ultimate goal of restoring access to 1.125 miles of spawning and rearing habitat and reconnecting the watershed to San Pablo Bay.
Location: Lower Wildcat Creek Flood Control Channel, unincorporated North Richmond, Contra Costa County (nearest address: 2000 Giaramita Street, Richmond, CA 94801; coordinates: 37.961889°N, 122.361126°W). Wildcat Creek originates in the Berkeley Hills, flows through Alvarado Park and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, bisects the cities of Richmond and San Pablo, and drains into San Pablo Bay, a sub-embayment of San Francisco Bay.
Historical Fish Presence: Wildcat Creek historically supported Central California Coast (CCC) steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a distinct population segment listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Steelhead populations in the San Francisco Bay watershed are estimated to be less than 10% of historical levels, and CDFW had not documented CCC steelhead spawning in the Bay watershed since the beginning of the 2012 drought at the time of the project.
Project Lead: The Watershed Project (community outreach lead); FlowWest Consultants (engineering lead)
Project Partners: Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (CCCFCWCD), Trout Unlimited, Wildcat-San Pablo Creeks Watershed Council, California Department of Water Resources (DWR), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Mithun (design), Confederated Villages of Lisjan (tribal consultation)
CFPF Funding: $45,000.00
Project Description: This was the second of three Forum-supported phases in a sustained, multi-year effort to replace a fish ladder built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the mid-1990s on lower Wildcat Creek. The existing facility — the most downstream of three significant steelhead migration barriers on the creek — is prone to clogging with sediment and debris, rendering it functionally ineffective. Phase 1 (2021) initiated the ecological engineering assessment and launched the community outreach effort. Phase 2 continued both workstreams in parallel.
The engineering work, led by FlowWest, included consultation with USACE to reopen the project and establish design flexibility under Section 408 permitting; bed material analysis using HEC-RAS hydraulic modeling to evaluate whether concrete in the existing channel design could be replaced with natural materials (modeling determined that natural materials would not remain stable under flood flows, and a design using concrete with grouted rock was proposed); and a fish passageway slope analysis evaluating alternatives to the existing design’s steepening downstream gradient, resulting in a modified 65% design incorporating greater channel complexity to create resting areas for migrating fish. On the community side, The Watershed Project delivered watershed education programming to five elementary classes and one high school class near the creek, produced a 28-page bilingual (English/Spanish) illustrated children’s storybook — “Kiyana and the Wildcat Creek” — developed in collaboration with the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, and conducted nine community design presentations and site tours. A formal tribal consultation contract was executed with the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, who participated in monthly meetings and provided input on interpretive features and a tribal stories webpage. Phase 3 built on these efforts by advancing community amenity design, including a trail connecting Verde Elementary School to the fish passage overlook, mini-parks, educational signage, and lighting.
Expected Completion: Fall 2023
Project Effectiveness: This phase successfully advanced design drawings from 65% to a modified preferred alternative, secured regulatory buy-in from USACE, and produced a comprehensive suite of community and tribal engagement deliverables.