Dinner Creek Fish Migration Barrier Removal Project

Location of Project: 40.091508 N, -123.935992 W

Description of Project: The project replaces fish migration barrier culverts with natural bottom installations that meet NOAA fish passage design criteria.  Removal of these barrier culverts will open access to over 9,400 feet of spawning habitat in the Dinner Creek watershed (Taylor, 2005).

How it was determined this project is a high priority project: Barrier is listed in a key restoration plan for the region

California Fish Passage Forum objectives that align with project: 1. Remediate barriers to effective fish migration. The project will remove three existing barrier culverts and replace them with bottomless or countersunk culverts that will have the same characteristics as the natural creek.  Grade, width and bedload within the new installations will mimic the natural creek in the perception of migrating salmonids.

Anadromous fish species that will benefit from project: Coho salmon; Chinook salmon; Steelhead/rainbow trout

How project will be evaluated and measured for success: There are currently coho, steelhead and Chinook salmon downstream of the current barriers.  The measure of success will be the presence of these species upstream of the project site, and an increase in the over-all numbers of salmonids in Dinner Creek in the years following the project.