M-1 Road Fish Passage Improvement Project
Project Lead: Trout Unlimited
Location of Project: 39.29675, -123.71789
Description of Project: This project intends to remove and replace one stream crossing along the California State Parks, Big River Unit, M-1 Road. The crossing, a corrugated metal culvert, is a partial barrier to spawning and rearing salmonids attempting to migrate into No-Name Gulch, a tributary to Big River. The project is located in a NOAA Core Recovery area for Central California Coast (CCC) Coho salmon, and No-Name Gulch is identified by NOAA as a stream that historically provided good habitat. Although the watershed is relatively small, it has ~0.8-acre freshwater marsh near the Big River confluence which may provide important rearing habitat to juvenile salmonids. The successful completion of this project will provide access to 1,100 feet (0.21 miles) of salmonid spawning and rearing habitat in the lower Big River basin.
This project includes a diverse stakeholder team including state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private consultants and contractors. The cost of the project will be leveraged between the Forum, TU private funds, CSP in-kind cost share, and NOAA Fisheries.