Annual Request for Proposals for restoration funding is opening June 15th

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Logo of the California Fish Passage Forum

The Forum is a collaborative partnership formed to protect and revitalize anadromous fish populations in California by promoting collaboration among public and private sectors for fish passage improvement projects and programs.

The M-G weir repair project on the Shasta River, Siskiyou County, CA

Forum Funded Restoration Projects

Home » Funded Projects

Since 2012, The Forum has helped support projects across California, from research, assessment, implementation and monitoring of fish passage improvement and habitat enhancement, collectively representing a significant investment in the recovery of anadromous fish populations statewide. Explore projects by year funded, county, major river system, or by the lead partner.

Project Stats

70+ Barrier removals

Culvert replacements, dam removals,  technical fishway installations, and channel augmentations.

69 habitat enhancements 

Improvements to floodplain and channel complexity,  large woody debris installation, and native plantings. 

295 miles conserved

Riparian acres improved, reconnected, or conserved.

3,026 people engaged

Program mangers, funders, engineers, scientists, restoration practitioners, and community members engaged.

2,249 organizations engaged

Funding agencies, permitting agencies, restoration conservation districts, and nonprofits engaged.

Big River Calaveras River California State Parks Conner Creek Contra Costa County Contra Costa RCD Del Norte County Eel River Eel River Watershed Improvement Group Five Counties Salmonid Conservation Program Gold Ridge RCD Humboldt County Humboldt County Department of Public Works Humboldt County RCD Jenny Creek Klamath River Mendocino County Merced County Mid Klamath Watershed Council Mormon Slough NOAA Fisheries Outlet Creek Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission Pescadero Creek Russian River San Joaquin County San Joaquin River San Mateo RCD Santa Barbara County Siskiyou County Smith River Sonoma County South Coast Habitat Restoration Stockton East Water District Stotenburg Creek The Watershed Project Trinity County Trinity River Trout Unlimited USDA Forest Service US Fish and Wildlife Service Van Duzen River Weaver Creek Wildcat Creek Yager Creek

  • Upper Green Valley Creek Fish Passage Project

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    This project replaced a severely undersized, failing private road culvert on Upper Green Valley Creek — a Russian River tributary in Sonoma County — with a 15-foot bottomless arch culvert and a 157-foot step-pool roughened channel with boulder weirs for grade control. The culvert had blocked coho access under all flow conditions. The project opened 0.9 miles of spawning and rearing habitat, and post-construction surveys detected 136 steelhead young-of-year upstream of the site, benefiting federally endangered Central California Coast coho salmon and threatened steelhead. Location: Upper Green Valley Creek, a tributary to the Russian River, Sonoma County, CA. The project…

  • Pennington Creek Steelhead Barrier Removal Project

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    This project removed a 1920s-era concrete diversion weir and ineffective fish ladder on Pennington Creek at the Rancho El Chorro Outdoor School in San Luis Obispo County, replacing approximately 160 linear feet of channel with engineered step pools. A new fish screen was installed at the diversion intake with a minimum bypass flow protective of steelhead critical habitat. The project opened 2.3 miles of perennial upstream habitat to federally threatened South-Central California Coast steelhead, with juveniles observed using the restored channel just six days after construction ended. Location: Pennington Creek, approximately 0.9 miles upstream/northeast of Highway 1, on the grounds…

  • Benbow Dam Removal Project

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    This project fully removed the Benbow Dam from the South Fork of the Eel River at Benbow Lake State Recreation Area, approximately two miles south of Garberville in Humboldt County. Originally built in the 1930s for power generation, the dam had become a safety hazard blocking upstream migration. Removal spanned two construction seasons (2016–2017) and included bank regrading and riparian revegetation. It was the second-largest dam removal in California history at the time, opening 100 miles of South Fork Eel River habitat to coho salmon, Chinook salmon, steelhead, and Pacific lamprey. Location: Benbow Lake State Recreation Area on the South…

  • Pacific Lamprey Passage Assessment Database (PAD) Project

    This statewide data and GIS infrastructure project developed standardized barrier assessment tools specifically for Pacific lamprey to complement existing salmonid-focused assessments in California’s Passage Assessment Database. Work included creating historical and current distribution GIS layers, defining lamprey-specific data fields, and developing a standard barrier assessment form. The project directly supports prioritization of barrier removal to aid Pacific lamprey restoration across California, where current distribution is estimated at roughly half the species’ historical range due largely to impassable dams and water infrastructure. Location: Statewide, California. This is a data and GIS infrastructure project rather than a site-specific restoration project. The resulting…

  • Manly Gulch Coho Access and Habitat Restoration Project

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    This project replaced a failing road-stream crossing on Camp Road in Manly Gulch — a tributary to the Little North Fork of the Big River flowing through Mendocino Woodlands State Park in Mendocino County — with a 30-foot span timber bridge and realigned approximately 600 feet of channel. Log steps, pools, boulder weirs, rootwads, and a backwater alcove were installed to improve habitat. The project opened approximately 4,000 feet of upstream habitat for federally endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead, species for which Manly Gulch is designated critical habitat. Location: Manly Gulch is a tributary to the Little North Fork…

  • Juvenile Fish Passage Criteria Assessment Project

    This research project tested the leaping abilities of juvenile steelhead and coho salmon ranging from 40–130mm at the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery on Dry Creek in Sonoma County, using a flume with waterfall heights of 6, 12, and 18 inches. Four experiments examined waterfall height, fish size, species differences, and water temperature. Findings directly informed the 2019 NMFS Guidelines for Salmonid Passage at Stream Crossings, including an increase in the allowable maximum hydraulic drop for juvenile salmonids from 6 to 12 inches. Location: Experiments were conducted at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Don Clausen Warm Springs Fish Hatchery in…