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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

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Forum Funded Restoration 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.

  • Cooper Mill Creek Fish Passage Improvement Project Designs

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    This project funded site characterization and engineering design work for two legacy fish passage barriers on lower Cooper Mill Creek, a tributary to Yager Creek within the Van Duzen River basin in Humboldt County — a boulder step-weir complex at the creek mouth and a concrete sill approximately 0.5 miles upstream. Hydraulic modeling confirmed both structures block adult and juvenile salmonids at most flows. The designs will support future physical removal of barriers to coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead in a historically productive watershed.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Places and Partners

Use the tag cloud below to explore Forum-funded restoration projects by lead partner, river, or county!

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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 RCD Klamath River Mendocino County Merced County Mid Klamath Watershed Council Mormon Slough NOAA Fisheries 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 Sonoma County Public Infrastructure South Coast Habitat Restoration Stockton East Water District Stotenburg Creek The Watershed Project Trinity County Trinity County RCD Trinity River Trout Unlimited USDA Forest Service US Fish and Wildlife Service Van Duzen River Weaver Creek Western Fishes Wildcat Creek Yager Creek