Construction Starts in Red Bluff to Protect Young Salmon and Steelhead
Crews are reshaping a former boat harbor behind the Red Bluff Elks Lodge in Red Bluff, California, to prevent young salmon and steelhead from getting trapped in seasonal floodwaters, krcrtv.com reported. When the Sacramento River rises during winter, water spills into the basin and creates an off-channel habitat where juvenile fish feed and grow. However, as seasonal water levels drop, many of these fish become stranded in the shallow basin with no clear pathway back to the main river channel.
“The purpose of this project is to eliminate a death trap for baby salmon and steelhead,” project manager Jeff Souza said.
To fix the issue, workers are grading and reshaping the ground so that trapped water drains smoothly back into the Sacramento River rather than pooling indefinitely. Project organizers emphasize that the effort is not designed to exclude fish from the beneficial floodplain habitat. Instead, the redesigned habitat will allow juvenile salmon and steelhead to safely utilize the off-channel nutrients while making their return to the river smooth as high waters recede.
“It’s very beneficial for them to use the off-channel habitat,” Souza noted, explaining that improved drainage will prevent fish from being left behind as floodwaters drop.
Elks Lodge Partnership Enables Habitat Modification Construction
The habitat modification relies on a local land partnership with the Red Bluff Elks Lodge, which granted access for construction to take place across its property. Members of the lodge have witnessed the stranding phenomenon firsthand over successive flood seasons as receding waters expose stranded aquatic life.
“We’ve seen it as the water levels would go down, they’d come and net the fish out, but the amount of fish that got left behind because of the grass and everything and they couldn’t get them out — it was noticeable,” said Elks Lodge manager Shasta Canty.
Construction began behind the lodge property and is scheduled for completion during the first week of November.
