Friday March 27, 2026
The Orion —
As young, winter-run Chinook salmon swim from where they were born below Shasta and Keswick dams, they’re forced through levees in Battle Creek. Before those levees, Battle Creek would’ve been used as an area for those salmon to rest, feed and grow stronger before embarking into the ocean.
Winter-run Chinook salmon were listed as an endangered species in 1994. Its population has been declining dramatically since the 1970s, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The salmon are threatened by warming waters and dams, making it more difficult for them to reach the colder waters closer to the snowmelt to spawn.