Monday February 5, 2024
Sierra Sun Times —
A drone photo shows the California Department of Water Resources’ Juvenile Salmonid Collection System (JSCS) Pilot Project — in partnership with NOAA Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and others — in the upper McCloud Arm of Shasta Lake in Shasta County, California. Photo taken November 8, 2023 by DWR
February 4, 2024 – The Department of Water Resources (DWR), along with its Tribal, state, and federal partners, are testing a pilot project that will help with the reintroduction of juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon, an endangered species, to the McCloud River. The reintroduction is important because salmon haven’t been able to access this area since the 1940s when dams were built and blocked all fish migration.
The pilot project involves installing a floating structure that spans the width of the river called the Juvenile Salmon Collection System (collection system) at the point where the McCloud River meets Shasta Reservoir. The collection system is designed to safely catch juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon as they emigrate out of the upper river, before they get stuck in the vast reservoir. What makes the collection system so unique is it’s a passive system that can be moved as river and reservoir levels change.