Friday November 10, 2023
KRCR —
A project aimed at bringing back local Chinook Salmon nesting grounds is underway along the Sacramento River near Salt Creek, and it involves shoveling thousands of tons of gravel into the water. This is the second attempt at this project after crews were rained out at the beginning of 2023.
Crews with the coalition group, “The Sacramento River Settlement Contractors” have had to wait before returning so the Chinook Salmon that use that area to nest wouldn’t be impacted. Now the spawning season is over, the work is back underway. Made up of irrigation districts, reclamation districts, and riverside communities, the coalition is utilizing grants from the US Bureau of Reclamation to fund the project.
“This coalition, this organization had applied for and received grant funding,” Josh Watkins, Redding’s Water Utility Manager says. “And one of the projects we’re doing is reintroducing this gravel, this spawning habitat.”