Forest Knolls, CA-The month of May saw the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN) and its volunteers rescue their 10,000th endangered salmon from drying creeks and release it into a safe flowing stretch downstream. This marks a milestone that began six years ago when SPAWN discovered water levels dropping in important "nursery habitat" leaving coho salmon and steelhead trout juveniles dying in the evaporating pools located in the Lagunitas Watershed's, San Geronimo Valley in Marin.
"We are just giving these fish one more fighting chance to survive in their habitat, which we have altered to the fish's detriment," said Todd Steiner who directs SPAWN and galvanized this effort. "These fish would meet certain death without our intervention."
The 1-2 inch salmon, born several weeks ago, emerged from eggs laid in the gravel by their two foot-long parents who swam 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean to reach these tiny creeks. Yet soon after they were born, some creek tributaries ceased flowing.
"Building impermeable surfaces, such as roads, parking lots and houses cause rainfall to run off the land quickly, preventing the water from percolating and recharging the underground aquifers, and the creeks go dry sooner than they used to," said Reuven Walder, SPAWN's watershed biologist. He added, "To make matters worse, some people are pumping water out of the creek to water their lawns and gardens and denying salmon their most important resource, cold, clean water."
"Hundreds of volunteers from throughout the Bay Area, ranging from school kids at the local elementary school, to hard core adult volunteers, who go through rigorous training to become fish rescue crew leaders, make this important program work so well", said Steiner. "We have other watershed groups throughout the state contacting us about how to set up a similar program in their local watersheds."
SPAWN is also involved in restoration and educational programs to restore a more natural water regime, in the hope they can put this program out of business. Steiner said, "We are planting trees, discouraging pumping from creeks and encouraging the use of 'rain gardens' that capture water off driveways and roofs and allow it to percolate into the aquifer, before it is lost from the watershed."
Participants gain a tremendous sense of accomplishment after a busy day of fish rescue, "Though I end every session exhausted, I never thought that I could make such a direct and positive impact to protect an endangered species." said Kevin Stockmann, who joined the effort in 2001 and is now one of SPAWN's Naturalists and Fish Rescue Crew Leaders.
Background: Statewide coho populations have suffered a precipitous decline and are listed on the state and federal endangered species list. It is believed that only 10% of California's coho populations remain-a casualty of habitat destruction, migration barriers (dams and culverts), pollution, water diversion, sedimentation of habitat, non-native species invasions and over-fishing.
The Lagunitas Watershed is no different. Coho and steelhead runs are estimated to have dropped by 90% in the last 50-100 years. Nevertheless, even with numbers so dangerously low here, this watershed's run is considered one of the strongest in the state. Ongoing efforts, including a strong environmental ethic of community members, have resulted in recent improvements to the habitat through restoration projects, improvement of water quality and fish rescue efforts.
"We hope to see these salmon return in three years as adults and continue their legacy." remarked Walder. "Ultimately we want these creeks to sustain natural flows so that there will be no need to rescue thousands more fish."
With populations nowhere near their once historic glory, crews will continue to trudge through the creeks and rescue these remarkable species from near extinction. While 10,000 may be a sobering number, it is also a testament to the dedication of people who care about watershed ecosystems.
"Whenever we see the bright red 2 foot coho return to these creeks, I wonder if they were saved in our nets years earlier." said Steiner. "We will continue to do this as long as we need to."
Volunteers can participate in this effort by contacting SPAWN at (415) 488-0370 or spawn@spawnusa.org.
