The construction of Scott Dam in 1922 completely blocked passage of critically imperiled anadromous fish including salmon, steelhead and lamprey while simultaneously forming Lake Pillsbury, a 2,000-acre reservoir in remote northwestern Lake County used for boating, fishing and camping. With no major dams to control its flow, the main Eel reached a peak of 936,000 cu ft/s (26,500 m3/s), with 200,000 cu ft/s (5,700 m3/s) from the South Fork alone. In 1911 noted American engineer John B. Leonard designed Fernbridge, a 1,320 feet (400 m) all concrete arched bridge at the site of an earlier ferry crossing. [citation needed] The proposed reservoir would have flooded the Round Valley Indian Reservation. They are Cyclostomes (Circle mouths), a primitive fish-like creature, and are not related to eels. TABLE 2 Weekly Counts, South Fork of the Eel River and Mad River, 1948-1949 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SALMON AND STEELHEAD RUNS 499 South Fork of the Eel River Mad River SONAR technology allows us to more accurately monitor salmon which under past survey techniques might be un-detectable. The watershed also contains many stands of Redwoodthat are among the largest such trees in California. The main impacts to salmon and steelhead in the Eel River are sediment, temperature and flow, Higgins said. In the Eel River basin, redwoods can be found further inland than other parts of the northern California coast because of the wide lower valley of the river, which acts like a funnel conducting moist … [32], In the 1950s, interest grew in damming the Eel River system to provide water for Central and Southern California. A second chance for Eel River salmon and…, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window). [6], The flooding was also deleterious to rail service through the Eel River canyon. However, both the Mississippi and Colorado have lesser sediment yields relative to their drainage areas. [36], The Eel River watershed lies within the Oregon and Northern California Coastal freshwater ecoregion, which is characterized by temperate coniferous forests consisting largely of Douglas fir and western hemlock. [7] Monthly average flows at Scotia range from 19,700 cu ft/s (560 m3/s) in January to 138 cu ft/s (3.9 m3/s) in September – a 143:1 difference. Current law requiring licensing to include provisions for fish passage costing nearly $100 million dollars made the financial picture even less tenable. In 1981 – well before Behr's moratorium expired – Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus granted federal protection to the Eel River system and 1,235 miles (1,988 km) of streams along the North Coast, succeeding state legislation and placing the river permanently off limits to new dams. [14] After the Christmas flood of 1964, chinook salmon populations plunged to less than 10,000 per year. [15] At least 16 species of non-native fish have been introduced to the river system. The human population of the watershed is about 32,000 – less than 10 people per square mile (26/km2). Logging, grazing and other resource exploitation activities and their accompanying environmental changes have also increased the intensity of flood and drought. Both known for salmon and steelhead fisheries, the Van Duzen joins with the Eel … So, what can we do to improve freshwater habitat to help Chinook survival? [65]:134–135, The South Fork is a class III–IV run in its upper section between Branscomb and Cummings, with a waterfall that needs to be portaged. While tributaries like Jack of Hearts and Redwood Creek ran low, they remained cold but had no coho salmon … Wilson calculated that Dos Rios would have reduced the 35-foot (11 m) flood crest of the 1964 flood at Fort Seward by less than a foot (0.3 m). Average flow of the Eel River varies widely due to its location, which places it more or less directly in the path of Pineapple Express-type winter storms. of spawners in the South Fork Eel River alone. Every year that a solution is postponed increases the likelihood of extinction. Most plentiful of the remaining salmonid species in the Eel River; 3 – 5 year life cycle; Listed as Threatened under Federal ESA; Southern Oregon/Northern California Coho (SONCC) Coho in South … [10] The Middle Fork drains the greatest area of all the tributaries, but the South Fork is longer, and carries the most water because of the higher rainfall in its basin. [48] The non-native Sacramento pikeminnow is present; it competes with and preys on young salmonids. The river can be closed to fishing in some years after October 1 if flows are insufficient for migrating salmon and steelhead. This proposal would re-open the main stem of the Eel River to spawning runs of salmon and steelhead by removing Scott Dam, while maintaining electric generation and water deliveries to … The party took months to travel overland by less than favorable routes from Helena to the Pacific Ocean between November 1849 to December 1850 when they are credited with the rediscovery of Humboldt Bay by land. The Potter Valley Project has been argued by environmental groups to have significant impacts on the salmonid (Chinook and coho salmon and steelhead) populations of the basin. In late 2012, high water in the Eel River attracted a run of over 30,000 fish, the largest on record since 1958. In its natural state, it was the third largest salmon and steelhead producing river system in California – with over a million fish spawning annually – after the Sacramento and Klamath rivers. Since 2004 the dams used by the project have been used to provide additional flow to the Eel River during the dry season, primarily to support fish populations. A report issued last year by UC Davis and CalTrout estimated that nearly 75 percent of the state’s 31 salmon … The river was named after they traded a frying pan to a group of Wiyot fishermen in exchange for a large number of Pacific lampreys, which the explorers thought were eels. Below Eel Rock the ocean winds make boating difficult starting in the early afternoon. The Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation both sought to build dams in the Eel River system, which starting in the 1960s was targeted as a potential new source for the California State Water Project. Eel River - Fortuna, CA. When the Eel is … [14], Anadromous fish populations have continued to decline since the 1960s; in 2010, only 3,500 salmon and steelhead returned to the river to spawn. The Eel River Could Save Wild Salmon – If We Can Save the River Itself July 11, 2017 June 16, 2017 The Eel River is on the brink of disaster, its ocean-going fish species threatened with … At the mouth, the Eel River produces an estimated annual runoff of 6.9 million acre feet (8.5 km3) per year, or about 9,500 cu ft/s (270 m3/s). [4], The lowermost United States Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage on the Eel where flow volume is measured is at Scotia, where an annual mean of 7,309 cubic feet per second (207.0 m3/s), or 5.3 million acre feet (6.5 km3) per year, was recorded between 1910 and 2012. Although the portion south of Willits was reopened in 2006, the section between Willits and Samoa, which includes the entire Eel River portion of the tracks, is unlikely to ever be returned to service. [30] Now listed on the National Historic Register, Fernbridge is the last major crossing before the Eel arrives at the Pacific Ocean. Due to the mountainous terrain and heavy precipitation in the Eel River watershed, erosion rates are particularly high. The Northwestern Pacific Railroad tracks follow the Eel River from Outlet Creek, about 7 miles (11 km) above Dos Rios, to Fortuna. Recreational Dos Rios, located at the confluence of the Middle Fork of the Eel River and the mainstem, is the put-in for a popular four-day trip through the Eel River … River Information. Lampetra tridentata, Sacramento sucker, threespine stickleback, Pacific staghorn sculpin, Coastrange sculpin and prickly sculpin. There is a 12-mile (19 km) class IV–V run between the Scott and Van Arsdale dams. Archive Using Sonar to Count Fish on the Eel River American negotiator Colonel Reddick McKee's treaty would have given the Indians a large reservation around the mouth of the Eel, but the treaties were never ratified. ", U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: South Fork Eel River, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork Eel River, Summer water temperature conditions in the Eel River System, with reference to trout and salmon, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eel_River_(California)&oldid=1001863037, Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2013, Articles needing additional references from December 2013, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Middle Fork Eel River, North Fork Eel River, Van Duzen River, This page was last edited on 21 January 2021, at 19:02. This sediment scoured away or buried spawning grounds for salmon and steelhead trout, causing the populations of these fish to drop to dangerous levels by the mid-1970s. Rep. John Garamendi, whose district includes northern Lake County, has submitted formal comments to FERC announcing his categorical opposition to the removal of Scott Dam and demanding that Lake County be given a “full and equal seat at the table” by inclusion in the Two Basin Working Group, not just the committee, which has had representation from the Lake County Board of Supervisors all along. The South Fork is designated from its mouth to the Section Four Creek confluence, the North Fork from its mouth to Old Gilman Ranch, and the Van Duzen River from its mouth to Dinsmore Bridge. In 1914, after seven years of construction, the Northwestern Pacific Railroad completed a rail line running along much of the Eel River as an important transportation link connecting Eureka and the many small towns along the Eel River valley to the national rail network. Since the deadline for any licensing application has passed, the only options FERC has are licensing to the Two-Basin Solution Partnership or decommissioning the facility altogether. [14], About 22,000 years ago, a massive landslide off Nefus Peak dammed the Eel River near Alderpoint to a height of 460 feet (140 m). The Eel's behavior of down cutting its own sediments has caused it to flow in a deeply incised channel, which can generally contain all but the largest floods. The railroad has been out of service since 1998 due to concerns of flooding damage. The Eel River watershed is located entirely in the California Coast Ranges. Consisting of several hundred dwellings, primarily on Mendocino National Forest leaseholds but also including a scattering in private ownership, this community has very few permanent residents. [65]:135–137, There are also many miles of river suitable for flatwater boating in the downstream sections of both the mainstem Eel and the South Fork. From Alderpoint to Eel Rock is a class I–II float during June, with many beaches suitable for camping. The Middle Eel has a good run from the confluence with the Black Butte River to Coal Miners Falls, which is portaged by all but experts. [4] However, the river basin also supports abundant forests – including some of the world's largest trees in Sequoia sempervirens (Coastal redwood) groves – and historically, one of California's major salmon and steelhead trout runs. [8]:51, Many of the people who settled in this region were prospectors from the Gold Rush who did not manage to find gold. The South Fork Eel River joins from the west, near Humboldt Redwoods State Park and the town of Weott. Most of these areas were appropriated for agriculture and grazing land. The river valley was a major rail transport corridor (Northwestern Pacific Railroad) throughout the 20th century and also forms part of the route of Redwood Highway (US Highway 101). [35], The large storms of the mid-20th century, along with the ecological changes from logging and grazing activities, almost wiped out the river's salmon run. From the committee, a working group composed of California Trout, Humboldt County, the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, the Sonoma County Water Agency and the Round Valley Indian Tribes developed a plan they called the Two-Basin Solution Partnership. However, among all the proposed dams on the Eel River, Dos Rios would have the lowest impact on flood control – a fact that the Army Corps took great pains to conceal, by greatly exaggerating its economic justifications for the dam. [33]:147 From the beginning, these dams were heavily contested by local residents as well as by environmental groups seeking the protection of California's remaining wild rivers. [40], The Eel River supports runs of multiple anadromous fishes – Chinook, coho salmon, steelhead (rainbow trout) and coastal cutthroat trout among the major species. The Eel's major tributaries – the North Fork, Middle Fork, South Fork and Van Duzen Rivers, drain 286 square miles (740 km2), 753 square miles (1,950 km2), 689 square miles (1,780 km2), and 420 square miles (1,100 km2), respectively. Eel River Research Examines Dams’ Effect on Salmon. 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