Diel activity patterns of juvenile late fall-run Chinook salmon with implications for operation of a gated water diversion in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta
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Abstract
In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California, tidal forces that reverse river flows increase the proportion of water and juvenile late fall-run Chinook salmon diverted into a network of channels that were constructed to support agriculture and human consumption. This area is known as the interior delta, and it has been associated with poor fish survival. Under the rationale that the fish will be diverted in proportion to the amount of water that is diverted, the Delta Cross Channel (DCC) has been prescriptively closed during the winter out-migration to reduce fish entrainment and mortality into the interior delta. The fish are thought to migrate mostly at night, and so daytime operation of the DCC may allow for water diversion that minimizes fish entrainment and mortality. To assess this, the DCC gate was experimentally opened and closed while we released 2983 of the fish with acoustic transmitters upstream of the DCC to monitor their arrival and entrainment into the DCC. We used logistic regression to model night-time arrival and entrainment probabilities with covariates that included the proportion of each diel period with upstream flow, flow, rate of change in flow and water temperature. The proportion of time with upstream flow was the most important driver of night-time arrival probability, yet river flow had the largest effect on fish entrainment into the DCC. Modelling results suggest opening the DCC during daytime while keeping the DCC closed during night-time may allow for water diversion that minimizes fish entrainment into the interior delta.
Study Area
Publication type | Article |
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Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Title | Diel activity patterns of juvenile late fall-run Chinook salmon with implications for operation of a gated water diversion in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta |
Series title | River Research and Applications |
DOI | 10.1002/rra.2885 |
Volume | 32 |
Issue | 4 |
Year Published | 2016 |
Language | English |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Contributing office(s) | California Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center |
Description | 10 p. |
First page | 711 |
Last page | 720 |
Country | United States |
State | California |
Other Geospatial | Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta |
Online Only (Y/N) | N |
Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |