Monitoring juvenile Chinook salmon outmigration using rotary screw traps on Feather River

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) currently operates
multiple eight-foot rotary screw traps (RSTs) in both the Low Flow
Channel (LFC) and High Flow Channel (HFC) of the upper 21.5 river
miles of the Lower Feather River. The LFC extends from the Fish
Barrier Dam at river mile (RM) 67.2 to the Thermalito Outlet (RM
59). The HFC extends from the Thermalito Outlet to the confluence
with the Sacramento River. This survey has been ongoing since 1997
with the objective of documenting general salmonid emigration
attributes, such as timing, abundance and composition of salmon and
investigating the influence of environmental factors thought to
initiate emigration, such as flow, turbidity and water temperature.
Data from this monitoring will also be used to inform the
development of a juvenile production estimate (JPE) for spring-run
Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River Watershed as required by
Incidental Take Permit No. 2081-2019-006-00 issued by CA Department
of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to DWR for the long-term operation of
the State Water Project. Data within the current year’s monitoring
season are considered provisional.