SFPUC watershed lands

The construction of the SFPUC's Calaveras and San Antonio reservoirs in the early and mid-1900s blocked the upstream movement of steelhead trout, isolated the best steelhead spawning habitat in the watershed, and effectively landlocked formerly ocean-going steelhead trout populations as reservoir trout. The Alameda Creek Fisheries Restoration Workgroup is considering re-establishing steelhead runs below these dams using the landlocked trout from San Antonio and Calaveras Reservoirs. A 2002 genetic study of these reservoir fish found that they are genetically related to wild steelhead in the central California coast area and that they have a strong genetic relationship with adult steelhead collected at the BART weir in 1999 and rainbow trout collected in upper Alameda Creek below the dams.

Since 2000, SFPUC biologists and consultants have been studying the migratory patterns of landlocked steelhead/rainbow trout spawning in tributaries to SFPUC reservoirs. The SFPUC has conducted fish trapping to study the upstream and downstream movements of fish in San Antonio Creek and Indian Creek flowing into San Antonio Reservoir, and Arroyo Hondo Creek flowing into Calaveras Reservoir. These surveys will provide useful information for the steelhead restoration projects proceeding in the lower watershed, such as timing of steelhead spawning runs, timing and water flow required for juvenile smolt movement downstream, and population size and genetic makeup of reservoir trout. One of the most important aspects of the study is learning when trout move upstream and downstream and evaluating environmental cues that fish use to time their migration. The information generated by the studies will likley be used to manage future steelhead trout migrations through the Alameda Creek watershed.

Read the most recent SFPUC report on the fish trapping, San Antonio Creek, Indian Creek and Arroyo Hondo Fish Trapping Data Summary 2003.

Visit the SFPUC web page to learn about the trout migration studies.

Click here to volunteer to help with SFPUC fish surveys.

The Alameda Creek Alliance is requesting that the SFPUC provide for fish passage at Calaveras Dam to reconnect historical steelhead habitat above the reservoir for ocean-run fish, and remove the Alameda Diversion Dam from upper Alameda Creek. Visit the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project web page for more information.

The SFPUC has published a population estimate for landlocked steelhead trout in San Antonio and Calaveras Reservoirs. Read the report, Population Size Estimates for Adult Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in San Antonio and Calaveras Reservoirs.