News Release Archive

Release of the Final Coleman National Fish Hatchery Adaptive Management Plan

Media Contact: Louis Moore, 916-978-5100, WMoore@usbr.gov

For Release: November 17, 2016

RED BLUFF, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation, along with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), NOAA Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announce the issuance of the final Coleman National Fish Hatchery (CNFH) Adaptive Management Plan (AMP).

The purpose of the CNFH AMP is to acknowledge, identify, study, and evaluate the impacts of operating a large scale fish hatchery in a watershed being restored for natural salmonid populations through the Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project (Restoration Project). The goal of the CNFH AMP is to provide solutions and processes to support optimization of CNFH programs, operations, and infrastructure so that the hatchery mitigation goals and objectives are achieved, while maximizing its compatibility with the Restoration Project. The CNFH AMP was produced through a collaborative effort over a four-year period. Key stakeholders engaged in the AMP development included the Battle Creek Watershed Conservancy and the Golden Gate Salmon Association.

The CNFH AMP is intended to closely coordinate with the Restoration Project AMP, so that together the two adaptive management plans form a single integrated framework for long-term adaptive management in Battle Creek. This integrated process is formalized in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Regarding Integrated Adaptive Management of the Restoration Project and CNFH, signed by Reclamation, the Service, NOAA Fisheries, CDFW, and PG&E. This MOU is included in the CNFH AMP.

Since its establishment in 1942, the CNFH has served as an important mitigation component of the federal Central Valley Project, partially compensating for lost natural salmonid production resulting from construction of Shasta and Keswick dams. Currently, the CNFH annually propagates three salmonid stocks: fall Chinook salmon, late-fall Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead.

Restoration of the Battle Creek watershed upstream of the CNFH focuses on providing fish access to historical habitat and the necessary instream flows to benefit naturally occurring salmonid populations. The Restoration Project is a collaborative effort between Reclamation, the Service, NOAA Fisheries, CDFW, PG&E, various resource agencies and local stakeholders to restore approximately 48 miles of habitat in Battle Creek and its tributaries for threatened and endangered Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead, while maintaining clean and renewable energy production at the PG&E Battle Creek Hydroelectric Project. Construction of the Restoration Project is currently on-going with the completion anticipated in 2021.

The Final CNFH AMP is available at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/battlecreek/docs/cnfh-amp-final-nov2016.pdf. If you encounter problems accessing the document online, please call 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email mppublicaffairs@usbr.gov. Copies of the document are available at the Tehama County Library, 645 Madison Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080.

Information regarding the CNFH AMP is available at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/battlecreek/cnfh.html.

Information regarding the Restoration Project is available at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/battlecreek.

For more information, please contact Trang Nguyen at 916-978-5336 (TTY 800-877-8339) or trangnguyen@usbr.gov.

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