By NOAA Fisheries
The San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP) is a long-term collaborative program to restore flows in the San Joaquin River, from Friant Dam to the confluence of the Merced River. One of the SJRRP’s two primary goals are to restore a self-sustaining spring-run Chinook salmon population. The second goal is to reduce or avoid negative impacts on the water supply for all Friant Division long-term contractors.
How did the San Joaquin River Restoration Program start?
Friant Dam was completed in 1942 and provides flood protection and water storage for irrigation in the San Joaquin River Basin. Before the completion of Friant Dam, the San Joaquin River supported the southernmost populations of Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon and fall-run Chinook salmon, where hundreds of thousands of Chinook used to return each year. After Friant Dam was completed, parts of the San Joaquin River began to run dry as more and more water was diverted into canals for agricultural irrigation. This disconnected the salmon from their habitat and eventually they were eliminated from the upper San Joaquin River.
Spring-run Chinook salmon need cool, clean water to survive the hot summer temperatures, because most of the cold spring snowmelt is now captured behind dams. Spring-run Chinook salmon can only survive in a few places in the entire Southern Sierra watershed. Currently, the tributaries of the lower San Joaquin River still support populations of fall-run Chinook salmon but spring-run Chinook salmon have been absent from the mainstem San Joaquin River for over 60 years.
In 1988, environmental groups sued the Bureau of Reclamation on the basis that the Federal government was in violation of California Fish and Game code section 5937, because the dam did not direct enough water into the San Joaquin River to keep fish populations below the dam in good condition, resulting in the local extinction of the spring-run Chinook salmon. This trial spent more than 18 years in litigation, and on September 13, 2006, a settlement was reached. The Settling Parties, which include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Friant Water Users Authority (FWUA), and the United States Department of the Interior and Commerce, agreed on the terms and conditions of the Stipulation of Settlement in NRDC, et al., v. Kirk Rodgers, et al., (Settlement), which received Federal court approval in October 2006. In March 2009, the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act was passed to implement the “Settlement.” There are two main goals that came out of the Settlement (which later became the goals of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program):
- Restoration Goal – To restore and maintain fish populations in “good condition” in the mainstem San Joaquin River below Friant Dam to the confluence of the Merced River, including naturally reproducing and self-sustaining populations of salmon and other fish.
- Water Management Goal – To reduce or avoid negative water supply impacts on all of the Friant Division long-term contractors that may result from the Interim and Restoration flows provided for in the Settlement.
Who runs the San Joaquin River Restoration Program?
In accordance with the Settlement, the SJRRP is implemented by five state and Federal agencies:
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation),
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS),
- NOAA Fisheries,
- California Department of Water Resources (DWR), and
- the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
NOAA Fisheries’ role in the SJRRP:
- Publish annual Spring-run Chinook technical memorandum
- Endangered Species Act section 10(a)(1)(A) scientific research and enhancement permitting
- Anadromous fish passage technical assistance
- Fish biology technical assistance
San Joaquin River Spring-run Chinook Salmon Reintroduction
In 2013, NOAA Fisheries designated the Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon reintroduced to the San Joaquin River as an experimental non-essential population in accordance with section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (78 FR 79622). This allows for the release of threatened California Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon outside their current range. The population is considered an experimental, non-essential population (meaning that if the population doesn’t survive, it will not threaten the whole evolutionarily significant unit, or ESU), because the population is geographically separate from the protected population of the same species. In addition, ESA section 4(d) provides protective regulations to landowners, including ESA section 9 take exceptions for activities performed in the Restoration Area (the San Joaquin River from Friant Dam to the confluence with the Merced River). This means that landowners won’t be liable for harming these fish during otherwise lawful activities (such as normal land and water uses).
Final Rule for Designation of Experimental Populations Under Section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act
- Final Rule (81 FR 33416; May 26, 2016)
- Environmental Assessment for the Final 10(j) Rule and associated take provisions
- Environmental Assessment: Response to Comments
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Fisheries Management Plan: A Framework for Adaptive Management in the San Joaquin River Restoration Program and Fisheries Framework for spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon developed by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) are documents that provide strategies, goals, actions, and physical and biological targets for the SJRRP that will help restore the San Joaquin River back to a state that will support spring-run Chinook salmon.
The Fisheries Management Plan: A Framework for Adaptive Management in the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, completed in 2010, summarizes known information about existing conditions and defines the problems that need to be addressed to reestablish Chinook salmon and other native fish populations to ‘good condition’ in the San Joaquin River.
The Fisheries Framework for spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon, completed in 2018, outlines the goals and objectives for establishing self-sustaining spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon populations in the Restoration Area. The Fisheries Framework also provides the scientific background to management actions, habitat objectives, and outlines the proposed Adaptive Management process and implementation plan for fishery actions. Habitat objectives are designed to reduce physical, biological and ecological threats or stressors within the river that currently limit the survival of healthy fish populations. The fisheries objectives describe how management activities related to habitat, hatcheries, and meaningful measurements of fisheries success will achieve the Restoration Goal.
The Long-term Monitoring Plan will be a guidance document that identifies the monitoring needed to track spring-run and fall-run Chinook in the SJRRP Restoration Area, as well as track long-term progress toward achieving the Restoration Goals. The plan also identifies monitoring needed to inform annual decisions like flow release and fisheries management, as well as advice on how to prioritize current adaptive management tactics, inform future decision making, and combine multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary monitoring efforts for effective and efficient monitoring. This plan is not yet complete, but when it is available it can be found on the SJRRP website.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Coverage of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program on Maven’s Notebook
SAN JOAQUIN RIVER RESTORATION PGM 2025 Restoration Flow Schedule Update
From the San Joaquin River Restoration Program: The Restoration Administrator, an independent body stipulated by the Settlement, has revised the river flow schedule in response to Millerton Lake conditions. This schedule has now been approved by Reclamation. Restoration Flows ceased in late June to conserve the limited volume of cold water behind Friant Dam, which impounds Millerton Lake. Since late June, the only Friant Dam releases to the San Joaquin River have been to meet holding contract requirements which set […]
NOTICE: Draft Environmental Assessment Released for Seasonal Pump-back Facilities
From the San Joaquin River Restoration Program: In support of the Water Management Goal of the San Joaquin River Settlement (Settlement), the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) proposes to provide funding for the construction and installation of two seasonal pump-back facilities for the Friant-Kern Canal (FKC) and approve Friant Water Authority access to the project footprints located on Reclamation land. The seasonal pump-back facilities would support the conveyance of recaptured Restoration Flows and other acquired Central Valley Project (CVP) and non-CVP waters […]
San Joaquin River Restoration Program set a new record for returning adult spring-run Chinook salmon
From the San Joaquin River Restoration Program: The San Joaquin River Restoration Program set a new record this year for returning adult spring-run Chinook salmon: 448 – the highest number of captured returns recorded since the Program started reintroducing spring-run juveniles in 2014. “The high return numbers clearly demonstrate that spring-run Chinook can survive and return to spawn in the San Joaquin River” said program manager, Dr. Donald Portz. “We look forward to a future where salmon will be able […]
SAN JOAQUIN RIVER RESTORATION PRGM: 2025 Restoration Flow Schedule Update
From the San Joaquin River Restoration Program: On March 17, Reclamation updated the water allocation for the 2025 water year, providing a total 248,489 acre-feet for Restoration Flows under a Normal-Dry water year type. This is an increase from the previous Restoration Allocation of 229,374 acre-feet. Additionally, Reclamation has recently completed a seepage project in Reach 4A, allowing for increased Restoration Flows passing through the Restoration Area. The Restoration Administrator, an independent body stipulated by the Settlement, has updated the […]
NOTICE: San Joaquin River Restoration Program releases draft supplement environmental assessment for Arroyo Canal Fish Screen and Sack Dam Fish Passage Project
From the San Joaquin River Restoration Program: The San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP) Office of the Bureau of Reclamation has released for public review and comment the Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Arroyo Canal Fish Screen and Sack Dam Fish Passage Project (Project). The proposed action, as authorized by Part III of Title X, Subtitle A of Public Law 111-11, would build a fish screen and a fish passage facility at the Arroyo Canal/Sack Dam facility located […]
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