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.