Stories

2020 Virtual Science Meeting Videos Now Live! Click Here! Don’t worry if you missed the 2020 SJRRP Virtual Science Meeting! All of the sessions are free and available in their entirety. If you have you have any questions or are unable to access the videos, please contact snewcom@usbr.gov.

Spring-run Chinook Return to San Joaquin River Despite Low Water Year 2020 Brings Generational Variety, New Information If there’s one certainty in these uncertain times, it’s that nature is resilient, and one needn’t look further than the San Joaquin River as an example. For a second year in a row, and for only the second…

In April 2020, the Department of Water Resources, a partnering agency of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, began work on approximately two miles of levee along the Eastside Bypass. The project purpose was to improve seepage and stability requirements to allow for higher Restoration Flows. Prior to construction, the levee was constructed of sand…

Reclamation seeks public input on proposed repairs to fix capacity of the Friant-Kern Canal SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation and Friant Water Authority seek public input on alternatives to repair a 33-mile stretch of the Friant-Kern Canal in California’s eastern San Joaquin Valley. This stretch of canal has lost over half of its…

For the second year in a row, spring-run Chinook salmon have returned to the San Joaquin River. “The capture of returning spring-run adults indicates that the return of the spring-run Chinook last year was no anomaly,” said Don Portz, San Joaquin River Restoration Program, Program Manager. “All of the hard work from Program staff is…

Read all about Program accomplishments for the 2017-2018 years here!

Record spring-run Chinook redds in San Joaquin River Threatened fish overcome obstacles to access spawning habitat By Josh Newcom Reaching a new milestone, the San Joaquin River Restoration Program (Program) has recorded a record number of spring-run Chinook salmon redds (fish nests) this season – four times the number discovered last year. Last year, the…

While the Program has a goal to restore flows to the San Joaquin River in order to repopulate Chinook salmon, it also has a goal to avoid adverse water supply impacts to water users. So far, the Program has spent over $28 million to benefit Friant contractors. Read about those efforts here in the Spring…

For the first time in over 65 years, threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook adult salmon have completed their life cycle and returned to the Restoration Area. While spring-run have been placed as adults in the river previously, this is the first time Program fish have migrated out of the system as juveniles and returned as…

The SJRRP has provided $10.3 million to assist the Friant Water Authority with restoring the original design and built capacity of the Friant-Kern Canal. The canal, which has over half of its designed capacity eliminated due to subsidence (compacting earth from groundwater overpumping), is currently undergoing a planning and design process to fix the impacted…