San Joaquin River Restoration Program > Projects > Restoration > Arroyo Canal Fish Screen and Sack Dam Bypass Project

Arroyo Canal Fish Screen and Sack Dam Bypass Project

In 2023, Sack Dam was buried beneath flood flows and can be seen by the white wake in the center of the screen. Fish passage facilities will be constructed to the left of the main river channel and around the existing dam.
In 2023, Sack Dam was buried beneath flood flows and can be seen by the white wake in the center of the screen. Fish passage facilities will be constructed to the left of the main river channel and around the existing dam.

The Arroyo Canal Fish Screen and Sack Dam Bypass Project, like the Mendota Pool Bypass and Reach 2B Project, is integral to restoring spring-run Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River. This project implements two of the highest priority projects identified in the 2006 Settlement:  fish passage around Sack Dam and a fish screen on the Arroyo Canal to prevent entrainment of juvenile Chinook salmon in the canal. This project is necessary in order to allow salmon to freely move up and down the river to complete their lifecycle (downriver to the ocean and upriver to spawn). The project furthers the Department of the Interior’s efforts to restore Chinook salmon and other fish to the San Joaquin River and is authorized in the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act (P.L. 111-11). Arroyo Canal and Sack Dam are owned and operated by Henry Miller Reclamation District #2131.

The dam and canal are the sole diversion and conveyance facilities for the reclamation district and provide agricultural water supply to approximately 47,000 acres of farmland in the San Joaquin Valley along with conveyance of water supply to Federal and State wildlife refuges and private duck clubs.

A view of Sack Dam, a water diversion structure in Reach 3 of the San Joaquin River Restoration Area.
A view of Sack Dam, a water diversion structure in Reach 3 of the San Joaquin River Restoration Area which creates an obstruction to fish passage.

A joint Draft Environmental Assessment/Initial Study was publicly released June 1, 2012, and comments were due by 5 p.m. Monday, July 2, 2012.
Draft EA/IS and Draft FONSI/MND

The Final EA/IS was publicly released May 24, 2013. The FONSI was signed Sept. 4, 2013.
Final EA/IS and FONSI

Construction start date is anticipated for early 2025.

Track this project on the White House Office of Management and Budget’s Dashboard website for priority Federal infrastructure projects across the country; click on the Water Conservation and Delivery link.