Lake Oroville Community Update - July 28

Salmon Habitat Project

DWR will begin construction July 31 on a salmonid habitat improvement project in the Feather River near the Feather River Fish Hatchery and Bedrock Park in Oroville. In development since 2021, the project consists of in-river spawning gravel placement to improve existing spawning habitat sites and will also improve habitat accessibility to existing side channels by excavating and redistributing accumulated streambed material. Migratory fish species such as Chinook salmon and steelhead trout rely on Feather River spawning habitats along the low-flow channel, where most spawning activity occurs. Female salmonids lay their eggs in nests called “redds” using coarse sediment, such as clean, rounded gravel.

DWR’s project will place approximately 8,000 cubic yards of gravel at multiple locations to improve spawning conditions. The project is primarily funded by two grants: the State of California Natural Resource Agency Prop 68 – Protecting California’s Rivers, Streams and Watershed Grant Program, and the Central Valley Project Improvement Act – Fish and Wildlife Restoration Activities supported by the U.S. Department of Interior. Previous DWR Feather River spawning restoration projects included the placement of 8,300 cubic yards of spawning gravel in 2014 and another 5,000 cubic yards in 2017. In-river work for the project is expected to last through the end of August.



Car-Top Boat Launches

State Parks has reopened the Nelson Bar Car-Top Boat Launch due to receding water levels at Lake Oroville. The Nelson Bar Car-Top Boat Launch is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset and is located along the west branch of the north fork arm of Lake Oroville; accessible via Pentz Road and Lime Saddle Road. There are three other car-top boat launches open at Lake Oroville – Vinton Gulch, Stringtown and Foreman Creek.

Supporting Salmon Health

California’s Central Valley is home to four runs of Chinook salmon: spring, fall, late-fall, and winter. From climate change to loss of habitat, salmon are faced with a number of threats, and one of the latest to emerge in recent years is a thiamine deficiency.

Thiamine is vitamin B1, and it is a crucial vitamin for neurons and immune systems in salmon. Evidence of a thiamine deficiency in spring-run salmon started showing up in 2019. Salmon typically get adequate levels of thiamine from their food supply in the ocean, but for the last several years that hasn’t been happening due to changes in the ocean food web.

Spring-run are unique from other runs of salmon because they return to rivers in the spring and spend the summer in cold water pools before spawning early in the fall. In the Feather River, many of these fish enter the Feather River Fish Hatchery, where they are tagged for identification and released back into the river. In 2021, DWR started injecting these fish with thiamine as they passed through the hatchery in order to decrease thiamine-related mortality of their offspring. 

Visit our YouTube channel for a video about DWR’s collaboration to help spring-run Chinook salmon. 

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