Lower Deer Creek Falls Fish Passage Improvement Project

(Cover Photo: Deer Creek © U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, all rights reserved)

Lower Deer Creek Falls is located about 42.5 miles upstream of the Sacramento River, and is also upstream of the Deer Creek Irrigation District Dam.  Lower Deer Creek Falls is high in the watershed; waters above the Falls are cool and provide good habitat for migrating fish. A fish ladder that was installed in the 1940s/1950s is now useless for fish migration.

• Project Proponent: Northwest Hydraulic Consultants
• Focus Habitat/Species:  Spring-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead
• CDFW Grant Support:  $984,242
• Location: Lower Deer Creek Falls
• Scale:  Unimpeded access to 5.24 miles of stream
• Timing:  2016-2017
• Funding Source: California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014
• Priority: Drought Relief for Salmon

In 2016, the USFWS, in partnership with CDFW and others, installed a new fish ladder to remove the passage barrier at Lower Deer Creek Falls. The new fish ladder allows migrating salmonids to access an additional 5.24 miles of spawning and rearing habitat above Lower Deer Creek Falls, as far upstream as Upper Deer Creek Falls. 

In August 2018, after the project was complete, roughly 80% of the spring-run Chinook salmon adults were holding above the new fish ladder; previous data showed between 0-30% of the spring-run Chinook salmon would hold above Lower Deer Creek Falls. The study confirmed that fish were successfully moving through the ladder to cooler water temperatures upstream.

As stated by CDFW Senior Scientist Tricia Bratcher who has been involved in numerous Deer Creek projects, “This project is so critically important, particularly in times of drought, for the spring-run (Chinook salmon) need unimpeded access into the upper watershed. It also is a great example of how agencies (CDFW, USFWS, US Forest Service, NMFS) and non-profits (N. California Regional Land Trust, the landowner) can work together collaboratively to address a challenge like this.” 

For information about other CDFW funded Deer Creek restoration projects, please see these links:

•  Deer Creek Restoration Projects Overview 
•  Lower Deer Creek Flood and Ecosystem Improvement Project, Phase 1 
•  Stanford Vina Fish Passage Planning and Design Project 
•  Deer Creek Irrigation District (DCID) Dam Fish Passage Improvement Project 
•  Restoring the Deer Creek Headwaters at Childs Meadow  
•  Deer Creek Irrigation District: Ditch System Master Plan 

To see other Project Highlight StoryMaps like this one, see:  https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Watersheds/Project-Highlights 

For Information on Proposition 1/68 Projects, please see:  https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Watersheds/Restoration-Grants/Projects 

For further information, please contact:  WatershedGrants@wildlife.ca.gov