Future Data Improvements

None planned.

Instream Spawning and Rearing Habitat

Data Source: California Department of Water Resources 2004 (pgs 35-36 ) and Thomas R. Payne & Associates 2002 (pgs 35-37)

Instream spawning and rearing habitat for Fall Run Chinook Salmon and Steelhead in the Feather River are based on data from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and from Thomas R. Payne & Associates’ instream flow evaluations for the relicensing of the Oroville facilities. These evaluations determined relationships between flow and both suitable spawning and rearing habitat for 23.25 miles of the Feather River. This segment of the Feather River is between the Fish Barrier Dam and Honcut Creek. The DWR Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) instream spawning and rearing habitat data were provided by Mark Gard from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in a spreadsheet. The Fall Run Chinook Salmon and Steelhead spawning habitat data from Mark Gard were cross-referenced with the original FERC data and amended. The data now include the original data from the FERC reports, which was added by digitizing the flow area curves in the FERC evaluation reports (pages 35-36) using https://automeris.io/WebPlotDigitizer/. The FERC instream flow evaluation produced flow area curves for the “upper” and “lower” reaches. These values were combined into a single area and weighted by study reach length for each flow value.

Spawning and Rearing Data

The instream spawning and rearing habitat data described above for Fall Run Chinook Salmon (FR) and Steelhead (ST) are combined for use in the Decision Support Model (DSM) in the following format.

Header Descriptions: flow_cfs = flow in cubic feet per second, FR_spawn_wua = Fall Run Chinook Spawning WUA, FR_fry_wua = Fall Run Chinook Fry WUA, FR_juv_wua = Fall Run Chinook Juvenile WUA, ST_spawn_wua = Steelhead Spawning WUA, watershed = section of stream modeled for CVPIA SDM
flow_cfs FR_spawn_wua FR_fry_wua FR_juv_wua ST_spawn_wua watershed
200 12764.96 17000 59000 5379.075 Feather River
500 20315.87 17500 62000 5515.532 Feather River
750 25183.55 NA NA 6382.568 Feather River
1000 26684.48 24000 65000 6184.595 Feather River
1250 26289.96 NA NA 5456.065 Feather River

… with 13 more rows

Spawning WUA

The following plot shows the weighted usable spawning area (WUA) in square feet per thousand feet for Fall Run Chinook Salmon and Steelhead. These area per length rates are multiplied by the total spawning reach length mapped by the Science Integration Team (SIT) to estimate available habitat.

Rearing WUA

The following plot shows the rearing WUA in square feet per thousand feet for Fall Run Chinook Salmon fry and juvenile. These rates are multiplied by the total rearing reach length mapped by the SIT to estimate available habitat.

Floodplain Rearing Habitat

Data Source: Central Valley Floodplain Evaluation and Delineation (CVFED) HEC-RAS hydraulic model

The entire mapped rearing extent of 65 miles was modeled using Central Valley Floodplain Evaluation and Delineation (CVFED) HEC-RAS hydraulic model. An active channel area of 2363.2 acres, estimated through remote sensing analysis, was subtracted from total inundated area to obtain inundated floodplain area.

Floodplain Data

The areas represent total inundated area in acres.

Header Descriptions: flow_cfs = flow in cubic feet per second, FR_floodplain_acres = Fall Run Chinook floodplain acres, SR_floodplain_acres = Spring Run Chinook floodplain acres, ST_floodplain_acres = Steelhead floodplain acres, watershed = section of stream modeled for CVPIA SDM
flow_cfs FR_floodplain_acres SR_floodplain_acres ST_floodplain_acres watershed
1100 0.00 0.00 0.00 Feather River
2600 471.56 471.56 471.56 Feather River
4056 974.40 974.40 974.40 Feather River
4100 989.60 989.60 989.60 Feather River
5600 1174.16 1174.16 1174.16 Feather River

… with 35 more rows

Floodplain Plot