NOAA Fisheries and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are launching SHaRP (Salmon Habitat Restoration Priorities) to identify urgent habitat restoration actions for California’s salmon and steelhead. Focusing on the Lower Russian River, four streams—Green Valley, Dutch Bill, Willow, and Mill Creeks—are prioritized for their potential to support coho salmon recovery.
The initiative emphasizes community and tribal involvement to develop effective, localized restoration strategies. Each stream faces unique challenges:
- Green Valley Creek: Limited by water quantity, channel structure, and off-channel habitats, affecting salmon’s life stages.
- Dutch Bill Creek: Water quantity is critical for early life stages, while structural complexity is necessary for juveniles.
- Willow Creek: Water quality and sediment accumulation hinder survival, with tidal influences also impacting conditions.
- Mill Creek: Water quantity and structure are limiting, compounded by the impacts of the Walbridge Fire.
The SHaRP plan outlines specific restoration actions based on detailed assessments of each stream’s conditions and challenges. This collaborative effort aims to stabilize the populations of endangered CCC coho salmon and other salmonids in the region.
