Our Work

In 2025, The Wildlands Conservancy marked its first year of seeing coho salmon in a Sonoma coast stream called Russian Gulch. With luck and hard work, this event should herald a return of coho salmon in the Russian Gulch Watershed. The change was brought about by more than a decade of effort by Conservancy staff.…

The 43rd annual Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF) conference will take place in Redding from April 28 to May 1, 2026. The conference is a great opportunity to learn about native species of anadromous fish and hands-on and regulatory efforts to increase their populations. CSPA will make several presentations at this year’s conference.  The Salmonid Restoration…

It’s the time of year when I constantly daydream about swinging up a beautiful Winter steelhead. I’ve been obsessed with these incredible creatures ever since I landed my first one under Wohler Bridge on the Russian River 15 years ago. It was an exhilarating and unforgettable experience. The acrobatics, runs, and aerial maneuvers that occur…

The updated Bay-Delta Plan will set flows into San Francisco Bay, through the Delta estuary upstream, and in the Sacramento Valley rivers that flow into the Delta.  On December 12, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board (the Board) issued two major documents that describe its latest proposal for an update. These are the Revised…

On December 10, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) issued a revised draft version of its update of the Bay-Delta Plan. The draft includes a “partially recirculated” Chapter 13 of its September 2023 Draft Staff Report on the Bay-Delta Plan update.  Both the Bay-Delta plan update and the new Chapter 13 of the…

Entrainment of fish into surface water diversions is a major anthropogenic cause of fish kill. Entrainment occurs when diversion works redirect flows from a natural channel into a pipe or canal, and aquatic organisms get directed or sucked into the artificial intake.  While rates of entrainment per diversion may appear insignificant, the cumulative rate of…

The public comment period for Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s (PG&E) license surrender application (LSA) for the Potter Valley Project (PVP) was extended to December 19, 2025. A wide array of Tribal Nations, agencies, NGOs and individuals submitted comments, likely totaling well over a thousand. While many comments expressed support for the LSA, there were…

In the Lagunitas Creek watershed of Marin County, the Olema-based nonprofit called Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) is helping to increase the largest population of Central California Coast wild coho salmon. The program focused on this project is TIRN’s Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN). SPAWN has a staff of one full-time employee, several residential…

This winter, a host of stakeholders are examining how Chico-area waterways and the Chinook salmon and steelhead trout that live in them are faring, after the intense burning of the July-September 2024 Park Fire. Two of the most interesting sets of observations will come from Deer Creek and Mill Creek, which are tributaries of the…

At an unprecedented level, federal and state governments are advancing special interests at the expense of the public trust. Today more than ever, non-profit organizations must be leaders in enacting and enforcing policies that empower practical alternatives to the depletion and pollution of rivers, streams, estuaries, and aquifers. The Opportunity That’s where the California Sportfishing…

Having fished and surveyed the Russian River watershed for many years, there have been occasions when I’ve observed spawning adult Chinook salmon, stumbled across a carcass, or accidentally hooked a “Jack” or “Jill,” a young maturing Chinook salmon. These observations were exciting. They are a reminder that a small and resilient population of fall-run Chinook…

Basking in the glow of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the incredible strides made this year toward recovery of anadromous fisheries in the north state. Heightened returns of adult Chinook spawners to Battle Creek, to the Scott River, and to Klamath tributaries previously blocked by dams confirm that diligent efforts to improve fish passage and…

Example of substantial floodplain inundation on the lower Tuolumne River downstream of La Grange, taken March 27, 2019. Flow was 6,000 cfs at La Grange. Image: Chris Shutes  On November 5, 2025, Chris Shutes, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), made a presentation to the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) in…

Administrative Hearings Office Requires More Modeling for Proposed Sites Project and Delta Tunnel The Hearing Officer in the respective water rights hearings for the proposed Sites Reservoir Project and the proposed Delta Tunnel, who happens to be the same individual, has ordered more modeling in each proceeding.  The State Water Board’s Administrative Hearings Office (AHO)…

For decades, stream flows in the Shasta River dropped to a fraction of historical levels every summer, no matter how wet the water year type. Now, a new law, AB 263, which took effect in September 2025, requires that sufficient quantities of water remain instream. This ensures that coho salmon will be less likely to…