A major boost for Northern California’s struggling Chinook salmon population is underway on Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River. Earlier this month, biologists from the Coleman National Fish Hatchery released approximately 263,000 juvenile late-fall Chinook salmon, with an additional 75,000 released last week.
The timing couldn’t be better. A series of winter storms is pushing higher flows through the watershed, giving the young fish a better shot at making it safely down the Sacramento River system and out to the Pacific Ocean.
This release is part of a long-running effort to support salmon runs that once thrived throughout the upper reaches of the Sacramento River tributaries. Before Shasta and Keswick dams were built, Chinook spawned naturally in cold, spring-fed rivers like the McCloud, Pit, and Little Sacramento. When the dams blocked access in the mid-20th century, winter-run Chinook briefly adapted by using the cold-water releases below Keswick Dam — a shift that helped the population rebound in the 1940s and 50s.
But the recovery didn’t last. Beginning in the 1970s, winter-run numbers plummeted, bottoming out at roughly 200 spawners by the 1980s. The run was listed as endangered in California in 1989 and federally in 1994, sparking decades of hatchery support, habitat restoration, and flow management.
Releases like this week’s Battle Creek surge are small wins in a long fight. With strong river flows and a bit of luck, the next generation of Chinook is now on its way toward the ocean — and hopefully, back again.