Monitoring juvenile Chinook salmon outmigration using rotary screw traps on Yuba River

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) currently operates multiple eight-foot rotary screw traps (RSTs) at Hallwood Boulevard RM 7.5. RST operations were conducted by CDFW and then under the direction of the Yuba River Management Team from 1999 to 2009 at the Hallwood Boulevard site; and resumed in 2022 by DWR. The Hallwood site will essentially sample all areas of the lower Yuba River upstream of Hallwood Boulevard. Additionally, the Hallwood site is located downstream of the bulk of adult Chinook salmon spawning areas and downstream of all known spring-run Chinook salmon spawning. Data are currently being used to inform the development of a juvenile production estimate (JPE) for spring-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River Watershed as required by Incidental Take Permit No. 2081-2019-006-00 issued by CA Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to DWR for the long-term operation of the State Water Project. Data within the current year’s monitoring season are considered provisional.