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Welcome to the Hallwood Floodplain and Side Channel Restoration Project

A Habitat Enhancement Project on the lower Yuba River

This project will improve habitat in the lower Yuba River for Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. In an area mostly consisting of steep cobble embankments, the project has the potential to enhance or create up to 157 acres of seasonally-inundated riparian floodplain habitats, more than 1.7 miles of perennial side channels and alcoves, and more than 6.1 miles of seasonal side channels, alcoves, and swales.
Hallwood Project Fact Sheet

Existing and Proposed Conditions

Initial results from monitoring experiments completed by Cramer Fish Sciences fisheries biologists are available! Key findings:

Installed fyke net and trap box at the Hallwood Restoration Site, lower Yuba River

Installed fyke net and trap box at the Hallwood Restoration Site

    • Non-native predatory fish (largemouth bass and sunfish) have been observed within the large backwater pool at the lower end of the Project reach.
    • Rearing habitat quality dramatically alters residence time and survival of juvenile Chinook salmon.
    • Individual predators may be having a disproportionately large effect.

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Year 1 of post-project monitoring is currently being conducted by Cramer Fish Sciences and SYRCL fisheries biologists! This includes:

  • Snorkel surveys and invertebrate sampling in the new side channel, alcoves, and main channel control locations.
  • Mark-recapture study using PIT tagged hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon to assess changes in growth, survival, and residence time in restored Hallwood side channel.
  • Seining to assess predation and competition in the restored project site compared to an unrestored backwater control site.
  • In addition to recapturing many wild juvenile Chinook Salmon and Rainbow Trout/steelhead, the crew has captured some other interesting fish in the trap including several lamprey!
  • This summer, the project team will also be tracking natural riparian tree recruitment and survival throughout the newly restored floodplain.

Project Partners

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