Central Valley anadromous salmonid habitat suitability criteria

Abstract

Habitat suitability criteria (HSC) are a key information source used in designing habitat restoration projects. Many site-specific HSC have been developed in the Central Valley of California for various life stages of anadromous salmonids. Substantial differences between the HSC can be due to watershed characteristics and the methods used to develop the HSC. Spawning HSC generally have optimum depths of 0.3–1 m, optimum velocities of 0.3–1 m/s, and substrate sizes ranging from 25–100 mm. Optimum conditions for fry are generally shallow (less than 0.5 m) and slow (less than 0.1 m/s) with woody cover. Juvenile salmonids use deeper (0.5–1 m) and faster (up to 0.4 m/s) conditions than fry but are similar to fry in their preference for woody cover. HSC developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Yuba River are recommended for evaluating habitat restoration projects on larger rivers, while HSC developed on Clear Creek are recommended for evaluating habitat restoration projects on smaller Central Valley streams. A key limitation of existing HSC is that they were only developed for in-channel conditions; fishery benefits of floodplain restoration projects are best quantified using total wetted area. Optimal HSC values are most useful in the initial design of habitat restoration projects, while flow-habitat relationships for existing versus proposed conditions can be useful in identifying needed design refinements, such as adding large woody debris.