by Bill Templin, Board Member,
Sacramento Urban Creeks Council
and Upper American River Foundation

Once again, a good volunteer turnout of over 30 people participated in walking 16
reaches of Dry Creek and it’s tributaries including Secret Ravine, Miner’s Ravine,
Antelope Creek, Linda Creek, and Cirby Creek. The intrepid volunteers were
documenting the number of live salmon, carcasses and redds in the salmon’s spawning
beds in the stream gravels. Volunteers included individuals and groups such as the
Granite Bay Flycasters as well as federal, state, and local governments.

According to Gregg Bates, Watershed Coordinator and Dry Creek Conservancy’s
Conservator, “These are the lowest numbers in the 10 years that we have been doing the
count. Numbers are apparently low all along the coast and may be related to ocean
currents.”

The total number of live fish counted dropped again this year to 21, as compared with
127 in 2005 and 390 in 2004. The first year that I participated in this count (2004) we
counted 68 live fish in the same quarter-mile reach of Dry Creek where we counted 15
last year and only 6 this year! Declines also have been observed in the number of
carcasses and redds counted, with totals dropping from 87 carcasses in 2004 to only 20 in
2006, and redds dropping from 84 in 2004 to 43 in 2006.

More information about the Dry Creek Conservancy, its salmon surveys, and other
activities can be attained by visiting their website and reading their quarterly newsletter
at the Dry Creek Conservancy

This article originally appeared in our Winter 2007 Newsletter