THE STONY CREEK WATER WARS
Glenn County - Tehama County - Colusa County , California.
(c) 2009, Mike Barkley

Collected references to Salmon on Stony Creek

Important because it accumulates references to the fine salmon run on Stony Creek rendered extinct by Reclamation (and GCID)

Early references to salmon on Stony Creek are quite scarce. I assume that the overwhelming abundance on the Sacramento into which it flows overshadowed any interest in Stony Creek salmon except among the local Indians. Among the comments I've found, the only comment I have full faith in is the testimony by State Senator & Superior Court Judge Claude Fouts Purkitt in the Angle Case. The rest of them seem to track back to where they disappear rather than originate in eyewitness anecdote or collected data. The absence of footnotes, etc. in some critical early works is distressing. I'm continuing to dig for sources to make sure that's not a real problem.
BIOLOGIC:

  • State of California, Fish and Game Commission, Twenty-Third Biennial Report, for the Years 1912-1914 [click on "pdf"; which contains multiple reports ]

    p. 59 Following is a list of surveys which have been made for fish ladders to be installed over dams in California up to July 1, 1914:
    Owner / County / Stream / Action
    U.S. Government / Glenn / Stony Creek / [fish] Ladder under construction
    [which dam? what species of fish?]

    References in SWRCB Ap. 18115 filings by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance lead to

  • Clark, G.H. 1929, pp. 44-45 of Sacramento-San Joaquin Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Fishery of California. Division of Fish and Game of California Fish Bulletin No. 17, 73 pages. (the full bulletin is here, Stony Creek is in Part II) ; discussed at p. 119 Division of Fish and Game/Fish and Game Commission, Thirty-First Biennial Report for the Years 1928-1930 http://www.archive.org/details/californiafishgabien19281930cali2 , also California Fish and Game [Journal] v. 15 #1, p. 1, G.H. Clark, "Sacramento River Salmon Fishery" http://www.archive.org/details/californiafishga15_1929cali [inexact map at p. 9 shows barriers on Stony at NDD & Stony Gorge, article mostly advocacy regarding dams, 6000 miles of spawning streams in the Central Valley cut to 510 miles], and, same issue, p. 13, N.B. Scofield, "The Status of Salmon in California", both articles advocacy rather than scientific reporting.
    p. 44: Fig. 23. Showing the crossing of the Glenn-Colusa Ditch over Stony Creek [ crude map]

    Stony Creek, in Tehama County: This is also a branch on the west side which joins the Sacramento River near the town of Hamilton [p. -- 45 --] Formerly there was a spring and fall run in this stream, but now there is neither, as the stream is dry except during the rainy season.

    There are two dams on this stream. The Orland Project Dam, owned by the U.S. Reclamation Service and located 4 miles west of Stonyford, is 20 feet high and was built about 1914. The water is used for irrigation around Orland. Another dam on Big Stony Creek is 90 feet high, which is too high for a fish ladder.

    The Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District pumps water from the Sacramento River above Hamilton. There are no screens on the pumps and small fish are pumped into the large canal, which crosses Stony Creek below Hamilton. The company has thrown up a temporary dam with a solid base across Stony Creek so that the irrigation water can cross the stream. (See Fig. 23) There are gates on each side of Stony Creek where the canal crosses to control the creek water in flood time. Dredges are kept there to keep the canal clear, across Stony Creek, during the summer and fall. The dam usually is washed out in high water. Any water that may run in Stony Creek during the irrigation season is diverted into the Glenn-Colusa Canal. Salmon have no chance of getting up this stream now, even if there were any water.

    From reports, Stony Creek, before irrigation dams were put in, was a very good salmon stream, but now no salmon can go up the creek as there is no water, as explained above."

    [No specific references or footnotes; requests to CDFG regarding those "From reports" not yet fruitful.]
  • In SWRCB Andreotti Ap. #24758 files, Folder 2, Item 3, Exhibit 1 - 02/1964 A Reconnaissance Study to - Investigate the Feasibility of the Upper Stony Creek Watershed Project (Glenn and Colusa Counties, California) for Construction under the Federal Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, Public Law 566, a Report for the State Soil Conservation Commission, Sacramento, California by Division of Soil Conservation, Department of Conservation, State of California; identifies site for Pleasant Valley Dam & Reservoir on North Fork of [Big] Stony Creek for irrigation of Stonyford area - mentioned but not discussed, flows would improve fisheries downstream as far as the Sacramento River
    Pleasant Valley damsite just below Goulding Creek, drains 23.5 sq. mi, estimated average annual flow 16,500 a-f, 105 foot earthfill structure of 260,000 yards; at spillway elevation gross volume of 2700 a-f, 90-acre surface; natural flows at Rainbow sufficient one season in three for predicted irrigation plus 17.5 cfs fishery demand [paraphrased]
  • In SWRCB Application A026378 File, City of Santa Clara Stony Gorge Power Plant
    File Category 7 FERC LICENSES AND REPORTS VOL. 1 OF 1
    Folder 2, Item ?
  • 102081 Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Application for License for Project No. 3193, The Stony Gorge Hydroelectric Project By the City of Santa Clara, California, Prepared by: Resource Management International, Inc. Sacramento, California and Sverdrup & Parcel and Associates, Inc., San Francisco, California; on cover, SCH "81011202"
    - - [AND] - -
    File Category 20 TRANSCRIPTS AND EXHIBITS VOL. 1 OF 1
    Folder 4, Item 3, Exh. 11
    - Exh. 11 Application 26379 - Before the Federal Engergy Regulatory Commission Application for License for Project No. 3190 - the Black Butte Hydroelectric Project by the City of Santa Clara, California Prepared by: Resource Management International, Inc. Sacramento, California and Sverdrup & Parcel and Associates, Inc., San Francisco, California 09/1981 
                                 [from] Table E-6
                Fish Species of the Stony Creek Drainage

Anadromous Fishes
  King (chinook) Salmon         Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
  Steelhead Rainbow Trout       Salmo gairdneri [not "t. mykiss?"]

Resident Fishes
  Silver (Coho) Salmon          Oncorhynchus kisutch
    p. E-18
    "In the past there was occasionally a small run of king salmon in Stony Creek below the Black Butte Dam in years when early heavy rains breached the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District diversion dam (Puckett, 1969). However, there are no recent reports of any significant spawning usage of the streambed below Black Butte Dam."

    p. E-42
    "The California Department of Fish and Game has identified the potential for restoration and enhancement of that portion of Stony Creek below Black Butte Dam to establish anadromous fish spawning grounds.

    Although there is no good record of the extent of king salmon spawning runs in Stony Creek in its natural state, it is believed that hundreds of salmon may have utilized the stream (Puckett, 1969). With the construction of East Park Dam in 1910 and Stony Gorge Dam in 1928 and the downstream water diversions for the Orland Project and the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, anadromous fishery values in Stony Creek were essentially lost. In particular, the diversion dam of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District just three miles above the mouth of Stony Creek completely cuts off flow into the Sacramento River from April until heavy winter storm runoff breaches this barrier, usually in December. This prevents most fall-run king salmon from ascending Stony Creek, since the main run is usually over by the time the dam is washed out.

    At present, Stony Creek is of little, if any, value as salmon spawning habitat. The completion of Black Butte Dam in 1964 means that even the few salmon that may occasionally enter Stony Creek would be restricted to spawning gravels below the dam. An additional problem is created by the unscreened diversions for the Orland Project and the Colusa-Glenn [sic] Canal, which result in the loss of young salmon on their downstream migration.

    [p. E-43] The potential for enhancement of Stony Creek as salmon spawning and nursery habitat was discussed in a California Department of Fish and Game report (Puckett, 1969). Analysis of streambed gravels indicated that only the two miles of Stony Creek immediately below Black Butte Dam contained acceptable spawning material. The remainder of Stony Creek would be unusable because of excessive fine materials and gravel compaction. Habitat enhancement would require large instream flows because the stream channel is quite wide below Black Butte Dam and its bed is highly permeable. Releases of at least 200 cfs would be needed for adequate transport of upstream migrating salmon. No usable spawning areas would be avaialble at flows below 400 cfs. The highest measured streamflow during the study was 755 cfs; it covered only 33 percent of the available spawning area. Streamflows above this level would provide increased spawning material. However, it was concluded that summer water temperatures would be too warm for salmonid nursery habitat even with bottom releases from Black Butte Lake. Other potentially limiting factors were felt to be turbidity and encroachment of riparian vegetation.

    Thus, it appears that the potential for anadromous fishery enhancement in Stony Creek is severely limited. Even if the problem of access for fall-run salmon across the Glenn-Colusa diversion dam could be solved, there is not a great deal of suitable spawning gravel. The releases necessary to make even this small amount of habitat available for reproduction are simply too large to be physically maintained, given the storage capacity of Black Butte Lake. Finally, high summer water temperatures and other adverse factors would make this stretch of Stony Creek unsuitable for nursery habitat."
  • Reynolds FL, Mills TJ, Benthin R, Low A. 1993. Restoring Central Valley streams; a plan for action. Sacramento (CA): California Department of Fish and Game. 129 p. http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/documents/Resources/RestoringCentralVallyStreams.pdf
    p. 20 [Executive Summary]
    Table 4, Evaluation Action to Determine Habitat Needs for Anadromous Fish
    Priority C-2 Investigate the reasibility of obtaining adequate stream flows for salmon in Stony Creek - No [cost] Estimate

    p. 21
    Priority C-2 Investigate the feasibility of constucting a siphon at the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District canal crossing on Stony Creek, No [cost] Estimate
    - - -
    p. VII-70
    STONY CREEK

    Stony Creek is a westside stream originating in the Coast Range and draining into the Sacramento River south of Hamilton City (Figure VII-5). There are three storage reservoirs in the watershed. The lowermost dam, Black Butte, is a barrier to anadromous fish. The Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District canal crosses Stony Creek downstream of Black Butte Dam and consists of a seasonable gravel dam constructed across the creek on the downstream side of the canal. This crossing not only allows the canal to continue flowing south but it also allows capture of Stony Creek water and is a complete barrier to salmon migration.

    Stony Creek supports fall-run chinook salmon in years when flow reaches the Sacramento River and adult fish are able to migrate into the creek to spawn. Excellent spawning gravel is present between Black Butte Dam and the Sacramento River.

    Stony Creek was identified as a chinook salmon enhancement site by the USBR when planning for the RBDD. The objective of the USBR was to release supplemental water into Stony Creek from the Tehama-Colusa Canal (TCC) to provide additional spawning and rearing habitat for fall-run chinook salmon. The project was never completed and is now the subject of a USFWS Supplemental Coordination Act report. The USFWS is attempting to identify how much mitigation and enhancement was completed and how much is still owed by the USBR.

    The USBR recently completed a project using the TCC turnout structure to capture Stony Creek water and deliver it to USBR contractors. This project is opposite in design to the original intent of the structure since it removes water from Stony Creek and diverts it into the TCC. The project is intended to help replace water previously delivered when RBDD gates were in place year-round.

    Restoration of fall-run chinook salmon in Stony Creek is dependent on obtaining suitable stream flow below Black Butte Reservoir and adequate fish passage at the GCID and TCC creek crossings. The feasibility of obtaining water and providing passage should be evaluated.

    [p. VII-71]
    Priority Ranking and Cost of Implementation

    Recommendations for evaluation of anadromous fish habitat in Stony Creek:

    Priority / Evaluation Action to Determine Habitat Needs for Anadromous Fish / Cost

    Priority C-2 / Investigate the reasibility of obtaining adequate stream flows for salmon in Stony Creek / No [cost] Estimate
    Priority C-2 / Investigate the feasibility of constucting a siphon at the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District canal crossing on Stony Creek / No [cost] Estimate

  • Tributary Rearing by Sacramento River Salmon and Steelhead, interim report 10/30/1994 Paul E. Maslin and William R. McKinney, Dept. of Biol, CSU; measuring & releasing juvenile salmon on many creeks including Stony; comment on how chinook juveniles take refuge in Stony Creek, etc. 06/29/1995 Baiocchi Protest for CSPA re Reclamation petition for permanent point of rediversion: GCID dam erected 02/1994 stranded 5,000 - 10,000 juvenile salmon [CHECK] (Maslin & McKinney 1994) ; copy in SWRCB Ap. 18115 Correspondence File Vol. 7; linked below is the 1995 version which includes also Stony Creek, unlike the 1996 version. [How many versions are there?]
    Introduction
    Methods
    Results, including links to Tables and Figures
    Discussion
    References

    [THERE ARE MULTIPLE MASLIN reports, it's hard to know which is being cited at any given point; still looking for the rest of them, including the Salmon Rescue on Stony Creek report]

  • US Fish and Wildlife Service. 1995. Working Paper on restoration needs: habitat restoration actions to double natural production of anadromous fish in the Central Valley of California. Volumes 1, 2, and 3. 9 May 1995. Prepared for the US Fish and Wildlife Service under the direction of the Anadromous Fish Restoration Program Core Group. Stockton, Calif. referenced in 06/29/1995 Baiocchi Protest for CSPA in SWRCB Ap. 18115
    Part 1 Stony Creek at 1-IV-12
    Part 2 Stony Creek at 2-V-5
    Part 3 Stony Creek at 31-Xb- 58 thru 70; in this Part 3, for instance, are
    - Action 6 on p.3-Xb-66 for instance discusses creating a distinct channel below Black Butte.
    - Action 8 on p.3-Xb-67 discusses halting TCC diversions
    - Action 9 on p.3-Xb-68 discusses fish passage at NDD

  • Historical and Present Distribution of Chinook Salmon in the Central Valley Drainage of California, [UCDavis web site], Ronald M. Yoshiyama, Eric R. Gerstung, Frank W. Fisher, and Peter B. Moyle, pp. 71 - 176 , 1996
    [ Contributions to the Biology of Central Valley Salmonids ]
    also at: Ceres, CalWater; Full bulletin at: CDFG
    [Central Valley Steelhead, Dennis R. McEwan] CDFG Bulletin 179, p. 17 Figure 6 showing Impassable Dams, including Black Butte on Stony Creek

    - - -

    [Yoshiyama, et al., ] Bulletin 179, p. 79 Table 1 Historical upstream limits of chinook salmon in the California Central Valley drainage [fn a] (Continued)
    Stream - Upstream distributional limit [fn b]

    Stony Creek - Juncture of Little Stony Creek, five miles below Stonyford [this may not have been the limit before the Stonyford/Indian Valley irrigators started diversions before 1870]
    - - -
    p. 151 Stony Creek (Tehama County). Stony Creek is a west side tributary in the Sacramento drainage and formerly supported spring run and fall runs (Clark 1929). Stony Creek was said to have been "a very good salmon stream" before the placement of the irrigations dams (Clark 1929, p 45). Kroeber (1932, p 295), drawing from ethnographic data, stated that "Salmon, for instance, ran up Stony creek through Wintun as far as Salt Pomo territory." The downstream (eastern) bor-

    [p.] 152 Fish Bulletin 179: Volume One

    der of the Salt Pomo (Northeastern Pomo) tribe has been placed at the confluence of Stony Creek and Little Stony Creek, about five miles below Stonyford (Kroeber 1925, p 224, McLendon and Oswalt 1978), so that point would have been the minimal upstream range of salmon. By 1928, both spring and fall runs were nonexistent due to irrigation diversions that kept the stream dry except during the rainy season (Clark 1929). At that time, there were two permanent dams on the creek: the Orland Project Dam (20 ft high, built about 1914) four miles west of Stonyford, and a dam on Big Stony Creek (90 ft high, "too high for a fish ladder") (Clark 1929) [actually, not Big Stony, just Stony]. There was also a dam across Stony Creek where an irrigation canal built by the Glenn Colusa Irrigation District (GCID) crossed the creek about three miles upstream of its mouth. This dam was usually washed out in high water, but most of the time it would have been a barrier to salmon, had there been any water in the creek (Clark 1929). Presently there are three storage reservoirs on the creek (Reynolds and others 1993). There is "excellent" spawning gravel within the about 20 miles of stream [sic, syntax] between the creek mouth and the lowermost dam, Black Butte Dam, which would be a barrier to salmon (Reynolds and others 1993). However, the GCID canal, which crosses Stony Creek downstream of Black Butte Dam, completely bars salmon migration any farther upstream (Reynolds and others 1993; USFWS 1995). This cross-stream barrier is now seldom washed out except when flood control releases are made from Black Butte Reservoir.

    Miscellaneous Small Sacramento Valley Tributaries. In addition to Antelope, Cottonwood, and Stony creeks, more than a dozen other small tributaries in the northern Sacramento Valley occasionally supported fall-run salmon spawning stocks during the period 1940-1959 in years of early and heavy rains, and a few of those streams also had spring runs (Fry 1961)....

    - - -
    p. 157 Table 2 Estimated changes in lengths of stream available to chinook salmon in the major salmon-supporting watersheds of the California Central Valley [fn a] (Continued)

    Watershed /
    Length (mi) of stream historically available [fn b] /
    Length (mi) of stream presently accessible [fn c] /
    Length (mi) of stream lost (or gained) [fn d] /
    Percent lost (or gained)

    Westside Streams
    Stony Creek / 54 / 3 / 51 / 94

    - - -
    Clark GH. 1929. Sacramento-San Joaquin salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) fishery of California Division of Fish and Game. Fish Bulletin 17. p 1-73.

    Fry DH, Jr. 1961. King salmon spawning stocks of the California Central Valley, 1940 - 1959. California Fish and Game 47(1):55-71. [no Stony Creek mention] On reports list and available at: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Resources/Reports/index.asp ( as https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca,gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=3435 )

    Kroeber AL. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bur Am Ethnol Smithsonian Inst Bull 78:1-995. Reprinted in 1976. New York (NY): Dover.

    Kroeber AL. 1932. The Patwin and their neighbors. Univ Calif Publ Am Archaeol Ethnol 29:253-423.

    McLendon S, Oswalt RL. 1978. Pomo: introduction. In: Heizer RF, editor. Handbook of North American Indians. Volume 8. California. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Inst. p 274-88. CILC C32 C3 1978

    Murphy GI. 1946. A survey of Stony Creek, Grindstone Creek and Thomes Creek drainages in Glenn, Colusa and Tehama counties, California. Inland Fisheries Branch administrative report nr. 46-14. Sacramento (CA): California Department of Fish and Game.; referenced p. 59 "Titles and Abstracts of Administrative Reports Submitted by the Biological Staff July 1, 1946, to June 30, 1948, Fortieth Biennial Report For the Years 1946-1948, Fish and Game Commission ; abstract: trout, not salmon.

    Reynolds FL, Mills TJ, Benthin R, Low A. 1993. Restoring Central Valley streams; a plan for action. Sacramento (CA): California Department of Fish and Game. 129 p. http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/documents/Resources/RestoringCentralVallyStreams.pdf

    [USFWS] US Fish and Wildlife Service. 1995. Working Paper on restoration needs: habitat restoration actions to double natural production of anadromous fish in the Central Valley of California. Volumes 1, 2, and 3. 9 May 1995. Prepared for the US Fish and Wildlife Service under the direction of the Anadromous Fish Restoration Program Core Group. Stockton,
    [THERE ARE MULTIPLE Yoshiyama, et al., report iterations, it's hard to know which is being cited at any given point ]

  • Lower Stony Creek Fish, Wildlife and Water Use Management Plan November 13, 1998 ( scanned by Capitol Digital Document Solutions, Sacramento - broken up into 6 consecutive segments for ease of downloading); pagination is a bit tricky, pp. i - xvi, Sections 1-6, Appendices A-I, then Appendix to Chapter 2 A-2, and to Chapter 3, A-3
    one, - from p. i to p. 2-4,
    two, - from map before p. 3-1 to p. 5-2,
    three , from p. 5-3 to A-2-14
    four, - from 3 maps before p. A-2-18 to graph & 2 maps after p. A-2-26
    - Salmon, p. F-2
    five, - from map before A-2-31 to 3 graphs after A-2-73
    - Salmon, pp. A-2-49 - A-2-80 (among other places)
    six , - from 3 graphs before A-2-80 to end.
    - Salmon, pp. A-2-80 - A-2-92
    Bibliography & References recast in html
    [insert Chinook/Steelhead quotes....]

    - Included report: Appendix I [eye], Preliminary Assessment of Streambed Substrate for Salmon Spawning in Stony Creek, California, 02/1998, Natural Resource Scientists, Inc., Red Bluff [is this Vogel, 02/1998?]

    [mentioned in text, but not in bibliography or references : ]
    - p. F-5: "The Middle Little Stony Creek Watershed Analysis Report," Mendocino National Forest staff, Willows, in progress for late 1998
    - p. F-5: "Watershed Plan and Environmental Assessment, Upper Stony Creek Watershed", Natural Resource Conservation Service (SCS), Davis, CA 07/1989

    Other References:
    Chapter 6
    [selections from] Bibliography

    Brown, M.R. 1994. Fishery Impacts from Reverse Operations at Constant Head Orifice at Stony Creek and Tehama-Colusa Canal, California. USFWS AFFI-FRO-94-12. November.

    Brown, M.R. 1995. Supplementary Study of Fall 1994 Fishery Impacts from Reverse Operation of the Constant Head Orifice at Stony Creek and the Tehama-Colusa Canal, California, Final Report to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Red Bluff, California. June.

    California Department of Fish and Game. 1969. Fisheries Surveys on Thomes and Stony Creeks, Glenn and Tehama Counties, with Special Emphasis on Their Potentials for King Salmon Spawning.

    California Department of Fish and Game. 1983. Thomes-Newville Unit Fish and Wildlife Evaluation. DFG Progress Report, Sacramento, California.

    California Department of Fish and Game. 1966. A. Petrovich. A Water Quality Study of Whiskeytown, Black Butte, Stony Gorge, and East Park Reservoirs.

    California Department of Fish and Game. 1993. Restoring Central Valley Streams: A Plan for Action. November.

    Chang, H.. M.L. Swanson, and G.M. Kondolf. 1992. An Investigation of the Causes of Accelerated Channel Erosion and Development of Countermeasures for Bridge Stabilization on Stony Creek. Executive Summary. March 31. Prepared for the California Department of Transportation.

    Chang, H. 1991. Study of Stream Channel Changes at Bridge Crossings on Stony Creek Under Maximum Permitted Excavation. Prepared for the California Department of Transportation. August.

    City of Santa Clara. 1981. The Black Butte Hydroelectric Project. Resource Management International, Inc., and Sverdup and Parcel Associates. September.

    Clark, G.H. 1929. Sacramento - San Joaquin Salmon Fishery of California. Fish Bulletin No. 17. DFG. Sacramento, California.

    Davis, C.F. 1984. Where the Water is King. Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District. Willows, California.

    Decree. 1930. The United States of America versus H. C. Angle, et al. United States District Court, Northern Division. January.

    Department of Water Resources. Various Dates. Temperature Data for Stony Creek. Prints on Microfiche. Red Bluff, California.

    Glenn County. 1997. Aggregate Resource Management Plan. October.

    Hall, H. J. 1964. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation memorandum to files Re: Fishery and Wildlife, Aspects of the Tehama-Colusa Canal, Sacramento River Division, Central Valley Project. March 19, 1964.

    Hallock, Richard J. 1989. Upper Sacramento River Steelhead, 1952-1988, a report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

    Kondolf, G.M. and M.L. Swanson. 1992. Channel Adjustments to Reservoir Construction and Gravel Extraction along Stony Creek, California. December 10.

    Kondolf, G.M. and M.L. Swanson. 1993. Channel Adjustments to Reservoir Construction and Gravel Extraction along Stony Creek, California. Environmental Geology 21:256-269.

    Loggins, R., R. Bishop, R. Null, and L. Katz. 1997. Report on the Stony Creek Fish Rescue. DFG.

    Maslin, P.E. Professor, California State University, Chico. Preliminary text for the draft Stony Creek report. No date.

    Maslin, P.E. 1995. (a.) The Stony Creek Fishery from Black Butte Dam to the Sacramento River. CSU Chico. June 18 and July 10.

    Maslin, P.E. 1995. (b.) Draft General Requirements for Re-Establishment of Native, Non Salmonid Fish and Wildlife along Lower Stony Creek. CSU Chico. August 6.

    Maslin, P.E. and W.R. McKinney. 1994. Tributary Rearing by Sacramento River Salmon and Steelhead Interim Report. CSU Chico. October 30.

    Medlin, Joel. Species list for rediversion of water to Tehama-Colusa Canal at the Stony Creek siphon, Tehama County, California. June 11, 1995.

    Moyle, Peter B. 1976. Inland Fishes of California. University of California Press. Berkeley, California.

    Nelson, Earl D., & Associates. 1993. Draft Environmental Impact Report for Arbuckle Gravel Extraction from Stony Creek. Glenn County Planning Department. Willows, California. November 25.

    Nelson, Earl D., & Associates. 1994. Environmental Impact Report for Arbuckle Gravel Extraction from Stony Creek. Glenn County Planning Department. Willows, California. October 7.

    Puckett, Larry K. 1969. Fisheries Surveys on Thomes and Stony Creeks, Glenn and Tehama Counties, with Special Emphasis on their Potentials for King Salmon Spawning. Report No. 69-3.

    Reavis, Robert L. Jr. 1983. Chinook Salmon Spawning Stocks in California's Central Valley, 1981. DFG. Annual Report No. 69-3. p. 24. Anadromous Fisheries Br. Admin. Report No. 83-2. February.

    Swanson, Mitchell, and Associates. 1991. Geomorphic Study of Bed Degradation in Stony Creek, Glenn County, California. May 15.

    Tubbs, AA. 1980. Riparian Bird Communities of the Great Plains. In DeGraff R.M. and N.G. Tilghman. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report, IWT 86.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 1984. A Short History of Stony Creek and Black Butte Lake. July.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 1987. Black Butte Dam and Lake Stony Creek, California, Water Control Manual. Appendix III to Master Water Control Manual, Sacramento River Basin, California. May.

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1963. Interim Report regarding the Tehama-Colusa Canal, Sacramento River Division, Central Valley Project, California. July 19.

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1967. Fish and Wildlife Aspects with Tehama-Colusa Canal, Sacramento Canals Unit, Sacramento River Division, Central Valley Project, California. January 5.

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1969. Memorandum from Acting Regional Director, USFWS, Portland, Oregon to Regional Director, Reclamation, Sacramento, California, Re: Cost and benefit estimates, Tehama-Colusa Fish Facilities, Tehama-Colusa Canal, CVP, with attached narrative on the Thomes Creek Fishery. March 6. [where is this?]

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1975. Smith Felix E. Memorandum to Regional Director, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region. Subject of Reevaluation of Fish and Wildlife Benefits, Tehama-Colusa Canal.

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1994. Draft Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Report, Tehama-Colusa Canal change in Point of Diversion to Stony Creek, Glenn County, California. Division of Ecological Services, Sacramento, California. September.

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1996. Supplemental Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Report. Tehama-Colusa Canal change in permanent point of rediversion on Stony Creek, Glenn County, California. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Ecological Services, Sacramento, California. February.

    Vogel, D.A. 1993. Chinook Salmon Rearing in the Central Valley. UC Davis, January 4 to 5, 1993.

    Vogel, D.A. 1996. Tehama Colusa Canal Authority White Paper, March 25.

    Vogel, D.A. 1998. Preliminary Assessment of Streambed Substrate for Salmon Spawning in Stony Creek, California. February. [is this Appendix I (eye)?]

    Vogel, D.A. and Keith R. Marine. 1991. Guide to Upper Sacramento River Chinook Salmon Life History. Bureau of Reclamation, Central Valley Project. CH2M Hill. Redding, California. July.

    Weldon, Marilyn. 1989. The Garlin Ranch of Stonyford. Sacramento Valley Landowner Magazine. Spring.

    Wilson, G. G. 1995. Stony Creek Water Rights, Stony Creek Management Plan Technical Team. October 3. [where is this?]

    Wilson, G. G. 1995. Letter to D. Hanson, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Water Rights Downstream from Black Butte Dam. Office of Watermaster. June. [where is this letter?]

    Yoshiyama, R.M., E.R. Gerstung, F.W. Fisher, and P.B. Moyle. 1995. Historical and Present Distribution of Chinook Salmon in the Central Valley Drainage of California.
    - - -
    Exhibit I [eye]
    Preliminary Assessment of Riverbed Substrate for Salmon Spawning in Stony Creek, California

    REFERENCES
    Puckett, L.K. 1969. Fisheries surveys on Thomes and Stony Creeks, Glenn and Tehama Counties, with special emphasis on their potential for king salmon spawning. California Department of Fish and Game. Water Projects Branch Administrative Report No. 69-3. 24 pp.

    Rantz, S.E. 1964. Stream hydrology related to the optimum discharge for king salmon spawning in the northern California coast ranges. U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Supply Paper 1779-AA Prepared in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game). United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 16 pp.

    Vogel, D.A. 1983. Evaluation of the Tehama-Colusa Fish Facilities. Cal-Neva Wildlife Transactions. pp. 20-25

    Vogel, D.A. 1989. Sacramento River Salmon Restoration. Sacramento Valley Landowners. pp. 10-13.
  • Southwest Regional Office, National marine Fisheries Service, Central Valley Chinook Salmon Current Stream Habitat Distribution Table ( most current reference therein, 1999)
    Sacramento Valley (north to south)
    Stream or Tributary (RM=river mile)

  • Stony Creek (RM 189)

    Run / Upper Limit of Run (RM=river mile) / Sources - References - Pers. comm. / Comments / Survey Dates

  • fall / Black Butte Dam (~24 mi. upstream) and/or the Glenn Colusa Irrigation District Dam (GCID) / CDFG 1998a, Kano 1998, USFWS 1998, USBuRec 1996, Yoshiyama et al. 1996 / Black Butte Dam (CVP, constructed 1963) is present upstream limit. 1989 (11/30) surveys from the I-5 bridge downstream 10.4 miles and aerial surveys (12/4) of 19.4 miles observed the stream was dry from the GCID to the mouth, 2 redds were counted. / 1957 1968 1981 1989 1994

  • late fall / same as above / USBuRec 1996 / See Lower Stony Creek Fish, Wildlife and Water Use Management Plan on website [where, other than my site?] / 1994

  • fall & spring / Up Hwy 32 to Capay Rd. or 6th Ave. / Maslin , Maslin 1996a / Non-natal rearing study. Majority of fish are fall run. / 1997

  • winter / Up Hwy 32 to Capay Rd. or 6th Ave. / Maslin , Maslin 1996a / 1997

    References cited above:

  • CDFG. 1998a. Fall run chinook spawning escapements, Sacramento River above Sacramento, 1952-97. "Grand Tab" table. Inland Fish. Div., Red Bluff CA. 5 p.

  • Kano, R. 1998. Annual report: chinook salmon spawner stocks in California's Central Valley, 1990. Inland Fisheries Administrative Report No. 98-6. Sacramento, CA. 34 p.

  • Maslin, P.E., McKinney, W.R. and T.L. Moore. 1997. Intermittent streams as rearing habitat for Sacramento River chinook salmon. [http://www.csuchico.edu/~pmaslin/rsrch/Salmon/Abstrct.html - broken ling, not on website] Dept. of Biology, CSU Chico. Chico CA.

  • Maslin, P.E., McKinney, W.R. and T.L. Moore. 1996a. Intermittent streams as rearing habitat for Sacramento River chinook salmon. [http://www.csuchico.edu/~pmaslin/rsrch/Salmon/Abstrct.html] Dept. of Biology, CSU Chico. Chico CA.

  • USFWS. 1998. Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) tributary production enhancement report. Sacramento, CA.

  • US Bureau of Reclamation. 1996. Lower Stony Creek Fish, Wildlife, and Water Use Management Plan.

  • Yoshiyama, R., E. Gerstung, F. Fisher and P. Moyle. 1996. Historical and present distribution of chinook salmon in the Central Valley drainage of California. Vol. III, Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress. U.C. Davis, Center for Water and Wildland Resources, Davis CA. pp.309-361.
  • A more thorough summary is in the National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Opinions & drafts, 2002, 2007 & 2008,
  • [Somewhere around 2002] Stony Creek Watershed Program. [Proposal], Glenn County Public Works, CALFED Bay-Delta Program Project Information, Watershed Program - Full Proposal Cover Sheet; [orphan link, unsure of what it pertains to];
    p. 9, "Task 4: Restoration Plan/Education Coordination
    The restoration plan for this project is a complex task. Due to the effects on the stream caused by the Black Butte Dam, restoration will take a significant effort."

    pp. 14 - 15 [as part of the updated monitoring program],
  • fish survey (resident and anadromous)
    "DWR currently has a multi-year water quality monitoring and fish monitoring program in place on Lower Stony Creek, in cooperation with USBR. It is anticipated that parameters (from the list above [including the fish survey]) that [page break] are currently not part of that program will be added. There is funding set-aside in the budget to compensate DWR analyzing the data that they have collected...."

    Some references on pp. 15-16:
  • 1) [11/13/1998], Lower Stony Creek Fish Wildlife and Water Use Management Plan, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation [linked above]
  • 2) [date?] Lower Stony Creek Watershed Strategy and Stewardship Plan, Glenn County Public Works and Development Services
  • 3) 1989, Upper Stony Creek Watershed Plan and Environmental Assessment, Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • 4) 1995, Grindstone Creek Watershed Strategy, Department of Forestry and Department of Interior
  • 5) 1997, Briscoe Creek Watershed Analysis Report, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Mendocino National Forest
  • 6) 1993, Glenn County General Plan
  • 5) [date?], Colusa Basin Drainage District Plan
  • Stony Creek Watershed Assessment, Volume 1. Lower Stony Creek Watershed Analysis. Prepared for Glenn County Resource Conservation District., H.T. Harvey & Associates. 2007b. p. 67, Fisheries Assessment; p. 92 Fisheries; more salmon at pp. 71,73,74,77,80,86,88,94,97,98,A-13; Literature Cited, pp. 94-99
    [Chinook & Steelhead discussions too extensive to recite here, see the report]

    p. A-13, Jerry and Gloria Lely - His father harvested salmon with pitchfork in some years during the depression
  • Stony Creek Watershed Assessment, Volume 2. Existing Conditions Report. Prepared for Glenn County Resource Conservation District. H.T. Harvey & Associates. 2007a.; Fish Assemblages in Lower Stony Creek, pp. 50-51; salmon, pp. 9,37,41, 50,51,52,53,54,53,54,55,56,59, 60,65,66,67,68, A-2,Figure 21,C-2; M-20,M-21,M-22,M-24,M-26; M-2 - M-5 Special Status Fish Species (M-2 Life History Characteristics of Stony Creek Salmonids); References pp. 63 - 68, D-5 - D-6, D-8 - D-9, D-11 - D-13, D-16 - D-18, D-21 - D-22, D-25, D-28 - D30, D-32 - D-33, D-35, D-38, D-41, D-43, D-46 - D-47, D-49 - D50, D-53, D-55, D-57 - D-58, D-60, D-62 - D-63, D-65 - D-66, D-68 - D-69, D-71 - D-73, M-19 - M-26
    [Chinook & Steelhead discussions too extensive to recite here, see the report]

    For instance, p. 50:
    Data on the relative abundance of fishes in lower Stony Creek comes from trapping and netting by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation from 2001-2004 (Corwin and Grant 2004 Richard Corwin, Principal Investigator web page. ). Table 3-5 lists the percent of total catch for all species found. From a total catch of 64,962 fish, two were juvenile steelhead trout and 869 were juvenile chinook salmon. The run composition of the juvenile chinook salmon, as determined by the daily fork length criteria (Greene 1992) was 85% fall-run, 8% spring-run, 5% late fall-run, and 2% winter-run.
  • NMFS 01/29/2007 Draft BiOp

    [Chinook & Steelhead discussions too extensive to recite here, see the report]

    [incidental take permit not specifically quantified, added in final]

  • NMFS 06/20/2008 Final BiOp
  • GCRCD (Glenn County Resource Conservation District). 2009. Lower Stony Creek Restoration Plan. January 12, 2009. Also available online at: (Accessed April 30, 2009); Back and forth argument among the lower watershed stakeholders as to whether or not to include salmon.
    One comment: p. 48, "(My) father used a pitch fork to catch salmon years ago when times were tough." presumably, on Stony Creek
  • NMFS Public Draft Central Valley Recovery Plan and Related Documents, October 2009 [There are comments in the old official Fish and Game publications indicating that CDFG introduced catfish, carp, and bass to California; what would the effect on salmon be from these introduced fish? ]
    CALIFORNIA INDIAN LITERATURE:

  • The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo and Neighboring Indians, by S.A. Barrett, Berkeley, The University Press, February 1908; vol. 6, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, CILC B36 E8 1908
    p. 240 "fish were to be had at certain seasons in the streams."
    p. 243 "about 1840 [fn 269 See p. 198 - (not included here)], the Indians of Big valley organized a party which went over to a fish dam on the head of Stony creek and ambushed two Northeastern Pomo fishermen, killing them as they came to the dam to look after their traps...." ["the head"? up in the canyon or down at the confluence of Big & Little? was it a salmon weir? ]
  • A.L. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1989? Dover ed first published in 1976, republication of GPO 1925 as "Bulletin 78" of the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution; preface A.L. Kroeber, Berkeley, Calif. 02/01/1923 p. VIII "It has appeared necessary to omit references to the sources and authorities for my statements." [ so, no footnotes, no references; thus substantial portions within this book are block quoted, without references, very disappointing] CILC K72 H3 1976
    p. 236, quoted material:
    "For something like 10 years no revenge was taken. Then a Clear Lake party went to the head of Stony Creek [which is where?] and lay in wait by a dam. When fishermen appeared, two of them were killed..."; [this is a block quote, similar to Barrett 1908 p. 243, but no attribution]
  • The Patwin and their Neighbors, by A.L. Kroeber, University of California Publications in Archaeology and Ethnology, v. 29 No. 4, pp. 253-425, 6 figures in text, 1 map, University of California Press, Berkeley, California 1932 CILC\K72\P3\1932\
    Hill Patwin pp. 289-297, animal food p. 294
    p. 295, "Most of the hill Patwin had little opportunity to fish on a large scale except in their neighbors' territory. Salmon, for instance, ran up Stony creek through Wintun as far as Salt Pomo territory. [is this in general, or a specific boundary?] Perch; suckers, hoyo; pike, tsues; hardheads, de'lbutil, were the chief varieties to be had at home. They were dived for in holes. Hooks are said not to have been used. The harpoon head was of bone. Nets were either short seines attached to a stick at each end, or the usual small dip-net fastened to a half-hoop at the end of a handle--two or three of which might be held abreast by as many men, the fish often being driven with poles. [again no cites, so, where did Kroeber get these quotes?]
  • Archaeology of the Black Butte Reservoir Region, Glenn and Tehama Counties, California, San Franciso State College Anthropology Museum Occasional papers Number 2, 02/1969, Adan E. Treganza and Martin H. Heickson , Stony Creek Nomlaki [from studies largely in 1961 before the reservoir was filled]:
    p. 8 "Salmon and steelhead probably still ascend Stony creek; present muddy conditions offer little key to the past fish populations."
    p. 27 "The latter, rather than being a awl, may have been part of a compound fish spear."
    p. 29 "The lack of animal and fish bone was surprising. As this site has geographic proximity to the bone-rich Central Valley sites, it was assumed that the midden content would be similar."
    p. 31 "...no fish bone remains...."
    p. 32 "...nine pieces of pointed bone probably used as barbs for fish spears (Fig. 2, e-i)."
    p. 41 "Stony Creek has a meandering seasonal course between the two opposite stream terraces and maintains a fairly steady annual flow. It has no outstanding record as a salmon or steelhead stream so areas selected for village locations were probably based upon distribution of plant food and favorable protected areas rather than upon fishing." [based on? contradiction between pp. 8 & 41?]
    CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LITERATURE:

  • Back in Time, Stonyford Community History compiled and written by Joyce Bond, Beulah Vanlandingham, and Sharkey Moore; Angie Hudson, computer/typesetter, May 1993 :

    p. 67 A Tale of Colusa County, by Homer Durham, [same narrative & author as Wagon Wheels, vol. 3 #2 (May 1953), pp. 6-7 [I have not yet found the source for this comment]
    "Among the hill Indians, the Stonyford Tribe was considered unusually fortunate. The acorn harvest never entirely failed, edible roots were abundant on the bottom lands and the uplands produced wild oats. The tribe controlled Stony Creek (Bee-dah) at the head of the salmon run where the salmon fishing season continued from early spring to late summer."
    Stonyford Tribe were Northeast Pomo or "Salt Pomo"; see generally Salt Pomo: An Ethnography, Helen McCarthy, 1100 Dartmouth Place, Davis, CA 95616 Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, Vol. 8, No. 1 pp. 24-36 (1986) , which unfortunately makes no mention of Stony Creek Salmon

    Also from Back in Time, Stonyford Community History :

    p. 308, The Garlin Ranch of Stonyford, by Marilyn Weldon, in turn from Our Land in History, in Sacramento Valley Landowner, Spring 1989 [have not yet found this publication],
    "The first man to visit what is now the Garlin ranch area was General John Bidwell, one of California's foremost explorers, in 1844. According to historical records, the Pomo Indians had never seen a white man before. 'The number of whites before the discovery of gold could, I think, be counted on the fingers of one hand... 10,000 Indians ... they were curing SALMON from the stream...' (from Will S. Green -- History of Colusa County) [ I have not yet found the source for this quote which does not seem to be in Mr. Green's History ; his history and later copy-cat histories mention the population of 10,000 building weirs and curing salmon on the Sacramento River, but not on Stony Creek - locating the exact source for the quote is tricky because General Bidwell wrote parallel articles for a number of publishers in his later years.]

    [para] The Bidwell party camped by Stony [p. 309] Creek (Capay River in Indian times). The Indians had never seen horses; they were curious and friendly, and lived mostly on acorns, grasshoppers, and on the salmon which were abundant in Stony Creek." [ I have not yet found the source for this "abundant" assertion either; and "Capay River" is apparently redundant ]
  • article, "San Francisco Chronicle Outdoors, Monday April 12, 1993, Glen Martin, "In the Field, Salmon Still Suffering in Stoney Creek"; resurrection of Stony Creek salmon was promised as a RBDD mitigation, never happened -- from Ap. 18115 file

    LITIGATION FILES:

  • Before Reclamation, the fishery above Black Butte was wonderful - following is extracted from the unrefuted testimony of Senator & Judge Purkitt in the Angle transcripts recalling from when he was 5 or 6 years old, June 1881, pp. 483-4:
    A. Well, now, the first I

    [p. 484]

    remember of that ditch-- We had a cottage at Fouts Springs, and every year, in those days, my folks went to Fouts Springs, along in June and remained there until September. Now, I don't recall so much about it in '80, but in '81 we camped there and took our lunch at the gravel near the big rocks, and my sister Edna was just a baby--just crawling around--she was born in August, and she was just sitting up--I fix it in that way--she was just sitting up--and at that time there were a lot of Indians diving into the hole there, and we camped there for dinner and fed the horses. We had a four-horse team, going to the mountains there--there were no automobiles in those days--and we camped there at a little gravel bar right below the rocks, and fed the team--and there were a number of Indians right there where we were camped--and, oh, 50 or 100 young Indians were diving into that hole and catching fish. They were catching them by hand, too--they didn't have any fish hooks--they were diving in and getting them by hand....

    [& p. 487]

    A. I think it was in the latter part of June; I am basing my answer on the fact that we nearly always went to the mountains--Fouts Spring--because we had a cottage there.
    Comments in SWRCB ap file 18115 and in email traded with a NMFS representative suggest that these fish were SALMON from a run extirpated by successive RECLAMATION activities in taking control of the stream

  • There are many references within the SWRCB Ap. 18115 files (including the Lower Stony Creek Management Plan, 1998, above), see index of the case, including :

    PROTEST & PETITION aimed at RESTORING SALMON ON STONY CREEK:

  • Protest against 40-year extension of Black Butte storage and diversion, filed 10/01/2009: Table of Contents (not filed, prepared later); Forms, Supplement, Exhibits - A mini-EIR/EIS on what Reclamation did to the environment and the people of the upper Stony Creek Watershed
  • and my related Motion filed 12/21/2009 Doc #307 to require changes in practices of the Water Master, Motion Hearing set for 02/08/2010, reset for 04/05/2010 at 10:00 AM before Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton. (Attachments:
    - #307-2 # 1 Memorandum in support of Motion,
    - #307-3 # 2 exhibits in support of motion,
    - #307-4 # 3 proof of service, CM/ECF,
    - #307-5 # 4 proof of service, mail,
    - #307-6 # 5 proposed order) before the next step
    MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST Plans & Reports

    [pending]
    CALFED Plans & Reports

    [pending]


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    Return to Stony Creek Water Wars.

    --Mike Barkley, 161 N. Sheridan Ave. #1, Manteca, CA 95336 (H) 209/823-4817
    mjbarkl@inreach.com