San Luis Rey Watershed Assessment

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San Luis Rey Profile

• 560 Square miles 342 below Henshaw Dam
• Third largest watershed in San Diego County
• 242 tributaries adding up to 759 miles of
  perennial and intermittent stream
• Primary land uses agriculture, urban, tribal
  lands and some recreation.

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Assessment Questions

• History / status of steelhead trout populations
• The condition of natural watershed and stream
  processes
• Land use impacts on these processes
• Steelhead trout habitat conditions
• Conditions limiting steelhead (LFA)
• Recommendations for improvement activities

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Conditions Encountered
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Barriers
Poor Water Quality
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Non-Native Plants (Arundo donax)
Homeless Encampments
Exotic Fish Species and Anaerobic Conditions
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Southern California Coast Steelhead (adult) in
SLR River, May, 2007
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Fish History and Status

• Documented and anecdotal accounts report of
  steelhead runs in the SLR River and tributaries
  
• Prior to May 2007 observation, last sighting in
  1997
• Pauma Creek - A healthy population of native
  rainbow trout. Genetic sampling performed in
  (1999) concluded that it seems more than likely
  that these fish are part of a native coastal O.
  mykiss lineage.
• WF San Luis Rey River contains resident native
  trout.

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Areas Surveyed

• San Luis Rey River
• 35 miles (18 miles in Coastal Subbasin 12 miles
  in Southern Subbasin and 5 miles in Middle
  Subbasin)
• Tributaries surveyed
• Pauma Creek 3 reaches covering approximately
  1.2 miles, located in the upper, middle and lower
  middle sections of the creek
• Keys Creek approximately 2 ½ miles in the lower
  reach of the creek
• Small reaches (less than 1000 feet) of Ostrich
  Creek, Gopher Creek, Live Oak Creek, Gomez
  Creek, Wigham Creek, and Prisoner Creek.

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Current Habitat Conditions

• Stream Flow
• The Basin is not hydrologically connected
• Stream flows in tributaries have been reduced
  through extraction for anthropogenic use
• Dry or intermittent reaches prevent connectivity
  with the estuary and thus the ocean.

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Current Habitat Conditions cont.

• Water Quality
• Total Dissolve Solids and fecal coliform are
  constituents of concern, particularly in the
  Coastal Subbasin (Weston Solution 2007)
• Stream bioassessments performed in 2005 2006.
• SLR River urban sites had Index of
  Biotic Ratings of Very
• Poor
• Reference site was the highest rated
  site in the county
• program (Weston Solutions 2007)
• The SLR estuarys health was assessed at poor to
  fair
• 2005 Ambient Bay and Lagoon Monitoring Program
  (Weston Solutions 2007), the SLR River estuary
  scored good for toxicology, fair for biology and
  good for chemistry.

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Coastal Subbasin
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SLR River
Coastal Subbasin
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Middle Subbasin
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SLR River
Middle Subbasin
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Northern Subbasin
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Pauma Creek
Gomez Creek
Northern Subbasin
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a
SLR River Wilderness Gardens Co. Park
Summer
SLR River - Southern Subbasin
Spring
Winter
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Instream Habitat Conditions

• Spawning Gravels
• Limited areas containing suitable spawning
  gravels in mainstem
• Spawning gravels more abundant in Pauma Creek and
  most likely in other tributaries in the Northern
  Subbasin including Gomez Creek, Agua Tibia
  Creek, Frey Creek and Pala Creek
• Canopy Coverage
• majority of the mainstem reaches and tributary
  reaches (70) met or nearly met the 80 target
  value

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Instream Habitat Conditions cont.

• Pools
• Quality pool structure is generally lacking in
  mainstem throughout the basin
• Pool Depth - only one reach surveyed met
  standards for pool depth
• Pool Shelter lacking throughout surveyed areas.

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Habitat Summary

• Northern Subbasins
• - Best habitat in the watershed but mostly
  inaccessible
• Middle Subbasin
• -Potential habitat but also inaccessible
• Coastal Subbasin
• -habitat restoration could provide critical
  instream and estuarine rearing habitat
• Southern Subbasin
• - Little to no flow therefore no habitat.
  Little habitat potential
• Upper Subbasin
• - Inaccessible but contains some trout habitat

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Factors Limiting Steelhead Recovery

• Lack of hydrologic connectivity and inadequate
  stream flows in the mainstem and tributaries
• Presence of temporal and/or complete barriers on
  the mainstem and important tributaries
• Loss of estuarine habitat
• High levels of fine sediments in the mainstem and
  tributaries, thus, limited areas of suitable
  spawning gravels
• Displacement of native riparian vegetation with
  exotic vegetation
• Competition with warm water gamefish, crayfish,
  and bullfrogs

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Barriers to Fish Passage
Pauma Creek
Oceanside
Escondido Canal Diversion Dam
Southern Subbasin
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SLR River Estuary - Past
1932
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Present
SLR River Estuary
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Non-Native Species
Mosquito fish
Bluegill
Largemouth bass
Crayfish
Green sunfish
Black bullhead
Bullfrog
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Why Restore Steelhead?

• Steelheads high genetic diversity and their
  remarkable capacity to persist in unfavorable
  environments
• Indicator of good water quality
• Interconnection between steelhead and
  riverine/riparian areas in southern California
• The bigger picture.

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Native Species
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Basin ScaleKey Recommendations
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Flow and Water Quality Improvement Activities

• Determine proper seasonal flow releases through
  Henshaw Dam and Escondido Canal Diversion
• Flushing flows would allow natural hydrologic
  processes occur creating and improving instream
  and riverine habitat
• Enforce maximum irrigation efficiency with both
  agricultural and urban users
• Identify potential pollution sources and address
  problematic areas
• Establish conservation easements, particularily
  along or near riverine habitats.

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Fish Passage

• Work with public agencies to modify existing fish
  passage barriers on the SLR River and key
  tributaries
• Meet with private landowners to discuss
  modifying/removing barriers located on their
  property

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Riparian and Instream Habitat Improvement
Activities

• Continue eradication of Arundo, Tamarisk, and
  other invasive plant species
• Combine natural physical processes, i.e. flood
  dynamics, and riparian revegetation projects for
  the recovery of native natural communities and
  species
• Prioritize locations within the estuary where
  vegetation can be returned to salt tolerant
  species.

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Erosion and Sediment Delivery Reduction Activities

• Continue to encourage the use of Best Management
  Practices for nutrient runoff, pesticide
  management, and erosion control for homeowners
  and agricultural and industrial uses
• Existing sediment production problem sites that
  have potential to deliver sediments to streams
  should be evaluated and mitigated.

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Education, Research, and Monitoring Activities

• Continue to build upon current educational
  outreach to the community concerning the
  elimination of exotic flora and fauna
• Promote water conservation throughout the
  watershed
• Efforts to examine water quality have been
  ongoing and should continue throughout the
  watershed
• Perform water quality, water chemistry, and
  biological studies in the estuary
• Conduct instream and fish inventories on streams
  of the Northern Subbasin Gomez, Aqua Tibia,
  Frey, and Pala Creeks

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The End

• Coastal Watershed Planning and Assessment Program
  website

http//coastalwatersheds.ca.gov/