Program Overview
The Fish Facilities Monitoring Program reports on and maintains salvage records collected from two fish facilities, Skinner Delta Fish Protection Facility (SDFPF) and Tracy Fish Collection Facility (TFCF). Under the direction of cooperative agreements and funding by United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and Department of Water Resources (DWR), this program is responsible for key entry, quality assurance, data processing, data reporting, and other database tasks for the fish facilities. Datasets from both facilities are combined and published as the Salvage database. The Salvage database has received daily updates since 1993, making it one of the largest and longest running databases of fish species found in the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta. This database is regularly used in assessing the effects of new facilities and programs, water project operations proposals, and evaluation of proposed CALFED alternatives.
History
- 1957: Tracy Fish Collection Facility begins to salvage fish.
- 1968: Skinner Delta Fish Protection Facility begins to salvage fish. CDFW implemented and directed all phases of the salvage operation. Mechanical maintenance and operation at SDFPF handled by DWR.
- 1977: DWR became responsible for data gathering at SDFPF while CDFW was responsible for data storage and analysis, publishing reports, monitoring salvage program and recommend changes for optimizing facility efficiency.
- 1983: Agreement Regarding Fish Salvage Operations allowed CDFW to monitor fish salvage operations at TFCF.
- 1992: CDFW took responsibility for fish sampling and transportation at SDFPF, in addition to previous responsibilities.
- 1992: USBR/CDFW Direct Loss Mitigation Agreement created to reduce and offset Striped Bass and Chinook Salmon losses associated with the operation of the JPP and the TFCF.
- 2001: DWR/CDFW Operations Agreement for SDFPF changed due to low staff. CDFW to only provide oversight and manage salvage data and reporting.
- 2018: Inclusion of Salmon DNA run identification in the Salvage database.
- 2022: First publication of Salvage database on the Environmental Data Initiative (EDI).
Methods
Entrained fish are fish that are transported via water diversions into areas where they are not meant to be or where they cannot survive, in this case towards two large water export pumping facilities in the south Delta (the federally run Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP)). These entrained fish are salvaged, a process which removes the fish from the water to be exported and returns them to the Delta. Salvage of fish is conducted in Byron, CA at the Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility and Tracy Fish Collection Facility. Fish are diverted from exported water at each facility via louvers (a type of fish screen that creates turbulence to guide fish) into bypass pipes, which lead to 20’ x 20’ cylindrical holding tanks where salvaged fish are held for up to 24 hours. After holding, they are lifted in 500-gallon buckets to be transferred to a fish haul truck and then driven to release sites in the Delta in the area around Antioch, CA, outside of the influence of the pumps.
During the salvage process, counts of fish are conducted by fish facility staff. Counts generally occur for 30 minutes every two hours of pumping. Fish are identified to species and enumerated, and this data is recorded. The count data is used for estimating the number of each species. The counts taken during the 30-minute periods are subsamples. Because 30 minutes is 1/4 of two hours, the counts of the subsamples are multiplied by 4 to derive counts for a two-hour salvage collection (pumping) period.
Count data is retained in the salvage database in MicroSoft Access by CDFW Fish Facilities and Entrainment unit in Stockton, CA. The database is appended with data on a daily basis and has been retained, managed, and used in MS Access format since 1993. PDF files of raw salvage data going back to 1968 are also stored and maintained by the CDFW Fish Facilities and Entrainment unit. The data is used by the Fish Facilities and Entrainment unit to monitor and report on the presence and number of listed species, publish annual reports on South Delta fishes' trends, and losses of salmonids (Chinook Salmon and steelhead trout) to the system. In addition, daily and weekly reports on listed species salvaged are emailed to stakeholders. The database is managed and maintained by the Fish Facilities and Entrainment unit and is one of the largest and oldest on Delta fish species. The database can therefore provide not only up to date information about fish species composition and number but is also a valuable resource for showing historical trends in Delta fisheries data.
Relevant Publications
- Aasen, G., (2022). Fish Salvage at the State Water Project's and Central Valley Project's Fish Facilities during the 2021 Water Year. IEP Newsletter, vol. 41, issue 2.
- Aasen, G., Celeste, T., Afentoulis, V. (2025). The History and Function of the Fish Salvage Database [poster presentation]. IEP Workshop, Sacramento, CA, USA. (Accessed 2025-05-29).
- Afentoulis, V., S. Siddiqui, G. Aasen, W. Griffiths, T. Malinich, and L. Damon. 2024. Fish Facilities Salvage Data 1993-2024 ver 8. Environmental Data Initiative. (Accessed 2025-04-25).
- Afentoulis, V., Rockriver, A., Siddiqui, S., & Damon, L. (2023). Delta Smelt stress responses during fish salvage at the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility, California. California Fish and Wildlife Journal, 109, e8.
- Griffiths, W., Afentoulis, V., Celeste, T., Valencia, M. (2025). How we learned to stop worrying and develop an interactive fish ID training [poster presentation]. IEP Workshop, Sacramento, CA, USA. (Accessed 2025-05-29).