1

Memorandum

To: CVPIA Core Team

From: Science Integration Team (SIT) and Central Valley Science Coordinator (Acting) 

Date: 6 February 2019

Subject: CVPIA Science Integration Team: FY19 Decision Support Model Activities and FY20

Priorities

Background

Members of the Science Integration Team (SIT) met during a series of in-person workshops and 

conference calls from the latter part of 2018 to February 2019 to complete a number of tasks 

including: (1) identifying restoration scenarios and refining the fall-run Chinook Salmon 

(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Decision Support Model (DSM) as detailed in the 2017 SIT 

Technical Memorandum; (2) identifying and refining objectives for winter-run and spring-run

Chinook Salmon; (3) collaborating with the Winter-run Chinook Salmon, Steelhead (O. mykiss) 

and Sturgeon (Acipenser sp.) Project Work Teams (PWTs) in developing objectives, scenarios, 

and priorities for the corresponding taxon; and (4) the identification of Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20)

priorities. Additionally, the SIT was asked to provide priority recommendations for monitoring 

needs for Chinook Salmon (fall-, winter-, and spring-run), Sturgeon and Steelhead for FY20.

The purpose of the FY19 SIT activities was to: (1) improve the existing DSM and use it to 

identify priorities; (2) use the information to initiate the integration of priorities for all focal taxa 

that were identified by the Core Team in the initial Structured Decision Making (SDM) efforts 

(Peterson et al. 2014); and (3) to assess monitoring needs that address areas of uncertainty. 

The CVPIA Science Coordinator position was temporarily filled with a staff detail from the 

USFWS from January 15 to present to assist the SIT with drafting this Technical Memorandum 

that describes the prioritization process in FY19, and to provide the SIT prioritization 

recommendations to the Core Team and specific PWTs described above. Notes from SIT 

meetings and conference calls can be found on the data portal at: 

https://connect.doi.gov/fws/Portal/cvpiasitfp/FY18%20Priorization%20meeting%20materials/Fo

rms/AllI tems.aspx
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FY20 Prioritization Process Overview

The SIT attempted to implement the same process for all focal taxa detailed in the 2017 SIT 

Technical Memorandum. Additionally, the SIT ranked priorities that were beneficial to all 

Chinook runs and also included and prioritized monitoring needs for FY20. The first step in the 

process included the identification of key population attributes (scientific objectives) that were 

quantifiable (measurable) and could be used to track progress toward the fundamental objective 

of achieving strong, self-sustaining populations of anadromous fishes. For the three Chinook

Salmon runs, the SIT ranked and prioritized previously identified fall-run Chinook Salmon 

objectives and identified objectives for winter- and spring-run Chinook Salmon, Steelhead and 

Sturgeon. 

Due to a partial government shutdown that occurred from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 

2019, full participation of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) SIT members was constrained and only 17 respondents participated in the 

ranking of objectives and monitoring prioritization. Members of each PWT were likewise unable 

to voluntarily participate early in the SIT process; therefore, the SIT is soliciting comments and 

review of this draft Technical Memorandum to ensure each team has input in the process and 

final prioritizations.

The second step in the prioritization process was to identify restoration scenarios that could lead 

to achieving the fundamental objective of achieving strong, self-sustaining populations of

anadromous fishes. Participating SIT members used model output from the fall-run Chinook 

Salmon model, summary scores and rankings, and personal knowledge/expertise, and were asked 

to think about the primary factors affecting or hypothesized to affect their taxa of interest and use 

these to identify specific actions and/or grouped synergistic actions that would lead toward 

achieving their fundamental objectives.

The third step in the process was to evaluate the effectiveness of each scenario to change the 

population attributes (objectives) using simple scoring criteria: ranking each scenario from 0 to 

100 that corresponded with no effect (0) to most-positive effect (100), similar to a consequence 

table (Conroy and Peterson 2013). For fall-run Chinook Salmon, the SIT members relied on 

previous model simulation output described in the FY17 Technical Memorandum. A similar

evaluation and ranking process was followed for Steelhead and Sturgeon, with volunteers from 

the SIT scoring each scenario based completely on expert judgment. The taxon-specific scores 

were summarized and provided to the SIT. 

The fourth step in the process was evaluate Chinook Salmon monitoring needs for FY20 that 

either continue to provide data for existing modeling (fall-run Chinook Salmon) or address data 

gaps and uncertainty for future modelling of all taxon. 

FY20 Prioritization Overview for Sturgeon Restoration Actions

The SIT implemented an expert elicitation process to develop Sturgeon priorities for FY19 

within the past 10 months; therefore, they chose to keep the same Sturgeon priority scenarios for 
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FY20. This process is detailed in the April 18, 2018 technical memorandum titled FY19 Sturgeon 

Activities and Priorities and is briefly outlined here for clarity.

The first step in the prioritization process was to identify key population attributes (objectives) 

that were quantifiable (measurable) and could be used to track progress toward the fundamental 

objective of achieving strong, self-sustaining populations of anadromous fishes. During the 

FY18 prioritization process, the Sturgeon group had identified objectives and potential 

restoration actions (scenarios) to achieve their Sturgeon objectives. After reviewing the previous 

list of Sturgeon objectives, the group made modifications to the original list and proposed 

attributes of these objectives that represent potential ways to measure these objectives via 

monitoring data.

The second step in the prioritization process was to identify restoration scenarios that could lead 

to achieving the fundamental objective of achieving strong, self-sustaining populations of 

anadromous fishes. The Sturgeon group was asked to build on previous efforts to develop a set 

of potential restoration actions (scenarios) to help the Program make improvements with respect 

to the identified Sturgeon objectives. They were asked to think about Sturgeon in particular, to 

be creative, to give specifics (i.e., amounts, timing, and locations) on each potential action, and 

to not let potential conflicts with other fish species in the region limit what they proposed for 

Sturgeon. 

The third step in the process was to evaluate the effectiveness of each scenario with respect to 

the identified Sturgeon objectives, based on participant’s expertise. In particular, participants 

were asked to score each potential action on a scale of 0 to 100. A "0" indicated the worst 

possible score, where group members believed the potential action will not help meet any of the 

stated objectives for the species within a 20-year time period. A "100" indicated the best possible 

score, where they believed the potential action will help meet all of the stated objectives for the 

specific species within a 20-year time period. A "50" indicated they believed the potential action 

will only help meet 50% of the stated objectives for the specific species within a 20-year time 

period. Notably, group members were asked to leave the score blank if they did not feel 

knowledgeable enough to score a specific scenario for a specific species. The group was also 

asked to indicate which population attribute that would increase (benefit) the most from the 

specific scenario. Once the filled-out score sheets were submitted and the score sheets were 

summarized, another workshop meeting was scheduled to discuss the summary scores and 

identify where there seemed to be relatively high uncertainty (based on variation in the scores 

and identified attribute most likely to benefit). 

The purpose of these discussions was to ensure uncertainty was associated with ecological 

uncertainty and not uncertainty in what the group was being asked to score. The group was then 

allowed to adjust their submitted scores, if needed. When reviewing the summary of the final 

score submissions, the group was asked to develop five or fewer priority recommendations for 

each Sturgeon species, again based on expertise and professional opinion. 
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FY20 Prioritization Process Overview for Chinook and Steelhead 

Restoration Actions

Due to contracting issues and subsequent delays, the Chinook Salmon and Steelhead DSMs

could not be calibrated and integrated in time for the FY20 prioritization. Thus, the SIT 

attempted to implement the same process as the Sturgeon to develop priorities for Chinook 

Salmon and Steelhead for fairness and comparability. However, the time frame for completing 

the process was much shorter and the process was modified to accommodate the deadlines 

requested by the implementing agencies. SIT members that were furloughed due to the federal 

government shutdown were unable to participate in the entire process.

Similar to the Sturgeon process, the first step included the identification of key population 

attributes (objectives) that were quantifiable (measurable) and could be used to track progress 

toward the fundamental objective of establishing strong, self-sustaining populations of 

anadromous fishes. The SIT previously identified Chinook Salmon and steelhead objectives for 

the FY18 priorities. After reviewing the previous list of objectives, the group made modifications 

to the original list and proposed attributes of these objectives that represent potential ways to 

measure these objectives via monitoring data. For Chinook Salmon, these led to a more focused 

(reduced) set of objectives. For Steelhead, this led to a greater number of objectives.

The second step in the prioritization process was to identify restoration scenarios that could lead 

to achieving the fundamental objective of achieving strong, self-sustaining populations of 

anadromous fishes. Members of the SIT were asked to think about the primary factors affecting 

or hypothesized to affect their taxa of interest and use these to identify specific actions that 

would lead toward achieving their fundamental objectives. They were asked to be creative, to 

provide specific details (i.e., amounts, timing, and locations) on each potential action, and to not 

let potential conflicts with other fish species in the region limit what they proposed. These 

potential restoration scenarios were provided to the SIT for review. Given the limited number of 

responses (14 total), the SIT decided to score all of the potential restoration scenarios rather than 

develop a reduced set of potential restoration scenarios and scoring the reduced set.

The third step in the process was to evaluate the effectiveness of each scenario to change the 

population attributes (objectives). In particular, participants were asked to score each potential 

action on a scale of 0 to 100. A "0" indicated the worst possible score, where they believed the 

action will have no effect or a negative effect on the objective/metric for the species/run within a 

10-year time period. A "100" indicated the best possible score, where they believed the action 

will have a strong positive effect on objective/metric for the specific species/run within a 10-year

time period. A "50" indicated they believe the action will have a moderate positive effect on the 

objective/metric within a 10-year time period. For Chinook Salmon, they were instructed that the 

"Valley-wide Metrics" pertain to fish in the entire Central Valley, and the "Watershed-specific 

Metrics" pertain to fish from that specific watershed that corresponded to the scenario. For 

example, for the "pulse flows in the Upper Sacramento River" scenario, the juvenile biomass 

metric at the valley-wide scale refers to all juvenile fish in the system and the watershed scale 

metric only refers to the juvenile fish that were produced in the Upper Sacramento River. 

Notably, group members were asked to leave the score blank if they did not feel knowledgeable 

enough to score a specific scenario for a specific species/run. The SIT members used DSM 
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output from the fall-run Chinook Salmon from FY18 prioritization and personal 

knowledge/expertise to score each scenario.

The fourth step in the process was the identification of taxon-specific priorities based on the 

summary of the SIT scores. Seventeen SIT members submitted score sheets. Of these, seven, 11, 

10 and six respondents scored potential restoration scenarios for winter-run Chinook Salmon, 

fall-run Chinook Salmon, spring-run Chinook Salmon, and Steelhead, respectively. The 

relatively low number of responses may be related to the government shutdown, which 

prohibited USGS and NMFS personnel from participating. The SIT considered the fact that 

scores may not be comparable across participants due to different perspectives. That is, some 

participants may be more optimistic (i.e., tended to score scenarios higher), critical (i.e., tended 

to score scenarios lower), or somewhere in between. Thus, scores were scaled using a min-max 

normalization before combining the scores across submissions, so that each participant’s scores 

ranged from 0 to 100. However, summaries of the raw and normalized scores indicated identical 

patterns (i.e., rankings based on scores were the same). As a result, the SIT chose to use the 

combined raw scores for the prioritization process to maintain interpretability. 

During the January 23, 2019 meeting, the SIT discussed the scenarios and characterized the 

priorities using the following criteria: (1) the average score (across objectives and responses) 

associated with the scenario/ priority, with larger score or higher rank interpreted as higher 

priority; (2) the potential of a scenario to successfully contribute to the spatial diversity 

objective; and (3) the number of times a scenario/priority was in the top 10 (winter-run Chinook 

Salmon, spring-run Chinook Salmon, and Steelhead) or top 15 (fall-run Chinook Salmon) when 

examining the mean scores across responses within each of the objectives. For the third criteria, 

a scenario was omitted if it was in the bottom 10 (winter-run Chinook Salmon, spring-run

Chinook Salmon, and Steelhead) or bottom 15 (fall-run Chinook Salmon) when examining the 

mean scores across responses within each of the objectives. Scenarios that were only scored by a 

single SIT member were also omitted from consideration. Finally, scenarios with relatively 

strong potential to help achieve fundamental objectives, but high uncertainty, were considered as 

candidates for adaptive resource management. Priorities for each taxon were discussed 

individually without regard to other taxa. Priorities were identified by consensus of the 

participants attending the meeting (in person or electronically).

FY20 Prioritization Process Overview for Monitoring Needs

The SIT was asked to provide priority recommendations for monitoring needs for Chinook 

Salmon (fall-, winter-, and spring-run), Steelhead and Sturgeon. The SIT developed a list of 

monitoring data needs for Chinook Salmon (Table 1). When developing this list, SIT members 

identified Chinook Salmon information needs and categorized these needs according to three 

criteria: (1) is the information used directly in the DSM; (2) what is the needed frequency of 

collecting and compiling information; and (3) is the information needed for adaptive 

management? The SIT considers these data essential to the DSM and adaptive management and 

are working under the assumption that the data will be available in the future. In addition to this 

list, the SIT was provided with an initial list of potential model inputs and parameters that the 

SIT uses to run the DSMs and developing priorities for Chinook Salmon, Steelhead and 

Sturgeon. 
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When developing the lists of potential restoration actions for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead, the 

SIT was asked to add to monitoring priority items to taxon-specific lists. The lists were then sent 

to the Science Coordinator who compiled and sent them to the SIT for scoring. The SIT was 

asked to score these monitoring priorities on a scale of 0 to 100. A "0" indicated the parameter is 

not as useful for the SIT's DSMs or does not represent a key uncertainty when developing 

priorities. A "100" indicated the parameter is critical for the SIT's DSMs and/or represents a key 

uncertainty that makes evaluations difficult when developing priorities. Again, the SIT members 

were asked to leave the score blank if they did not feel sufficiently knowledgeable to score 

monitoring priorities for specific taxa/runs.

The SIT categorized the monitoring priorities into three tiers based on the summary of the SIT 

scores. Fourteen, 13 and eight SIT members submitted scores for Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, 

and Sturgeon, respectively. The number of responses received was likely a function of the 

federal government shutdown, which prohibited USGS and NMFS personnel from participating. 

Given the normalized scores did not change the rankings for the monitoring priorities, the SIT 

chose to use the combined raw scores for the prioritization process to maintain interpretability. 

During the January 23, 2019 meeting, the SIT discussed the monitoring priorities using: (1) the 

average score; (2) the urgency of the information gap; and (3) the type of information (i.e., 

survival parameters, habitat estimates, etc.). Priorities for each taxon were discussed individually 

without regard to other taxa. Priorities were identified by consensus of the participants attending 

the meeting (in person or electronically). Note that the SIT prioritization process does not 

propose specific projects, to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest, in ranking scientific 

objectives or monitoring needs. 

Table 1. SIT monitoring data needs specific to Chinook Salmon1

Information

Used by 

DSM

Update 

frequency

Used for DSM 

refinement

(i.e., update model 

weights) Location(s)

DSM INPUTS (CURRENT 

SYSTEM STATES)

Habitat availability Directly Some annual Only in conjunction with 

fish monitoring data

Central Valley 

wide

Flows and temperature Directly Some annual Only in conjunction with 

fish monitoring data

Central Valley 

wide

Water diversions Directly Some annual Only in conjunction with 

fish monitoring data

Central Valley 

wide

Passage obstructions Directly Some annual Only in conjunction with 

fish monitoring data

Central Valley 

wide

Predator contact points or 

predation levels

Directly Some annual Only in conjunction with 

fish monitoring data

Central Valley 

wide

1 To avoid the perception of conflict of interest, SIT attempted to avoid the identification of specific projects for 

priorities as instructed by the Core team during FY20 prioritization.
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Information Used by DSM

Update 

frequency

Used for DSM 

refinement

(i.e., update model 

weights) Location(s)

ANNUAL FISH 

MONITORING DATA1

Screw-trap captures and 

efficiency trial data

Calibration of 

model, 

parameterizing 

model 

components

Annual Yes, very critical 

component

Red Bluff 

Diversion Dam 

Feather River 

Clear Creek

Battle Creek 

American River 

Stanislaus River 

Mokelumne 

River 

Yuba River 

Tuolumne River

CWT data (hatchery 

allocation)

Tributaries

(Central Valley 

wide)

Trawl catch data Calibration of 

model, 

parameterizing 

model 

components

Annual Yes, very critical 

component

Chipps Island

Adult escapement estimates Calibration of 

model, 

parameterizing 

model 

components

Annual Yes, very critical 

component

Central Valley 

wide

PROJECT SPECIFIC 

MONITORING1

SIT/program requested 

information addressing key 

DSM uncertainties (e.g., 

survival)

Yes, for 

targeted 

components

Annual until

project 

completion

Yes, but project 

specific as identified 

by SIT

Variable

Information on the proposed 

and actual changes made to 

the system states (e.g., 

amount of habitat increased)

No Infrequent Limited Variable

1 To avoid the perception of conflict of interest, SIT attempted to avoid the identification of specific projects for 

priorities as instructed by the Core team during FY20 prioritization.

Focal Taxon Objectives

Sturgeon

The Sturgeon group identified five objectives that corresponded with viable Sturgeon population 

metrics: population growth >1 over multiple generations (Green and White Sturgeon), annual 

spawner abundance (Green and White Sturgeon), multiple cohorts in a population (Green and 

White Sturgeon), number of rivers where spawning occurs (Green and White Sturgeon), number 

of spawning aggregations (Green and White Sturgeon), and recruitment (abundances ages 0-1 for 

White Sturgeon and larva to juvenile [full development] for Green Sturgeon.
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Chinook Salmon

The SIT identified three valley-wide and two watershed-specific objectives that corresponded 

with viable Salmon population metrics: total number of viable spawning populations per 

diversity group (valley-wide metric only), total number of spawning natural origin adults (valleywide and watershed specific metrics), and juvenile biomass that reaches Chipps Island (valleywide and watershed specific metrics). Notably, the SIT opted to use the metric “juvenile 

biomass”, rather than “juvenile abundance”, acknowledging a large number of small fish 

outmigrants may not be as valuable as a moderate number of medium/large fish outmigrants. 

Steelhead

The Steelhead group identified nine objectives that corresponded with viable anadromous 

Steelhead population metrics: frequency of anadromous life history, number of spawning 

anadromous adults, fitness/genetic diversity, natural productivity of anadromous life history, 

spatial diversity of spawning anadromous life history, population growth rate ≥1, recruitment of 

age 0–2 fish, iteroparous spawners of anadromous life history, and smolt passage. 

Scenarios Identified for FY20

Sturgeon 

The Sturgeon group was asked to build on previous efforts to develop a set of potential 

management actions (scenarios) to help the Program make improvements with respect to the 

identified Sturgeon objectives. They were asked to think about Sturgeon in particular, to be 

creative, to give specifics (i.e., amounts, timing, and locations) on each potential action, and to 

not let potential conflicts with other fish species in the region limit what they proposed for 

Sturgeon. To improve the current conditions for Sturgeon in California’s Central Valley, the 

group proposed the scenarios listed in Table 2.

Table 2. Proposed Sturgeon Scenarios

Scenario Specific details (amounts, timing, locations)

Attraction flow pulse in Bear River 5000 cfs (but proportional to Sac), Jan-Mar

Attraction flow pulse in Feather River 5000 cfs (but proportional to Sac), Jan-Mar

Attraction flow pulse in Yuba River 5000 cfs (but proportional to Sac), Jan-Mar

Create passage at Daguerre Point Dam 

passage on Yuba

Create passage at Daguerre Point Dam passage on Yuba

Grade the stranding areas below Fremont 

Weir (in works)

Grade the stranding areas below Fremont (in works)

High in channel flows in Sacramento River 

for attraction 

18000 cfs, Jan-Mar, Woodson Bridge 

High in channel flows in San Joaquin River 

for spawning

Base flows of 1500 cfs and intermittent pulse flows reaching 3000-

5000 cfs, Mar and Apr

Improve passage at Fremont (in works) To reduce illegal harvest and reduce stranding

Improve passage at Sacramento Weir To reduce illegal harvest and increase passage

Improve passage at Sunset Pumps on 

Feather

Improve passage at Sunset Pumps on Feather River

Improve passage at Tisdale To reduce illegal harvest and reduce stranding

Improve road crossings Yolo Bypass (in the 

works) 

Improve road crossings Yolo bypass (in the works) 
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Scenario Specific details (amounts, timing, locations)

Improve spawning and rearing habitat in 

Feather

Increasing the availability of cobble substrate

Improve spawning and rearing habitat in 

San Joaquin

Increasing the availability of cobble substrate

Manage contaminants in San Joaquin 

(multiple sources)

Reduce concentration of metals (i.e., As, Ba, Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb, Hg, Ni, 

Se, and Zn), organic contaminants (i.e., DDE, PCBs, PBDEs, and 

galaxolide), selenium, and mercury.

Manipulate ag return flows Knights Landing 

and Wallace Weir

Reduce ag return flows Knights Landing and Wallace Weir

Manipulate selenium in the San Joaquin Manage sediment in the watershed

Manipulate temperatures in spawning and 

rearing areas of Feather River through 

changes in flow

Spawning (White 14-16oC, but <18 oC); Green 12-15 oC, but<17 oC) 

and rearing (White < 19 oC; Green <19 oC)

Manipulate temperatures in spawning and 

rearing areas of the San Joaquin

Spawning (White 14-16oC, but <18 oC); Green 12-15 oC, but<17 oC) 

and rearing (White < 19 oC; Green <19 oC)

Reduce entrainment in unscreened 

diversions in Feather River

Screen diversions to prevent entrainment of age 0-1

Reduce entrainment in unscreened 

diversions in Sacramento River

Screen diversions to prevent entrainment of age 0-1

Reduce entrainment in unscreened 

diversions in the San Joaquin

Screen diversions to prevent entrainment of age 0-1

Reduce entrainment in unscreened 

diversions in the Delta

Screen diversions to prevent entrainment of age 0-1

Reduce entrainment in unscreened 

diversions in Yuba River

Screen diversions to prevent entrainment of age 0-1

Reduce harvest of adults Reduce illegal and legal harvest through greater enforcement

Spawning flow pulse in Bear River >3000 cfs, Mar -Apr (White) or Mar-Jun (Green)

Spawning flow pulse in Feather River >5000 cfs, Mar -Apr (White) or Mar-Jun (Green)

Spawning flow pulse in Yuba River >5000 cfs, Mar -Apr (White) or Mar-Jun (Green)

Chinook Salmon

The SIT identified 21, 45, and 38 scenarios to be evaluated for winter-, spring- and fall-run 

Chinook Salmon (Tables 3, 4 and 5). These lists included restoration actions such as decreasing 

the impacts from hatchery fish; eliminating or reducing artificial lighting along migratory routes; 

improving fish passage; manipulating flows; increasing riverine productivity; increasing juvenile 

habitat (perennially inundated and seasonally inundated); increasing spawning habitat; reducing 

and screening diversions; and routing fish. For each scenario, the SIT was asked to identify a 

specific location and timing (when applicable). Discussions occurred regarding how reduced 

water diversions and increased base flows could be considered similar scenarios in meeting the 

objective, despite being ranked separately and receiving different scores.

Comments from the Chinook PWT group indicated that while the Technical Memorandum was 

helpful for understanding how the SIT is looking at the issues, without descriptions of the 

various scenarios it is hard to understand the intent (e.g., for the scenario Pulse Flows in Battle 

Creek). 
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Table 3. Winter-run Chinook scenarios with average scores (across responses and objectives)

Scenario Mean

Improve fish passage, Battle Creek 70.1

Increase spawning habitat, Upper Sacramento River 52.2

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Yolo Bypass 52.0

Reduce water diversions, Battle Creek 50.5

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper Sacramento River 49.1

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Sutter/Steamboat Slough 49.0

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper-mid Sacramento River 47.2

Increase base flows, Battle Creek 42.8

Pulse Flows, Upper Sacramento River 41.8

Install non-physical barriers Georgiana Slough/DCC, Lower Sacramento River 41.5

Improve fish passage, Upper-mid Sacramento River 40.1

Improve fish passage, Upper Sacramento River 39.8

Eliminate or reduce to <1 lux lighting on structures along the Sacramento River and tributaries 

used for non-natal rearing., Upper Sacramento River

38.4

Increase riverine productivity by releasing water from rice fields and refuges, Upper-mid 

Sacramento River

35.8

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper-mid Sacramento River 34.9

Increase riverine productivity by releasing water from rice fields and refuges, Lower Sacramento 

River

33.7

Screen diversions, Battle Creek 33.3

Increase in rearing habitat in the Central Delta, Delta 33.3

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper Sacramento River 33.2

Decrease impacts from hatchery fish 30.3

Pulse Flows, Battle Creek 24.9

Table 4. Spring-run Chinook scenarios with average scores (across responses and objectives)

Scenario Mean

Reduce water diversions, Mill Creek 61.2

Reduce water diversions, Deer Creek 60.3

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Yolo Bypass 58.0

Increase base flows, Deer Creek 57.5

Increase base flows, Mill Creek 56.9

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper-mid Sacramento River 56.8

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Yolo Bypass 55.2

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Sutter/Steamboat Slough 54.4

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper Sacramento River 53.9

Pulse flows, Yuba River 53.9

Pulse flows, Upper Sacramento River 53.0

Increase spawning habitat, Stanislaus River 52.4

Increase base flows, Antelope Creek 51.8

Reduce water diversions, Antelope Creek 51.8

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper Sacramento River 51.3
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Scenario Mean

Increase in rearing habitat in the Central Delta, Delta 49.4

Pulse flows, Deer Creek 46.2

Pulse flows, Mill Creek 46.2

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Sutter Bypass 46.2

Pulse flows, Clear Creek 45.3

Increase spawning habitat, Feather River 45.1

Increase riverine productivity by releasing water from rice fields and refuges, Upper-mid 

Sacramento River

44.2

Increase base flows, Deer Creek 43.7

Increase base flows, Mill Creek 43.5

Improve fish passage, Deer Creek 43.4

Improve fish passage, Mill Creek 43.4

Improve fish passage, Antelope Creek 40.9

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Feather River 37.3

Pulse flows, Antelope Creek 35.3

Pulse flows, Upper Sacramento River 33.8

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Yuba River 32.6

Pulse flows, American River 32.2

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Deer Creek 31.1

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Mill Creek 30.8

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Tisdale Bypass 27.8

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Sutter Bypass 26.5

Increase base flows, American River 25.7

Decrease impacts from hatchery fish 23.5

Table 5. Fall run chinook scenarios with average scores (across responses and objectives)

Scenario Mean

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Lower-mid Sacramento River 54.3

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Yolo Bypass 52.3

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper-mid Sacramento River 52.1

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Lower-mid Sacramento River 52.0

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Sutter Bypass 52.0

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Yolo Bypass 51.9

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Sutter/Steamboat Slough 50.2

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper Sacramento River 49.1

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper Sacramento River 48.9

Increase in rearing habitat in the Central Delta, Delta 48.9

Reduce water diversions, Delta 48.1

Increase spawning habitat, Feather River 47.2

Reduce water diversions, Lower-mid Sacramento River 45.1

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper-mid Sacramento River 45.0

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., American River 43.8

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Feather River 43.1

Reduce water diversions, Lower Sacramento River 42.8
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Scenario Mean

Pulse flows, Upper Sacramento River 42.5

Increase spawning habitat, Yuba River 41.9

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Lower San Joaquin 41.7

Pulse flows, American River 41.6

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, American River 40.9

Improve fish passage, Yolo Bypass 40.1

Pulse flows, Mokelumne River 39.5

Increase riverine productivity by releasing water from rice fields and refuges, Lower Sacramento 

River

39.3

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Yuba River 39.1

Increase base flows, Upper Sacramento River 38.9

Increase spawning habitat, American River 38.8

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Stanislaus River 38.8

Increase riverine productivity by releasing water from rice fields and refuges, Upper-mid 

Sacramento River

38.4

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Lower San Joaquin 37.8

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Stanislaus River 37.7

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat , Tuolumne River 37.1

Increase base flows, American River 36.9

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat , Mokelumne River 36.4

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Mokelumne River 35.9

Reduce water diversions, Upper-mid Sacramento River 35.8

Pulse flows, Yuba River 35.3

Install non-physical barriers Georgiana Slough/DCC. , Lower Sacramento River 34.5

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Tuolumne River 33.3

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Yuba River 33.2

Reduce water diversions, Mokelumne River 32.8

Reduce water diversions, Upper Sacramento River 28.6

Decrease impacts from hatchery fish 27.0

Conservation hatchery supplementation 21.3

Steelhead

The SIT identified 21 scenarios to be evaluated for anadromous steelhead (Table 6). The list 

included restoration actions such as decreasing the impacts from hatchery fish; improving fish 

passage; manipulating flows and temperatures; increasing summer and spawning habitats; and 

outplanting adults above rim dams. For each scenario, the SIT was asked to identify a specific 

location and timing (when applicable). 

Table 6. Steelhead scenarios with average scores (across responses and objectives)

Scenario Mean

Increase spawning habitat, Battle Creek 57.2

Increase base flows, Battle Creek 55.6

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Upper-mid Sacramento River 42.2

Pulse flows, Upper Sacramento River 42.0

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Clear Creek 41.1
13

Scenario Mean

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Upper Sacramento River 41.1

Improve fish passage, Battle Creek 40.9

Increase spawning habitat, Upper Sacramento River 40.6

Decrease impacts from hatchery fish 38.1

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Stanislaus River 36.2

Increase summer rearing habitat, Tuolumne River 34.5

Increase spawning habitat, Upper-mid Sacramento River 28.9

Improve fish passage, Upper Sacramento River 28.5

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Feather River 22.7

Increase summer rearing habitat, Mokelumne River 18.8

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Tuolumne River 17.0

Outplanting adults above rim dams, Upper San Joaquin River 16.3

Pulse flows, Mokelumne River 14.7

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Mokelumne River 12.5

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, American River 7.8

Outplanting adults above rim dams, Yuba River 7.2

FY20 Restoration Actions and Prioritization and Results

The sections below briefly describe the general tenor of the SIT discussions regarding the 

priorities that were identified during the process described above. Discussions regarding other 

scenarios and proposed priorities are omitted for brevity. However, notes from all meetings can 

be accessed through the data portal link provided above (see Background section).

As stated above, the SIT discussed the scenarios and characterized the priorities using the 

following criteria for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead: (1) the average score (across objectives 

and responses) associated with the scenario/ priority, with larger score or higher rank interpreted 

as higher priority; (2) the potential of a scenarios ability to contribute to spatial diversity; and (3) 

the number of times a scenario/priority was in the top 10 (winter-run Chinook Salmon, springrun Chinook Salmon, and Steelhead) or top 15 (fall-run Chinook Salmon) when examining the 

mean scores across responses within each of the objectives. For the third criteria, a 

scenario/objective was omitted if it was in the bottom 10 (winter-run Chinook Salmon, springrun Chinook Salmon, and Steelhead) or bottom 15 (fall-run Chinook Salmon) when examining 

the mean scores across responses within each of the objectives. Scenarios that were only scored 

once were also omitted. Finally, scenarios with relatively strong potential to help achieve 

fundamental objectives, but high uncertainty were considered as candidates for adaptive resource 

management. The information for criteria 1 and 3 are in Tables 7, 8, 9 and 10.
14

Table 7. The number of times a scenario/priority was in the top 10 when examining the mean 

scores across responses within each of the objective for winter-run Chinook Salmon. Note that 

a scenario was omitted if it was in the bottom 10 when examining the mean scores across 

responses within each of the objectives. Scenarios that were only scored once were also 

omitted

Scenario Number objectives in top

Improve fish passage, Battle Creek 5

Increase spawning habitat, Upper Sacramento River 5

Reduce water diversions, Battle Creek 5

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper-mid Sacramento River 5

Increase base flows, Battle Creek 5

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Yolo Bypass 4

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper Sacramento River 4

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Sutter/Steamboat Slough 4

Table 8. The number of times a scenario/priority was in the top 10 when examining the mean 

scores across responses within each of the objective for spring-run Chinook Salmon. Note that 

a scenario was omitted if it was in the bottom 10 when examining the mean scores across 

responses within each of the objectives. Scenarios that were only scored once were also 

omitted

Scenario Number objectives in top

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Yolo Bypass 4

Increase base flows, Deer Creek 3

Increase base flows, Mill Creek 3

Reduce water diversions, Deer Creek 3

Reduce water diversions, Mill Creek 3

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Sutter/Steamboat Slough 2

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Yolo Bypass 2

Increase base flows, American River 2

Increase base flows, Antelope Creek 2

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper Sacramento River 2

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper-mid 

Sacramento River

2

Pulse flows, Yuba River 2

Increase in rearing habitat in the Central Delta, Delta 1

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper Sacramento 

River

1

Increase spawning habitat, Stanislaus River 1

Pulse flows, Upper Sacramento River 1

Reduce water diversions, Antelope Creek 1
15

Table 9. The number of times a scenario/priority was in the top 15 when examining the mean 

scores across responses within each of the objective for fall run Chinook. Note that a scenario 

was omitted if it was in the bottom 15 when examining the mean scores across responses within 

each of the objectives. Scenarios that were only scored once were also omitted

Scenario Number objectives in top

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Lower-mid Sacramento 

River

5

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Sutter Bypass 5

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Yolo Bypass 4

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper-mid Sacramento 

River

4

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Lower-mid Sacramento River 4

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Yolo Bypass 4

Increase accessibility to rearing North Delta habitat, Sutter/Steamboat Slough 3

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Upper Sacramento 

River

2

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper Sacramento River 2

Reduce water diversions, Delta 2

Increase in rearing habitat in the Central Delta, Delta 2

Increase spawning habitat, Feather River 1

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Upper-mid Sacramento River 1

Table 10. The number of times a scenario/priority was in the top 10 when examining the mean 

scores across responses within each of the objective for Steelhead. Note that a scenario was 

omitted if it was in the bottom 10 when examining the mean scores across responses within 

each of the objectives. Scenarios that were only scored once were also omitted

Scenario Number objectives in top

Increase base flows, Battle Creek 9

Increase spawning habitat, Battle Creek 9

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Clear Creek 7

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Upper Sacramento River 7

Manipulate water temperatures to encourage anadromy, Upper-mid Sacramento 

River

7

Pulse flows, Upper Sacramento River 7

Chinook Salmon (all runs)

Seven, 11 and 10 members of the SIT scored potential restoration scenarios for winter-run

Chinook Salmon, fall-run Chinook Salmon, and spring-run Chinook Salmon, respectively. The 

relatively low number of responses may be related to the government shutdown, which 

prohibited USGS and NMFS personnel from participating. Summaries of the scoring suggested 

that there was a subset of scenarios that consistently scored high across all three Chinook Salmon

runs. As a result, the SIT opted to develop a set of general Chinook Salmon priorities and then a 

couple run-specific priorities for Chinook Salmon (Table 11). For example, creating juvenile 

rearing habitat in the Sacramento River was scored high for all runs and the general sense was 
16

that creating juvenile rearing habitat in this area would benefit all Chinook runs. However, 

debates centered on whether the SIT had sufficient information to justify giving a higher priority 

to creating rearing habitat in specific sections of Sacramento River (e.g., upper, upper-mid, midlower, lower defined in Table 12 and Figure 1). Further discussions also centered on whether the 

belief that juvenile Chinook Salmon survival increases in response to habitat 

creation/improvement is supported by data or just a shared hypothesis among the SIT members. 

The SIT believed that reducing this uncertainty (i.e., the effect of habitat restoration on juvenile 

survival) was critical to future prioritization efforts and the effectiveness of restoration actions in 

the Central Valley. They also believed that this uncertainty could be resolved through an 

adaptive management process. The SIT requested that process include: 1) a well thought out 

design including explicit quantifiable hypotheses regarding the relationship between habitat 

features and the survival of wild juvenile Chinook Salmon; 2) implementing the management 

actions, such as the creation of juvenile floodplain habitat, under conditions that can be 

transferable to other areas of the Central Valley; and 3) implementing a monitoring design (the 

SIT identified a before-after, control-impact or BACI design) that can clearly demonstrate the 

effect of the management actions on wild juvenile Chinook Salmon survival. The SIT was clear 

that this was not to be an experiment but should be the implementation of actual management 

actions intended to improve juvenile rearing habitat in different locations in the Sacramento 

River; therefore, this adaptive management scenario was adopted by consensus. 

The poor conditions for fish in the central Delta was also a point of discussion. In particular, the 

SIT discussed that the long-term goal should be to make the central Delta more hospitable for 

Chinook Salmon, but in the short-term a beneficial action would be to keep juveniles out of the 

central Delta using multiple alternative routes from the Sacramento River into the north Delta, 

such as the Yolo Bypass and Sutter and Steamboat Sloughs. This scenario was also adopted by 

consensus. Increasing seasonally inundated juvenile rearing habitat in Yolo Bypass was also 

ranked high across Chinook Salmon runs. The SIT discussed how there is actually sufficient 

habitat in the Yolo Bypass but the fish do not have access to it. It was also discussed that 

increasing access to juvenile rearing habitat that already exists in both the Sutter and Yolo 

Bypasses would benefit all Chinook Salmon runs. Thus, this general Chinook Salmon priority 

was adopted by the SIT by consensus.

Table 11. Chinook Salmon model inputs/parameters with average scores across responses 

Model Input/parameter Mean score

Through Delta survival juvenile 78.5

Juvenile tributary survival 78.2

Juvenile mainstem survival 76.4

Juvenile Delta survival 70.7

Ocean entry survival 70.0

Water temperature statistics 68.5

Egg to fry survival 68.2

Hatchery origin influence reproduction 60.4

Juvenile river growth 58.9

Proportion water diverted 56.5

Juvenile Delta growth 53.8
17

Model Input/parameter Mean score

Hatchery origin adult returning 50.0

Behavioral dynamics in Delta 49.6

Predator prevalence 48.8

Pathology 39.2

Table 12. Defined sections of the Sacramento River and Delta.

Reach Extent

Upper Sacramento River Keswick to Red Bluff

Upper-mid Sacramento River Red Bluff to Wilkins Slough

Lower-mid Sacramento River Wilkins Slough to American River

Lower Sacramento River American River to Freeport

North Delta Area west of and including the Sacramento River below Freeport to 

Chipps Island

South Delta Area east of the Sacramento River below Freeport to Chipps Island 

and the San Joaquin River below Vernalis

Figure 1. The relative location of the 26 CVPIA watersheds and routing that were included in the 

coarse resolution prioritization. The watershed groups (in boxes) are listed from top to bottom 

as: upper Sacramento, lower Sacramento, Delta, and San Joaquin.
18

Fall-run Chinook Salmon

Many of the highly scored scenarios were included in the priorities that pertain to all Chinook 

runs. However, the SIT discussed the need to ensure that actions were taken in different regions 

of the Central Valley to improve conditions for fall-run in order to achieve the total number of 

viable spawning populations per diversity group objective. Acknowledging that most of the 11 

SIT members focused on Sacramento River populations, the SIT decided to also include the 

highest scored scenarios for San Joaquin populations as well. Also, as part of their discussion 

centered on the importance of improving conditions in the central Delta over the long-term (see 

above) the SIT decided to prioritize creating rearing habitat in the Lower San Joaquin and 

Stanislaus Rivers for fall-run Chinook Salmon. In addition, instituting pulse flows in the 

Mokelumne River during late April to early May was also identified as a fall run priority because 

it was the highest scoring action.

Winter-run Chinook Salmon

Based on the summary of the submitted scores, there was high agreement on what actions would 

most benefit winter-run Chinook Salmon. For example, eight scenarios were in the top 10 across 

objectives using the selection process described above. Not surprisingly, working in Battle Creek 

and the upper Sacramento River were the most consistently highlighted areas to work in for 

winter-run Chinook Salmon due to the large-scale habitat restoration efforts and thermal 

refugium benefits of the Battle Creek watershed. The SIT discussed the need to ensure that there 

was sufficient water to support winter-run Chinook Salmon in Battle Creek through reducing 

water diversions or increasing base flows. It was discussed that these actions are related to each 

other; that is, to increase base flows on Battle Creek the water diversions need to be reduced. 

This scenario was adopted by consensus. 

The SIT also discussed, at length, increasing access to non-natal tributaries to open up habitat in 

the upper and upper-mid Sacramento from October to March. In particular, these are tributaries 

that provide additional juvenile rearing habitat to winter-run Chinook Salmon. One potential 

issue with this scenario is that these fish have a high potential to be stranded, which requires 

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to perform rescue operations. Non-natal 

tributaries provide important rearing opportunities for juvenile winter-run Chinook Salmon and 

other Salmon runs. These tributaries are often dry at the mouths and thus unavailable for 

juvenile winter-run Chinook Salmon during their rearing period in the upper river (late July into 

autumn months) until it rains, or water diversions at irrigation dams on these tributaries are 

stopped for the off season (typically in Oct). For winter-run Chinook Salmon, having flows to 

the mouth of tributaries in summer and autumn months (where possible) will increase non-natal 

rearing opportunities and provide benefit to winter-run Chinook Salmon survival.

For winter-run Chinook Salmon, stranding in tributaries is not a big issue as most have left the 

area by March and most tributaries are still flowing in March. Stranding in seasonal tributaries is 

more of an issue for other runs and Steelhead) whose juveniles have not out-migrated before 

tributary flows dry up or are diverted.

It was also discussed that this scenario may be redundant with juvenile rearing habitat creation 

scenarios that apply to all Chinook Salmon runs. After some discussion, the SIT decided to 

include this as a priority scenario for winter-run Chinook Salmon, particularly to highlight the 

potential benefits of these non-natal tributaries.
19

Spring-run Chinook Salmon

There was also much agreement among the SIT members on the priority location for spring-run

Chinook Salmon. In particular, the importance of Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks for spring-run

Chinook Salmon was discussed at length by the SIT, particularly the need to increase base flows. 

There was much discussion on the timing of the increased base flows and how different parts of 

the year would benefit different life stages. The SIT discussed that the benefit of increasing base 

flows in Antelope Creek may not contribute to the spatial diversity objectives or the valley wide 

objectives because Antelope Creek may not support a large independent spawning population.

However, others argued that while Antelope Creek is smaller and warmer than Mill and Deer, 

there were decent runs of spring-run Chinook Salmon before the 2013-2016 drought. Water 

diversions and increasing summer air and river temperatures are likely factors reducing Antelope

Creek’s possibility as a major spring-run Chinook Salmon stream. However, the SIT discussed 

Antelope Creek’s importance as a back-up tributary in case of natural disasters (forest fire, etc.) 

in Mill and Deer Creeks in a given year. And as a non-natal tributary for other Chinook Salmon 

runs, Antelope Creek could provide rearing if it had year-round flows below diversions to the 

mouth. Comments from the spring-run Chinook Salmon PWT stated that dependent spring-run

Chinook Salmon populations are important to the Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) in 

general. 

The SIT also focused a discussion on the benefits of pulse flows in the upper Sacramento River. 

The SIT agreed that this would benefit spring-run Chinook Salmon, but it was noted that the 

timing of the pulse flow would depend on the water year type. That is, in dry to below normal 

water years with would be beneficial to have pulse flows extend until May, but in normal water 

years there would be little benefit to adding pulse flows on top of the normal hydrograph after 

December. Comments from the spring-run Chinook Salmon PWT stated pulse flow volumes 

should be maintained through mid-lower Sacramento River regions to help offset low water and 

high temperature impacts for spring-run Chinook juveniles in these regions.

Steelhead

Six members of the SIT scored potential restoration scenarios for Steelhead. Discussions among 

the SIT members emphasized the lack of information and high degree of uncertainty about how 

to enhance or encourage anadromous life history in Steelhead. This uncertainty was represented 

in the score summaries as well. For example, of the 21 scenarios only six were consistently 

scored high among objectives. Of these, pulse flows in the upper Sacramento River and 

increasing base flows in Battle Creek were already identified as priorities for Chinook Salmon. 

The SIT agreed that creating spawning habitat in Battle Creek and improving access through 

removal of manmade and natural barriers would benefit Steelhead populations and this scenario 

was adopted by consensus. Finally, three of these scenarios focused on manipulating habitat

conditions to encourage anadromy. The SIT discussed the substantial uncertainty and the 

importance of understanding the factors that affect the expression of the anadromous Steelhead 

life history and the management actions that can be taken to increase the frequency of anadromy; 

therefore, the SIT believed that this uncertainty can be resolved through an adaptive 

management. The SIT requested that process include: (1) a well thought out design including 

explicit quantifiable hypotheses; (2) implementing management actions under conditions that can 

be transferable to other areas of the Central Valley; and (3) monitoring design (the SIT identified 

BACI design) that can clearly demonstrate whether the actions were successful or not. The SIT 
20

was clear that this was not to be an experiment but should be the implementation of actual 

management actions intended to increase the frequency of anadromy; therefore, this adaptive 

management scenario was adopted by consensus.

Table 13. Steelhead model inputs/parameters with average scores across responses

Model Input/parameter Mean score

Factors related to anadromy 91.9

Frequency of anadromy 81.9

Through Delta survival juvenile 76.3

Adult population estimate 75.0

Juvenile tributary survival 74.2

Juvenile mainstem survival 72.7

Juvenile outmigrant abundance estimate 70.4

Ocean entry survival 70.0

Water temperature statistics 69.2

Juvenile Delta survival 68.8

Juvenile in channel rearing habitat 67.5

Egg to fry survival 66.2

Juvenile floodplain rearing habitat 63.8

Hatchery origin influence reproduction 63.5

Spawning habitat 63.5

Juvenile Delta rearing habitat 58.8

Behavioral dynamics in watershed 56.5

Adult en route survival 54.2

Adult prespawn survival 49.6

Contact point data 48.3

Proportion water diverted 48.1

Sturgeon

Using the process described above, the group identified five priority recommendations. 

Understanding that the score sheet was meant to help guide discussions and not meant to limit 

priority recommendations, the group added “Maintain flows for spawning/rearing in Sacramento 

River for recruitment” (White Sturgeon  from Hwy 32 (Hamilton City) to Knights Landing 

(Verona, including Yolo Bypass); Green Sturgeon  from ACID (Anderson-Cottonwood 

Irrigation District) to GCID (Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District)) after thoughtful discussions 

related to needs for sturgeon conservation. Furthermore, the group identified if the relationship 

between the Sturgeon objectives and potential management actions were data limited or well 

supported hypotheses. 

A lack of Sturgeon data was a common topic in discussions for scenarios and priorities. In 

particular, much of the uncertainty when scoring the scenarios was related to whether Sturgeon 

use specific locations for spawning or not. Thus, not having explicit information on Sturgeon 

spawning locations across the Central Valley limited the group’s ability to score many of the 

scenarios with certainty (Table 14). Monitoring data limitations can also be gleaned from the 

Sturgeon objectives identified above. For example, fundamental objective attributes must be 
21

monitored (and explicitly tied to management actions) to inform the future quantitative Sturgeon 

DSM (to be developed during the current cycle) and for adaptive management to take place. No 

such valley-wide monitoring program for Sturgeon exists. 

Table 14. Sturgeon model inputs/parameters with average scores across responses

Model Input/parameter Mean score

Juvenile mainstem survival 91.3

Juvenile tributary survival 79.2

Egg to fry survival 78.1

Juvenile Delta survival 77.9

Adult spawner abundance estimate 77.5

Juvenile Delta rearing habitat 75.0

Spawning habitat 74.4

Juvenile in channel rearing habitat 74.3

Ocean entry survival 69.3

Streamflow statistics 68.6

Adult en route survival 63.8

Entrainment of larval stage in diversions 63.8

Adult prespawn survival 59.4

Juvenile routing rules 56.0

Juvenile river growth 55.0

Juvenile floodplain rearing habitat 51.4

Proportion water diverted 50.0

Behavioral dynamics in Delta 46.0

Juvenile movement rate vs. flow model 44.3

Juvenile abundance estimates 25.0

Sturgeon priorities are listed in Table 20. A data limited scenario is a scenario that has relatively 

high support by the group based on their experience and anecdotal information, but monitoring 

data to quantify these relationships are lacking. The group discussed how explicitly linking 

Sturgeon recruitment parameters to scenarios aimed at increasing spawning/rearing habitat and 

flow manipulation, perhaps using a BACI design, was a needed for Sturgeon adaptive 

management. 
22

FY20 Monitoring Prioritization and Results

In addition to the monitoring data needs previously identified for Chinook Salmon in Table 1, the 

SIT categorized other monitoring priorities into three tiers based on the summary of the SIT 

scores. Fourteen, 13, and eight SIT members submitted scores for Chinook Salmon, Steelhead

and Sturgeon, respectively. Similar to the other responses, the number of responses received 

were likely a function of the federal government shutdown, which prohibited USGS and NMFS 

personnel from participating. The SIT discussed that all of the model inputs/parameters were 

critical to the program to assist them when making science based decisions, which is why they 

were listed in the first place. 

To prioritize them, the SIT opted to use a tier system, which tier 1 being the highest priority and 

tier 3 being the lowest priority. For Chinook Salmon, there was strong agreement among SIT 

members based on the scores that juvenile survival metrics were the highest priority. The tiers 

for Chinook Salmon were based on natural breaks in the scores. The SIT discussed, at length, the 

uncertainty associated with Steelhead and Sturgeon and how population parameters, particularly 

for juveniles, were needed at the very least to parameterize the DSMs. This pattern was generally 

supported by the mean scores. The SIT also discussed the importance of metrics to track changes 

in adult and juvenile abundances to calibrate the DSMs. Therefore, the SIT prioritized model 

inputs/parameters for these species based on the type of information.

Table 15. Monitoring priorities for Chinook Salmon1

Model Input/parameter Tier

Egg to fry survival 1

Juvenile Delta survival 1

Juvenile population estimates 1

Adult population estimates 1

Juvenile mainstem survival 1

Juvenile tributary survival 1

Ocean entry survival 1

Through Delta survival juvenile 1

Water temperature statistics 1

Hatchery origin influence reproduction 2

Juvenile Delta growth 2

Juvenile river growth 2

Proportion water diverted 2

Behavioral dynamics in Delta 3

Hatchery origin adult returning 3

Pathology 3

Predator prevalence 3

1 To avoid the perception of conflict of interest, SIT attempted to avoid the identification of specific projects for 

priorities as instructed by the Core team during FY20 prioritization.
23

Table 16. Monitoring priorities for Steelhead1

Model Input/parameter Tier

Adult population estimate 1

Egg to fry survival 1

Factors related to anadromy 1

Frequency of anadromy 1

Juvenile Delta survival 1

Juvenile mainstem survival 1

Juvenile outmigrant abundance estimate 1

Juvenile tributary survival 1

Ocean entry survival 1

Through Delta survival juvenile 1

Water temperature statistics 1

Hatchery origin influence reproduction 2

Juvenile Delta rearing habitat 2

Juvenile floodplain rearing habitat 2

Juvenile in channel rearing habitat 2

Spawning habitat 2

Adult en route survival 3

Adult prespawn survival 3

Behavioral dynamics in watershed 3

Contact point data 3

Proportion water diverted 3

1 To avoid the perception of conflict of interest, SIT attempted to avoid the identification of specific projects for 

priorities as instructed by the Core team during FY20 prioritization.

Table 17. Monitoring priorities for Sturgeon1

Model Input/parameter Tier

Adult spawner abundance estimate 1

Juvenile abundance estimates 1

Juvenile Delta rearing habitat 1

Juvenile Delta survival 1

Juvenile in channel rearing habitat 1

Juvenile mainstem survival 1

Juvenile tributary survival 1

Spawning habitat 1

Adult en route survival 2

Adult prespawn survival 2

Egg to fry survival 2

Entrainment of larval stage in diversions 2

Ocean entry survival 2

Behavioral dynamics in Delta 3

Juvenile floodplain rearing habitat 3

juvenile movement rate vs. flow model 3
24

Model Input/parameter Tier

Juvenile river growth 3

Juvenile routing rules 3

Proportion water diverted 3

Streamflow statistics 3

1 To avoid the perception of conflict of interest, SIT attempted to avoid the identification of specific projects for 

priorities as instructed by the Core team during FY20 prioritization.

FY20 Recommendations to the Core Team

The final FY20 recommendations to the Core team are detailed in Tables 18, 19, and 20. Again, 

note that the SIT does not propose specific projects to avoid the perception of a conflict of 

interest in ranking priorities for FY20. 

Table 18. Chinook Salmon SIT Priorities for FY20

All Chinook Runs

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat, Sacramento River above the American River confluence

Increase seasonally inundated juvenile habitat at 2 yr freq., Sacramento River above American River confluence

Increase spawning habitat, Upper Sacramento River

Keep juveniles out of central Delta

Adaptively manage juvenile habitat restoration to allow the evaluation of the effect of habitat restoration on wild 

juvenile Chinook Salmon survival in the Sacramento River 

Increase access to juvenile rearing habitat in Sutter and Yolo Bypasses

Maintain spawning habitat in the CVP streams

Winter-run Chinook Salmon

Improve adult and juvenile passage on Battle Creek

Increase flows through increasing base flows and/or reducing water diversions on Battle Creek

Increase access to non-natal tributaries to open up habitat in Upper and Upper Mid Sacramento Aug-March

Spring-run Chinook Salmon

Increase base flows year round to target benefits to multiple life stages, Deer Creek

Increase base flows year round to target benefits to multiple life stages, Mill Creek

Pulse flows, Upper Sacramento River Oct-Dec (till May in all years except Wet)

Increase spawning habitat, Stanislaus River

Fall-run Chinook Salmon

Increase in rearing habitat in the Central Delta , Delta

Increase spawning habitat, Feather River

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat , Lower San Joaquin

Increase perennially inundated juvenile habitat , Stanislaus River

Pulse flows, Mokelumne River Late April early May
25

Table 19. Steelhead SIT Priorities for FY20

Steelhead

Increase access to spawning habitat, Battle Creek

Adaptively manage tributary flows, habitat, and/or temperatures to increase the frequency of anadromy

Table 20. Sturgeon SIT Priorities for FY20

Species Scenario

Data 

limited? Notes

Green Sturgeon

Pulse flows for attraction and spawning in 

Feather River

Yes

Improve passage at Tisdale, Fremont 

Weir, and Sunset pumps

Reduce fishing mortality (poaching and 

bycatch) of adults

High in-channel flows in Sacramento 

River for attraction

Yes Important, but not as hard to get under 

current conditions. Might just look at inhand data before "spending" resources 

for this scenario

Maintain flows for spawning/rearing in 

Sacramento River for recruitment 

Yes Uncertainty with how to currently quantify 

recruitment across watersheds because 

there is not a monitoring program in place 

for Sturgeon (outside spawner 

abundance)

White Sturgeon

Reduce harvest (legal and illegal) of 

adults

Improve spawning and rearing habitat in 

San Joaquin River

High in-channel flows (spawning) and 

manipulate temperatures in spawning and 

rearing areas of San Joaquin River

Yes Uncertainty with how to currently quantify 

recruitment across watersheds because 

there is not a monitoring program in place 

for Sturgeon (outside spawner 

abundance)

Improve passage at Tisdale and Fremont 

Weir

Maintain flows for spawning/rearing in 

Sacramento River for recruitment

Yes Data are available, but analyses are 

limited
26

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of Fishes 96:393–403.

Connor, W. P., Smith, S. G., Andersen, T., Bradbury, S. M., Burum, D. C., Hockersmith, E. E., 

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