California Sea Grant College Program

How effective is closing the gates of the Delta Cross Channel in preventing young salmon from entering the interior of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where water diversions occur and salmon mortalities are high?What other factors influence a migrating salmon’s chances of making it to sea? This project examined these questions by tagging and tracking more than a thousand juvenile Chinook salmon released into the Sacramento River. The data were used to estimate salmon survival rates along different migration routes and their relation to the operation of the cross channel, flow rates and tides, among other things. A subsequent model has been developed for predicting the effects of future water management actions on salmon.