Estuary & Lower River Projects

Two consensus based planning documents provide guidance for restoration work on the Smith River. Both plans identify the estuary and lower reaches of the Smith river as a high priority targets for restoration initiatives. The existing habitat has been degraded and habitat conditions have been simplified in nature's nursery for aquatic species. The two documents are:

The Smith River Anadromous Fish Action Plan (14.6 MB PDF)

The Recovery Strategy for California Coho Salmon (7.56 MB PDF)

The Smith River estuary plays a very important role in the life history of its salmonids. Young fish migrate to the estuary from the fresh water tributaries of the Smith from higher elevations in the watershed. The estuary is a biologically rich environment, where the river reaches salt water creating a mix called "brackish" water. In this environment, their bodies adapt to salt water and they learn to consume new sources of food and to avoid a new set of predators. This major change causes young salmon to become less active and more vulnerable to predators such as birds and larger fish. 

To survive, young salmon must find places to hide and feed. Ocean-bound young salmon may spend days or months in estuaries and near shore waters as they adjust to saltwater and grow, getting ready for an ocean journey. The estuary provides habitat year round for steelhead and is particularly important in summer and fall seasons when the river headwaters and tributaries typically have low stream flows and higher water temperatures that may limit the carrying capacity for larger fish. 

In general, current restoration on the lower Smith is focused on increasing the tidal influence in sloughs and creeks, improving circulation and water quality, enlarge the salt-fresh water interface, enhancing riparian vegetation including removal of exotic plant populations, reconnecting existing off-channel wetlands to tidal waters to decrease stranding, removing barriers to fish passage, and creating additional foraging grounds for rearing salmonids. 

All plans identify the estuary and lower river as nature’s nursery for salmonids as the most degraded habitat in the entire river ecosystem due to development, road building, and agriculture. The Lower Smith River Salmonid Restoration Project is focused on priority restoration projects along the lower reach of the Smith River and its tributaries and estuary. The restoration goals of this project will greatly enhance juvenile salmonid survival in the lower Smith River. Of additional major significance is the economic importance of this sports fishery to the local economy. Millions of dollars of revenue come into the local community from sports fishing activity focused on these salmonids. 

In all of its projects, the SRA builds consensus among disparate local interests for salmonid habitat restoration. SRA has working partnerships with virtually all the various government agencies involved in fisheries work and we work on joint projects with CalTrout, Save-the-Redwoods League, AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project, Trout Unlimited and Western Rivers Conservancy. We work closely with Green Diamond Resource Company, Del Norte County's largest private landowner and we are also active in the Del Norte - Crescent City Chamber of Commerce.