Fish and Wildlife Protection

Even before environmental laws began to require protective measures for fish and wildlife, the Department built facilities with the environment in mind. During the construction of Oroville Reservoir, a sloping intake structure was installed to allow for temperature-selective releases of water through Hyatt Powerplant. These releases are made for downstream fishery.

The reservoir also blocked returning salmon from their usual spawning grounds. To compensate for this loss, the Feather River Fish Hatchery was opened in 1967. Hatchery staff artificially fertilizes and raises more than 20 million fall-run and spring run chinook salmon and steelhead trout annually. These fish are released in Lake Oroville and theSan Francisco Bay Area. In 1999, the hatchery was expanded to accommodate more rearing areas and add a facility to treat a fungal disease that attacks young chinook salmon.

In the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, along the intake channel to Banks Pumping Plant, the Skinner Fish Facility diverts fish from entering the plant's pumps. Salvaged fish are counted, identified, and recorded then transported back to the Delta for release. The facility salvages an annual average of about 15 million fish.

Also located in the Delta, the Suisun Marsh Salinity Control Gates was built to protect the Bay-Delta estuary. The gates protect water quality in the Suisun Marsh, one of the State's largest contiguous brackish water wetlands. Its radial gates trap fresh water in the marsh while keeping out more saline waters entering from the San Francisco Bay.