Every year in late Fall, following the first major rains, Chinook Salmon take a 100+ mile trip from the Pacific Ocean, into the SF Bay and swim up into our local Dry Creek Watershed to spawn.
During the months of November - January, Dry Creek Conservancy organizes multiple salmon monitoring events. During these events, volunteers wade up our local creeks looking for live Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout, salmon nests (known as REDDS) and carcasses of spawned salmon. We record the sightings and local area data to use for ongoing tracking of this amazing event.
Surveys allow us to estimate population size that can be compared to past and future years and increase public awareness for salmonids within our community.
We have seen a significant decrease in salmon sightings over the past several years, but in 2024 we saw the highest amount of sightings since 2014. This is thought to be due to a number of factors, but our volunteer creek cleanups are playing a vital role in keeping our creeks clean and accessible for the spawning salmon.
Salmon spawning
A Chinook Salmon pair was seen spawning in Miner's Ravine (Roseville, Ca.) Footage depicts a female salmon using her tail to dig a nest (redd) into the gravel to lay her eggs.
Chinook Salmon
These enormous fish measuring up to 3 feet and 30 pounds have finally made it to the end of their journey, traveling from over 100 miles away in the Pacific Ocean to reproduce here in Sacramento/Placer County.
Dry Creek Salmon
During a recent salmon monitoring event, footage was taken of this Chinook Salmon in Dry Creek (Placer County)
Dry Creek Conservancy is organized by Valley Foothill Watersheds Collaborative which is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.
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