Salmon returning to Bay Area creek for first time in 70 years could be sign of environmental renewal to come

""It's just the beginning of this whole migration season, so I can't wait to see what else comes up through our project site," said Claire Buchanan, Bay Area regional director of CalTrout."

"As human development expanded along lower Alameda Creek in Fremont, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed - or, as Miller said, "straightjacketed" - the lower creek with flood control channels."

""I tell people: Salmon are the soul of our rivers. Urban streams kind of lost their soul after so many human impacts," said Miller."

Adult Chinook salmon were observed ascending an 86-foot barrier in Alameda Creek, marking a first in 70 years. Volunteers from Alameda Creek Alliance recorded nearly a dozen Chinook since early November. A $15 million project by PG&E and CalTrout removed a gas pipeline that had been the last impediment to upstream migration. The recent run followed an atmospheric river and coincides with ongoing restoration work. Major dam construction beginning in 1925 and subsequent channelization eliminated native spawning populations by the 1950s. Restoration efforts including dam removals and fish ladders have progressed since 1997.

Read at The Mercury News