Putah Creek Restoration Project (Solano County, CA)

Putah Creek is a severely impacted stream that runs from west to east from the Lake Berryessa watershed, through Davis , CA , and on to the Yolo Bypass by Sacramento . The 1999 Putah Creek Accord has allowed for flow to be released for salmonid and other native fishes during all periods of the year.

The response to this release program has been the return of salmon to the reach of Putah Creek from the Yolo Bypass to the Putah Diversion Dam (diversion point for the Solano Irrigation Ditch). Spawning success has been limited by water temperature and habitat in the streambed. Most of the historic gravel substrate has been lost due to gravel mining and lack of replenishment due to the upstream dams that capture all coarse bedload material.

In an effort to improve spawning capabilities, the Lower Putah Creek Coordinating Committee has been working with StreamWise, the Solano County Water Agency and numerous resource agencies to enhance spawning capacity along Putah Creek.

One such project has been designed and constructed at the Yolo Housing complex near Winters, California . The basic design places two rock cross-vanes in narrow reaches of the channel as grade control structures and then imports river gravel from a nearby terrace. The gravel is placed upstream of the cross-vanes to a depth of approximately one foot. The vanes are designed to help hold the gravel in place during flood flows and direct flows below the vane to the center of the channel.

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