As
steelhead trout dwindle to near-extinction in Southern California, the Escondido Creek Conservancy is trying to aid recovery of the endangered fish by preserving lands that feed the creek, and proposing a rescue hatchery to restore the ocean-going trout to local streams.
"The Escondido Creek is quite habitable to steelhead," said conservancy President Steve Barker. "It's one of the few creeks that has open access and year-round water...The county and state spent a lot of money buying habitat in this watershed, so it's going to stay pristine for years to come."
Efforts to restore the fish are part of the
Escondido nonprofit's plan to create a regional greenbelt along the creek's watershed, from the hills encircling Escondido, to its outlet in the
San Elijo Lagoon in
Encinitas. The conservancy aims to preserve a ring of open space around Escondido for hiking and habitat, restore wetland vegetation along the creek and clean up its water quality.
Steelhead, once plentiful throughout California, but now nearly vanished from the state's waterways, could be a bellwether of recovery for the watershed.
"It's an iconic species," Barker said. "Maintaining a habitat that's suitable for steelhead means that other plants and animals would be assured (of surviving)."
Steve Barker, president of The Escondido Creek Conservancy,
walks across the waterway his group works to protect
Twenty years ago, as development in North County began to escalate, a group of residents in the rural
Elfin Forest area west of Escondido looked at Escondido Creek and "recognized the area was unique and biologically very rich and desperately needed to be preserved," said conservancy board member Kevin Barnard.
In 1991, they founded the conservancy as a
nonprofit land trust to negotiate the preservation of undeveloped parcels.
With an annual budget of about $120,000, the conservancy brokers land purchases or donations, working with San Diego County, local cities and water districts, state and federal agencies and other conservation groups.
It also teams with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Fish and Game and the state
Wildlife Conservation Board to get grants for large land purchases, Barnard said.
Over the past two decades, the conservancy negotiated the purchase of 11 parcels that total about 1,200 acres and are worth about $13.2 million, conservancy officials said. Part of that space will be set aside for wildlife habitat, while other portions will be open to hikers and bikers.
"Our hope is a kid in Escondido can get on his or her bike and head out to these cool, pristine places that we've preserved, and see a natural creek, or experience the birds, trees and plants we have," Barker said.
A 7-inch fish makes its home in the Escondido Creek
As it continues to preserve open spaces that feed the creek, the conservancy hopes to ease the upstream battle for recovery of the steelhead.
The fish, which is listed by the federal government as endangered, used to swim freely in creeks and rivers of coastal Southern California. Photos from the last century show anglers standing shoulder-to-shoulder on stream banks during steelhead runs, which totaled 55,000 fish per year, according to estimates by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
An ocean-going version of rainbow trout, steelhead are born in freshwater, travel to the sea, and return to their birthplace to spawn. Unlike salmon, which must mature at sea and require consistently cold water, steelhead are more adaptable ---- a trait that probably evolved in response to the seasonal vagaries of Southern California's streams.
When streams dry up in low-rainfall years, the fish thrive in freshwater pools, heading to the ocean when stream flow resumes. They can endure temperatures up to 80 degrees or so, said Paul Curtis, an aquaculture consultant to the conservancy ---- at least 10 degrees higher than salmon will tolerate.
Despite their ability to adjust to a shifting environment, the fish nearly vanished in the latter part of the last century. Scientists list their Southern California populations at fewer than 500 fish, said Penny Ruvelas, the Southern California office supervisor for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The conservancy proposes to help arrest that decline with a "rescue hatchery" on Escondido Creek, which would protect and breed some of the remaining fish stock for possible reintroduction to the creek or other regional waterways.
One day earlier this summer, sunlight played on the surface of the creek, between the shadows of overhanging oaks, while bluegill flitted through the water. Recent campaigns to eradicate a tangle of eucalyptus and restore native oaks, sycamore and willow have increased shade and improved habitat for egrets, herons, and kingfishers, said board member Leonard Wittwer.
"The creek runs all year, and there's nice pools," Curtis said. "There's quite a bit of coverage over the water. It looks very promising (for steelhead). From Escondido down to the ocean, the creek is incredibly pristine."
At a former quarry site on
Elfin Forest Road, a carved bowl of rock alongside the creek is a possible spot for the hatchery, which would include multiple tanks to separate adult and juvenile fish, and genetically distinct populations, conservancy officials said.
Biologists with the
National Marine Fisheries and the
Department of Fish and Game reviewed the hatchery proposal, and said it's worth considering, according to a joint 2010 letter from the agencies to the conservancy.
The agencies stressed, however, that it would depend on research confirming the historical status of steelhead in the creek, favorable temperature and water quality conditions, and further habitat restoration.
"A hatchery can help to preserve what you have, and help boost the populations," Ruvelas said. "But they need the habitat to live as well."
Curtis said the organization has been measuring temperatures over the summer, and will review those records and water quality reports from local water agencies to see whether the creek fits the steelhead's parameters.
Steve Barker, president of The Escondido Creek Conservancy,
and board member Leonard Wittwer
look at land off
Country Club Drive next to the creek,
where they hope a steelhead hatchery will be built
Barnard said the efforts could reinstate some of the wildness to a region that was once home to jaguars and grizzlies, adding that he hopes his grandchildren might someday be able to fish for steelhead.
"We didn't think anyone would support us bringing back the grizzly," he said. "So we chose the steelhead."
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