The winter-run Chinook salmon are in danger of disappearing. Less than 2,000 fish are making the journey each winter from the San Francisco Bay to the upper channels of the Sacramento River. In the mid-1970s, those numbers totaled more than 25,000.
Before dams and levees were built for flood control and irrigation in the 1900s, salmon utilized the floodplains covering the Central Valley floor for food. Since then, the fish have been cut off from the floodplains; their primary food source.
Our Fish Food program is helping to reconnect these struggling fish populations to farm fields, where food can be grown in abundance and help these young fish get the nutrition and nourishment they need for a successful journey to the Pacific Ocean.
River Garden Farms works with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and California Trout to flood rice fields during the winter months and grow food for at-risk fish populations.
Simply put – more food leads to more fish! With the continued success of programs like these, we can do our part in bringing back the historic floodplain and all of its wildlife.