One of the many things I learned by doing during my summer internship with California Trout was how to remove fish from construction sites. Why remove fish? Sometimes, during construction, crews must remove water from a creek, a process known as dewatering, to be able to work in it. To ensure fish are not harmed during this process, they are relocated to another part of the stream. I was excited to pitch in to this process but had no idea what to expect as I drove out to the Scott River project site … where CalTrout planned to replace a culvert and concrete spillway with a run-of-river bridge. The restoration project aims to open up the cold water of the tributary to juvenile coho salmon, a fish native to Northern California and threatened by agriculture, dam infrastructure, and rising temperatures.

Related articles: 

• Voice of Orange County: Santiago Creek – Saving one of Orange County’s longest natural waterways
• Episode 5: What Water Wants, with Erica Gies and Nick Bouwes