Southern
Steelhead Recovery Efforts 2015
By Debbie Sharpton,
Conservation VP
Southwest Council
Federation of Fly Fishers
The recent Steelhead Summit in Ventura
provided some pretty sombering news - fish counts of adults entering
streams to spawn in the area no way support the continuing use of
the fact there are 500 adults in existence. This year there were
only 5 that entered Malibu Creek to spawn, a stream with a decent
sized lagoon to transition from the salt water to fresh.
Recent efforts to recover the southern
steelhead from the brink of extinction include the removal of Rindge
Dam on Malibu Creek. California State Parks owns the land and the
dam, and have been working with stakeholders for many years to get it
torn down, opening up many miles of spawning and rearing habitat for
the steelhead.
Debbie Sharpton, Conservation VP for
the SWC-IFFF, is also the executive director of Mountains Restoration
Trust, a public benefit land trust in the Santa Monica Mountains
(MRT). A South Bay native, Debbie’s career in the land development
and preservation industry began over 30 years ago with master planned
communities, transitioning into preservation in the late 1980’s.
Since 2001 Debbie has worked for MRT spearheading stream restoration,
water quality, habitat and aquatic invasive species projects in the
Santa Monica and Los Angeles River watersheds. A stakeholder in the
steelhead recovery project, Debbie will give an informational
presentation, courtesy of CA State Parks, on the Rindge Dam removal
project.
Come join us at 7pm for this informative program on Steelhead recovery in Southern California!
