This is a cooperative effort between reclamation, cdfw, and the university of california, davis (UC davis) that would be conducted under the cooperative ecosystem studies unit program

This Cooperative Agreement awarded by the Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation under the Central Valley Improvement Act, Title XXXIV (CFDA 15.512) provides $581,433 to the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) from July 18, 2023 to August 31, 2026. The purpose is to benefit the public through the conservation and recovery of the federally-listed steelhead trout species in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds.

The project will leverage UC Davis' research expertise in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and Bureau of Reclamation to reconstruct steelhead life history metrics, including age structure, growth rates, and migratory behavior in response to hydrological conditions. This will improve scientific understanding and management of this public natural resource. The study contributes to UC Davis' mission of training the next generation of scientists in this field.

This agreement will benefit the public in the conservation and recovery of a federally listed species (steelhead) in the sacramento- and SAN joaquin rivers and their associated tributaries. The activity furthers the mission of UC davis by helping to train the next generation of scientists who will work to help improve scientific understanding and science-based management of public resources. In this project we combine the unique strength of the UC davis research team with the expertise of partnering agencies (cdfw, reclamation) to highlight the utility of otolith-based tools to reconstruct key life history metrics that are needed to better understand steelhead demographicsobjectives: reconstruct age structure and inter-annual growth of adult CVS from key sacramento- and SAN joaquin river watersheds.reconstructing habitat specific juvenile growth rates for CVS.identifying variability in migratory behavior among CVS populations in response to hydroclimatic conditions. The public will benefit because the study will focus on the preservation of this fish species.