The clear lake hitch (CLH) is endemic to the clear lake watershed in lake county, CA and was listed as threatened under the california endangered species act in 2014

Cumulative impacts from human activity beginning in the 19TH century and continuing have greatly reduced the number of CLH. Changes in the hydrologic conditions have impacted tributary use for spawning. CLH are now faced with tributaries that dont retain water in the spawning season and have barriers to passage leading to a lack of stream spawning and stranding of both juvenile and adult CLH. On march 24, 2023, governor newsom signed the executive order n-5-23 directing the state water resources control board (water board) and the department of fish and wildlife to evaluate the minimum instream flows and other actions needed to protect clear lake hitch and to work with water users, tribes, and other parties on voluntary measures to implement those actions. The work proposed here would directly benefit CLH by utilizing recentinstream flow analysis to coordinate with on-going water right protest resolution to include conditions toprotect CLH in adobe creek and to identify the relationships between streamflow, habitat, and passage, andidentify flows needed to maintain fish passage in tributaries. Project coordination of various barrier removaltechnical implementation teams addressing known barriers and creating a planning document for barrier removaland or improvements will increase fish passage through clear lake tributaries and restore watershed function.gaps in data needed for CLH recovery will be addressed via participation in a data synthesis technical team.woody debris and refuse removal in the tributaries will improve passage for CLH. Research and monitoring datacollected on instream flow, passage, and CLH population dynamics and biology is vital for driving managementdecisions toward species recovery.