PAGE SIX more Pacific Lamprey redds were observed in 2025 (818) compared to 2024 (632). Staff continued to work with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on field studies to develop a steelhead population life history model for the watershed. This effort includes tagging fish from the fall population surveys, weir operations, and rescues. These tags are then read by tag detection stations (arrays) at various locations along the Carmel River. Fall population densities trended below average this season and 777 fish were implanted with PIT tags to support these studies and help elucidate long-term trends on steelhead survival. In addition, staff continued long-term efforts to monitor water quality conditions and fish passage in the Carmel River Basin to assess impacts to habitat from municipal and private pumping along the Carmel River. In late fall, District crews carried out the Vegetation Management Program in the active channel of the Carmel River to prevent debris dams and erosion. This work is carried out with a Regional General Permit from the Army Corps of Engineers and a Routine Maintenance Agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Vegetation Management includes trimming encroaching vegetation and reducing the hazard posed by downed trees by cutting them into smaller sections in preparation for winter flows. Trash and plastic were also removed from the river’s active channel before winter rains washed them into the ocean. In 2025, the District successfully implemented programs to preserve the ecological integrity of the Carmel River by mitigating impacts from water extraction for the community’s water supply. They included the Mitigation Program required by the 1990 Water Allocation Environmental Impact Report, the 2006 Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Phase 1 Environmental Impact Report, and subsequent water rights for ASR diversions. The program comprises river restoration activities, monitoring, and rescuing threatened steelhead from drying sections of the Carmel River and its tributaries. This comprehensive program tracks changes in the riparian corridor, steelhead population, groundwater depth, river flow, and the lagoon environment. The District continued to monitor dry-back conditions due to impacts from groundwater withdrawal and successfully rescued 7,468 juvenile steelhead from the Carmel River Basin in 2025. Fish were released this season in a variety of locations to track which produces the best adult return rates from the ocean. These release areas included the lagoon, the Carmel River waters that flow year-round, and the Sleepy Hollow Steelhead Rearing Facility. There were 2,379 fish implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags to track their migration and survival rates. These data are used as performance indicators of the Mitigation Program. As part of the steelhead monitoring program, staff installed a resistance board weir (adult steelhead counting station) in the lower river in late February. The weir operated 62% of the time while the fish were migrating. Staff counted 79 adult steelhead during this timeframe. Staff also conducted surveys of redds (steelhead nests). During the 2025 season, 145 steelhead redds, 7 spawning pairs, 14 single adults, and 3 carcasses were observed between the Highway 1 Bridge and Los Padres Dam in the Carmel River. An additional 16 redds were observed upstream of Los Padres Reservoir, and one redd was observed in Garzas Creek. Pacific Lampreys are currently experiencing a comeback. After being absent from upper Carmel River for over 100 years due to the San Clemente Dam (built in 1921), they returned to the area almost immediately following the dam’s removal in November 2015. Approximately 29% Carmel River Environmental Stewardship Steelhead Rearing Channels
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