Resource Conservation District works to improve conditions for steelhead

The county Resource Conservation District has released a management plan designed to improve our understanding of steelhead populations and recommend ways to reduce our consumption of water and remove barriers to fish migration.

Gilbert Gossett remembers watching the hundreds of silvery steelhead trout traveling up Apanolio Creek in the early 1970s, passing through a culvert near his home.

"You couldn’t walk 20 or 30 feet in the creek without running into a school of fingerlings," he recalls.

In those days, Apanolio Creek ran strongly. Fishermen downstream caught healthy, 8- to-10-inch steelhead, and Gossett’s culvert sat flush against the stream bed, with plenty of room for thefish to jump up and follow the creek to their primordial spawning grounds.

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Whether in the form of dams — some of which date back to the 1800s — or culverts, fish barriers are common on the San Mateo County coast. Apanolio Creek contains three culverts alone. Although they each pose problems for fish, the third and final one — near Gossett’s home — is the definitive barrier.

Julia Scott has a must-read story in the County Times on the district’s work to help salmon populations.  The two remaining culverts on Apanolio Creek are at the top of the list for removal.