The lack of fall and winter rain around the San Francisco Bay Area has been well documented mostly due to the significant impact and devastation that the lower water levels could have on wine country grape crops were late winter and early spring frosts to warrant having the water on hand for protection. The dry conditions have also been a potentially devastating threat to the local salmon in the area as well, though that fact has not received the same level of media coverage since the economic impact is negligible – bar the environmental impact, compared to the wine revenues.
The rivers and creeks that flow through Muir Woods and the surrounding areas on their way to the Pacific Ocean have slowed to a trickle and no longer connect with the ocean. The significance of this is that the local salmon have been cut-off from the creeks, streams, and rivers which they must navigate from the Pacific in order to return to the place of their birth, in order to spawn themselves. They will only return to their place of origin, and if the rivers don’t’ flow heavily enough to connect with the ocean they will not chose another location, but rather wait offshore indefinitely.
The recent rain around the San Francisco Bay Area has certainly been a welcomed sight, but for the salmon, that might not have been enough, or have simply come too late. The rains have in-fact lifted the creeks, streams and rivers in Marin County and those in the Muir Woods which have traditionally heavy with salmon. Coho salmon levels are at their lowest in the fifteen years that such records began. There was great hope that after the recent rain there would be evidence of a lot of coho activity, but unfortunately this has not been the case, and now the spawning season is effectively over for the year. The most devastating news has come from Muir Woods where the salmon activity in the rivers and creeks is a big draw for visitors on Muir Woods tours. There, for the second straight year, no coho salmon have been witnessed. The problem is that these salmon have a three year life cycle, and a two year failure to spawn dramatically reduces the chances of future generations materializing.
