The Sacramento Region Water Forum, the Sacramento County Regional Parks and the California Resources Agency will be working with other partners to begin work next week on a project that will enhance the steelhead spawning habitat in the Lower American River. The project will help minimize steelhead egg nest standing by deepening a side channel that is about 1/2 a mile down from the Sunrise Avenue Bridge. Excavating, re-contouring and relocating gravel will help allow water and steelhead to move more efficiently through the area.

The Sunrise Side Channel has supported up to 10% of the total spawning habitat for wild steelhead in the Lower American River. The site commonly suffers from under watering when the flows from Nimbus or Folsom Dam are reduced. Most steelhead spawn from December to March, so the timing of the project will work well with this years spawning.

Signs describing the spawning and life cycle of the steelhead will be installed where boaters, anglers, bicyclists and pedestrians can see them.

The project is scheduled to begin the first week of October and should be completed by the end of the month. Because crews will be working on the side channel, access in this area will be closed to the public for safety reasons. The project can be viewed from the Sacramento Bar on the North side of the River, or upstream from the Jim Jones footbridge.