Archive for the ‘Coho Salmon’ tag
On the Road……Meadow Club, Fairfax
Show on mapI live in a region with a drought prone mediterranean climate and so expressing one’s feelings about the rain (its frequency and abundance) is a local past-time and, I think, a reflection of becoming a true inhabitant of this dynamic ecological assemblage.
I love the rain — especially late season March/April rains, but it also reduces my riding (above is a fair weather picture from a mid-month ride).
And despite many rumors to the contrary, rainfall this year is just “average”. But “average” = “great” because now our reservoirs are finally full.
Stats from MMWD’s website:
Average year-to-date rainfall (inches): 46.3
Actual year-to-date rainfall (inches): 45.1
Current, reservoir storage (% of capacity): 99
Same time last year, reservoir storage (% of capacity): 84
Now we need to hope plans to restore native Coho salmon populations will soon start paying off.
On the Road……Lagunitas Bike Path, Coho Crossing
Here’s a ‘salmon crossing’ sign along Lagunitas Creek. The creek meanders its way along the bike path shown here and out Tomales Bay to the Pacific Ocean. The watershed is home to the largest remaining population of endangered Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) on the central California coast. The fish spend 1-1/2 years out in the ocean growing to about 2 feet in length before returning to fresh water to spawn. I’ve done some work in the past for a local non-profit that’s trying to maintain what’s left of this population (the group is aptly named: SPAWN). There are salmon in other Marin creeks (such as in Redwood Creek in Muir Woods), but these arrive via San Francisco Bay (passing under the Golden Gate Bridge) rather than via Tomales Bay.
