SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – One year after a long-awaited conservation project to expand the habitat for an endangered salmon species in the Santa Cruz Mountains was first implemented, there are signs it's already paying off.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
For over 100 years, Mill Creek – which flows through the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Davenport – was blocked up by a dam, preventing fish from passing through and disrupting the local environment.
However, nearly one year ago, environmentalists with Sempervirens Fund, a conservation group dedicated to protecting the Santa Cruz Mountains' ecosystem, finally managed to tear down the dam, with a goal of once again allowing the free flow of water and fish.
"So one year passed, we already started to see a huge amounts of benefits down stream and at the site itself," Ian Rowbotham, Land Stewardship Manager with Sempervirens Fund, told KCBS Radio. "The area is really transformed. All sorts of new native plant species are popping up."
He said that, most importantly, a recent survey found that the endangered Coho salmon species has returned to the creek.
California's salmon population has been struggling for years due to climate change and Rowbotham said these gains are a heartening win.
"Protecting and continuing to preserve this stronghold in the watershed is vital to help try to combat the impacts of climate change on what is a really sensitive species," he said. "It's a good indicator of the health of the stream, which has been really building up, even just this first year following removal."
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