Trout make way through Mill Creek for first time in 100 years
LOS ALTOS, Calif. (KION-TV)- A year after the Mill Creek Dam was taken down, an endangered coho salmon species was documented in Mill Creek and two steelhead trout swam through the former dam site, according to the Sempervirens Fund.
On October 4th 2021, the Mill Creek Dam was removed. Suddenly, the water was free to flow through the watershed, join with San Vicente Creek, and improve crucial habitat for the redwood forest’s aquatic inhabitants and visitors again. A decade of restoration efforts went into preparing for the dam’s removal, but taking the dam itself down and reshaping the creek happened in nearly the blink of an eye compared to the 100 years the purposeless dam blocked the movement of water and aquatic life alike.
Sempervirens Fund
The 1st endangered coho salmon was documented in Mill Creek! And 2 threatened steelhead trout made their way above the former dam site for the first time in 100 years! Read the story: https://t.co/DKxwTVfh7M
— Sempervirens Fund (@SempervirensFnd) October 5, 2022
#SantaCruzMountains #CohoSalmon #SteelheadTrout #MillCreek #Restoration pic.twitter.com/WjaH8G0pzD
Removing the dam and restoring the San Vicente watershed have proved instrumental in restoring habitats for wildlife. Coho salmon have even started to return, said the Sempervirens Fund.
