Wildcat Creek Water Quality Monitoring

Volunteer at info@johnmuirtu.org

What we are doing…

Significant work is being conducted in Wildcat Creek to reconnect the watershed so as to facilitate steelhead and salmon passage between San Francisco Bay and the headwaters of Wildcat Creek in Tilden Park. For these efforts to be successful, there must be suitable spawning and rearing habitat in Wildcat Creek.

The goal of the project is to characterize the fisheries habitat in Upper Wildcat Creek and identify potential areas of restoration to improve that habitat if necessary.

The objectives of the project are:

• Build on the monitoring work conducted by The Watershed Project in lower Wildcat Creek to create a whole-watershed water quality baseline, and create a sustainable monitoring program to identify trends that will help guide future restoration efforts.

• Characterize the water quality and habitat conditions in the upper watershed where there is a resident population of rainbow trout, and where these trout can spawn and rear, and also for the potential population of steelhead trout this is envisioned as fish passage barriers in the watershed are mitigated.

• Identify habitat needs that are not currently served, especially in light of climate change, and plan climate resiliant restoration of habitat (riparian vegetation, woody debris, refugio pools, etc) needed to sustain and grow the native trout population.

• Identify sources of water quality impairment (eg, stormwater runoff) that need to be mitigated.

The study is a collaborative effort with the East Bay Regional Park District and The Watershed Project (TWP) which has conducted water quality monitoring at 4 stations in the lower portion of the watershed between Verde School and Alvarado Park. Trout Unlimited and TWP has applied for and receive approval of a research proposal from the EBRPD that extends from May 2023 to May 2026. Staff from The Watershed Project are providing training to TU volunteers along with expertise in data management. Monitoring commenced in September 2023.

The purpose of this study is to obtain data on the cyclical nature of Wildcat Creek hydrology and water quality throughout the watershed. We would apply the study findings to better understand the habitat conditions (with respect to the spawning and rearing seasons) that native and anadromous fish would experience in this era of global warming and drought.

By habitat, we mean the annual variation in physical, chemical and biological conditions that affect habitat quality:

• Physical: Flow, water depth, substrate

• Chemical: Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, conductivity, turbidity

• Biological: Food (aquatic/terrestrial insects), Shelter to protect from predation

The focus of the study will be on the physical and chemical aspects, and although conditions throughout the year are important, there is particular interest in the suitability of the rearing habitat during the dry season, and especially the refugia pools that characterize the headwaters in Wildcat Creek.

In addition to the spot measurements of water quality, conducted with standard portable field test equipment (eg. YSI proDSS), the monitoring will include continuous dissolved oxygen and temperature monitoring using Hobo DO/temperature sensors and dataloggers. Sampling is being conducted at 8 stations, with 5 stations in Tilden Park and 3 stations in Wildcat Canyon.

All data will be submitted into the State of California CEDEN program and also will be shared with the EBRPD. A final report will be provided to the EBRPD containing all the data and interpretive text.