Science activity

The Sacramento River and its tributaries serve as critical habitat for the green sturgeon, listed as federally threatened due to its declining population and the impacts of anthropogenic activities such as dam operations and water extraction. We currently lack an understanding of the relationship between flow regimes and sturgeon migration, which is essential for developing effective management strategies to support the species' conservation and for required analysis under state and federal law. By modeling this relationship, this project will contribute to more informed water management, leading to fewer litigation risks for agencies and better outcomes for sturgeon.

This project will model the effects of flow regimes on adult Southern Distinct Population Segment (sDPS) green sturgeon migration within the Sacramento River basin to enhance sturgeon conservation and water management. Specifically, the research will model how flows and temperature affect adult green sturgeon spawning migration. The model will be used to forecast sturgeon movements under various flow scenarios, and the model, the results, and an explanation of their significance will be widely distributed via a website (with a publicly accessible modeling app), a policy brief, a public workshop, and other outreach.