California’s Trinity River Hatchery awarded $65.9 M for Upgrades

Federal funds totaling $65.9 million have been awarded to modernize and repair the Trinity River Hatchery in Lewiston, Calif.

The award was announced by California Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman in early April.

The project is one of 83 projects in 11 states that was selected as part of a nearly $585 million investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve water conveyance and storage, increase safety, improve hydropower generation and provide water treatment.

The Trinity River Hatchery project entails installing a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system; replace corroded and leaking piping; install new filtration system and incubator jars; abate hazardous noise from hatchery operations; and replace deteriorated iron supports for 150 shallow troughs and 26 deep tanks.

Recovery of threatened coho and Chinook salmon depends on the work the Trinity River Hatchery is going and it’s important that the facility can run at top notch, Huffman said.

Fully operational fish hatcheries are a vital part of the local economy and ecosystems on California’s North Coast and after 60 years of use, most of the systems at the Trinity River Hatchery have outlived their usefulness and are in disrepair, he added.

“Modernization of Trinity River Hatchery is a huge boon for the steelhead, coho and Chinook raised there and will dramatically improve our operations at the facility,” said Charlton H Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who thanked the Biden administration and Huffman for the funding.

Source: https://fishermensnews.com/californias-trinity-river-hatchery-awarded-65-9-m-for-upgrades/