Francis Ford Coppola Estate Fish Passage Project
Bear Canyon Creek
Rutherford, California
The project was designed and constructed to allow steelhead passage through the 130 year old dam on the estate. As a result of the project, migrating salmonids can now access beautiful, cool, redwood tree shaded, spawning and rearing reaches of Bear Canyon Creek above the dam.
The project site before construction.
The pool just below the dam. The 32 inch pipe at the upstream end of the pool was 5 feet above the pool. This created a barrier to salmonids migrating upstream to reach prime spawning habitat.
A series of boulder cross channel structures were constructed to create step pools up to the pipe through the dam.
Vegetated boulder lifts were constructed to stabilize the eroding streambanks.
The pipe is now below the water surface elevation allowing fish passage through the dam and further upstream to prime spawning habitat.
The project site one year after construction.