Water district receives funding to monitor and improve fish habitats

MARIN COUNTY, Calif. -- The Marin Municipal Water District has secured more than $830,000 in funding to improve fish habitat and monitor population status in Lagunitas Creek and other coastal streams in the region, district officials said Friday.

The funding came by way of two grants from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Restoration Grants Program.

The projects will focus on increasing winter habitat carrying capacity and life cycle monitoring for coho salmon and steelhead trout, according to district officials.

The coho salmon and steelhead trout are two federally recognized endangered species.

The Lagunitas Creek Winter Habitat Enhancement Implementation - Phase II project received $724,913 to support the construction of large, engineered log structures that will improve winter habitat for the endangered fish, district officials said.

The enhancements will provide fish with areas to ride out storms in floodplains and backwater habitat where the water flow is not as fast as in other parts of the stream, according to district officials.

The Lagunitas Creek Coastal Monitoring Plan Salmon Lifecycle Monitoring - Phase II project received $105,913 to support monitoring coho salmon in the Lagunitas Creek watershed.

The lifecycle monitoring project will also evaluate populations of coho and steelhead salmon between the Russian River and Golden Gate including Salmon, Walker, Lagunitas, Pine Gulch and Redwood Creeks, district officials said.