Drought further endangers fish

Carson Odegard jumps off a rock ledge into Butte Creek, one of three tributaries of the Sacramento River where the state is monitoring the endangered spring-run Chinook salmon.

Fish culturalist Beau Hopkins moves eggs of winter-run Chinook salmon to a tray after counting them at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery, north of Redding, which each year traps up to 120 salmon in the Sacramento River to spawn them.

Fish culturalist Kaitlin Gooding counts winter-run Chinook salmon eggs at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery, which aims to maintain a genetically diverse population of wild winter-run, in deeper peril because of the drought.

Adult winter-run Chinook salmon swim in a tank at Livingstone. To counter the drought losses, the hatchery has ramped up production, spawning 300 adults this year.

Four years of drought have compounded the harm of dams and water diversions that long ago thwarted fish migration and destroyed habitat. Above, a boater along the receding shores of Lake Shasta near Redding.

For about 70 years, historic spawning grounds have been out of reach for salmon, blocked by the towering concrete face of Shasta Dam and its smaller sibling, Keswick Dam. Above, boaters and fisherman on a newly exposed peninsula jutting into Lake Shasta.

Docks at a marina in Lake Shasta have been moved farther and farther away from their shoreline resorts as the drought drags on. Less visible but more devastating is the damage to native fish that struggle for survival in even good weather.

A boater sends up a trail of water on Lake Shasta. Hot temperatures and dry weather is hurting California’s native fish species as much as its water supplies.