Two irrigation dams, one at the mouth of the canyon and one about 

 3 rniles above the mouth of the stream^ are located on Deer Creek, The 

 lower dam, belonging to the Stanford-Vina Irrigation Company, is equipped 

 vath fish ladders on both north and south sides. The upper damj, property 

 of the Deer Creek Irrigation Company^ is a collapsible structure^, and 

 although no fish ladder is present, it is not a barrier to salmon migra- 

 tion o 



The Deer Creek Fisheries Station is located about halfway between 

 the mouth of Deer Creek Canyon and Sacramento River. It consists of a 

 salmon-counting weir with supplementary towers, overhead cable, and 

 hoist, living quarters, and a combination garage=office building. Not 

 all of these units were available at the outset of this study but each 

 was constructed as its need became apparent and as funds became available. 



Deer Creek Program 



In the original spawning-bed surveys of 1939 and 19iiO (Hanson, SiTiith, 

 and Needhara, 19U0) , it was determined that Deer Creek, from its mouth to 

 the lower falls, had gravel areas sufficient to accommodate li,000 ssimon 

 nests, or ample space for a run of at least 8,000 fish. As a result of the 

 original surveys, it was estimated that at least 1^000 additional salmon 

 could be transferred to Deer Creek without causing crowded conditions 

 among the native population. Since Deer Creek had enough spawning area 

 to allow heavier utilization, and furthermore, since Deer Creek and 

 Battle Creek were the only streams in the entire area into which spring- 

 run salmon could be transferred successfully, it was decided that the 

 early portion of the spring run in the Sacramento River would be trans- 

 ferred to Deer Creek, 



It was necessary to determine, first of all, if transferred salmon 

 would suffer any ill effects from the long haul in trucks, and whether 

 transferred salmon would distribute themselves and spawn successfully 

 throughout the length of Deer Creek. To answer these questions, experi- 

 ments involving transfer of adult salmon into Deer Creek were conducted 

 in 19Ul« These experiments are described in detail by Needham, Hanson, 

 and Parker (19h3) and Parker and Hanson (19UU) . 



Observation of the utilization of spawning beds in the fall of 19hl 

 showed that an estimated 7,000 spring-run salmon used only two-thirds of 

 the available spawning gravel. Because the spav/ning area could be utilized 

 more extensively and the fish ladder around the lower falls would be com- 

 plete in 19h3, thus opening up several additional miles of stream, it was 

 decided that 10,000 salmon could be transferred from the Sacramento River 

 without causing overcrowding. This figure was then set as the maximum 

 allowable number of salmon to be transferred in any one year. 



No salmon were transferred in 19^2, Hauling continued in 19h3^ 19UU, 

 19h^s ^^'^ 19ii6j although the number actually transferred each year never 

 reached the allowable limit. 



