46 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



iuial)le to survive. The salmon Avliicli went farthest upstream found water 

 which remained relatively eool all summer. In previous years, the salmon 

 wliich went beyond the town of Snellino' found water cool enough so that 

 the survival was high. Ilowevei-, in 1!I4!) tlie survival was poor except 

 among the relatively few fish whieh got as far as the Merced Irrigation 

 District dam about four miles upstream from Snelling. 



1950 started out to be a repetition of 1949 in that there was no water 

 available for salmon in the San Joa(|uin River, and in that the Bureau of 

 Marine Fisheries erected a diversionary net at the mouth of the Merced 

 River and started the run going up that stream. The course of events in 

 1950 was influenced by the outcome of a court trial in which the U. S. 

 Bureau of Reclamation w^as sued to compel them to allow a sufficient 

 flow of water to maintain the salmon runs in the San Joaciuin River below 

 P^'riant. Without going into the details of a very complex and confusing 

 trial, suffice it to say that the court arranged for the Bureau of Reclama- 

 tion to release a flow of 25 cubic feet of water per second which was to be 

 used by the Division of Fish and Game to get the salmon run upstream 

 through a series of irrigation canals. One of these canals (the Delta 

 Canal) crosses a body of water known as Salt Slough on a flume and 

 trestle. The desire of the court was for the Division of Fish and Game 

 to build a fish ladder at this point so that the salmon could climb from 

 Salt Slough into the Delta Canal at the point where the two crossed. Salt 

 Slough gathers a moderate flow of irrigation water from the farming land 

 in the vicinity of Los Banos. Eventually the slough flows into the San 

 Joa(|uin River a few miles above its junction with the Merced. The inten- 

 tion of the court was for a route to be ])r'epared by whicli the salmon could 

 swim up the San Joa(juin River into Salt Slough, up Salt Slongli to the 

 crossing of the Delta Canal through the fish ladder to be constructed by 

 the Division of Fish and Game and into the Delta Canal, up this canal 

 to its junction with the larger Arroyo Canal, and up the Arroyo Canal to 

 the point where it was diverted from the San -loacjuin River, thence up 

 the San Joaquin to the spawning grounds in the vicinity of Friant Dam. 

 ITnfortunately this court directive came too late to be effective as far as 

 the 1950 salmon run was concerned. The order was issued in mid-May. 

 Construction of a fish ladder of this height (12 feet) is a matter which 

 usually requires many months of red tape and construction time. On this 

 occasion the red tape was dispensed with in a matter of hours. Bids were 

 obtained, one was accepted, and the ladder was operating on June 16, 

 1950, about a month after the issuance of the court order. This was far 

 too late. To have been effective the ladder should have been in operating 

 condition about May 1st, a matter of several days before the court's 

 totally unexpected action. As it was, the bulk of the salmon run went up 

 the Merced River and only Sd fish availed themselves of the fish ladder 

 which was constructed for their use. By June 26th it was obvious that 

 the salmon run was over. Water temperatures in Salt Slough were so high 

 that there was no chance of any more fish getting upsteam to the ladder. 

 Hence, by agreement with the division, the Bureau of Reclamation 

 turned off the flow of water which was being used for these fish. The 

 spring run of 1950 was officially declared ended. 



The program for the construction of fish screens and ladders has 

 received tremendous impetus from additional funds made available 

 under the Wildlife Conservation Act. However, as in any other long 



