30 FISH AND GAilK COMMISSION 



On March 2d an exceptionally heavy storm in southern California 

 caused the nearly total destruction of the Forest Home Hatchery. This 

 included the total loss of two dwelling houses, the garage and tool 

 room, the food preparation house, two small storage buildings and an 

 open shed which was used for storage of certain heavy equipment. As 

 the culmination of a succession of heavy rain storms and a final series 

 of cloudbursts Mill Creek, upon which the hatchery was situated, rose 

 to such heights that it spread across the entire valley floor and moved 

 great volumes of boulders and gravel. Even small streams such as 

 Lost Man Creek just above the hatchery carried so heavy a load of 

 gravel that it covered the grounds at the Torrey Resort to a depth 

 of many feet. 



The loss of the buildings and the destruction of the hatchery was 

 a progressive aifair and Mr. Clanton, the superintendent, and his crew 

 apparently made every effort to protect the State property and save 

 the hatchery, even at considerable risk to their own persons. There 

 were five families resident on the property and the women and children 

 were taken to Mr. Clanton 's house early during the first day. It is 

 very fortunate, indeed, that no lives were lost. While the men were 

 working in an attempt to save the houses and protect the ponds, Mrs. 

 Clanton removed most of the automotive equipment to the ground 

 surrounding her house and to the highest point of land accessible on 

 the Torrey property. It is probably due to her efforts that all of the 

 trucks and other cars were saved. 



The ponds were almost completely obliterated and in some places 

 covered with many feet of heavy boulders and gravel. The hatchery 

 building was damaged and the lower floor was also partly filled with 

 boulders. Mr. Clanton 's house was undamaged and served as a refuge 

 for the crew after the other buildings had been destroyed. The 

 bachelor quarters also remained undamaged but is not used as it is 

 still in a dangerous situation due to the change in the creek bed which 

 now flows through a portion of the hatchery grounds. 



At the close of the biennium plans were being formulated for 

 replacement of the Cold Creek and Forest Home hatcheries. Delay 

 was unavoidable due to the difficulty of finding satisfactory sites in 

 both of the areas to be served by the new hatcheries. 



In southern California these requirements are particularly dif- 

 ficult to meet. In that area it has been the practice to rear approxi- 

 mately 400,000 fish each year to a catchable size before planting. In 

 order to obtain satisfactory growth during the winter months a supply 

 of spring water is essential. Since the old site in Mill Creek was so 

 altered that it would be practically impossible to bring the spring 

 water to a point where it could be used, an entirely new site is being 

 sought. 



The water supply at the Cold Creek Hatchery was very unsatis- 

 factory due to pollution and a new site is also under consideration in 

 that area. It is hoped that a large enough supply of water can be 

 found so that the present Fort Seward Hatchery can be dismantled and 

 its operations combined witli the new hatchery. The Fort Seward 

 Hatchery was located many years a*'o when the only transportation 

 was by rail and it was designed to produce small fish for planting 

 very early in the season. By July the water temperatures become 

 extremelv high and the flow beeomes insufficient for satisfactory opera- 



