46 If'ISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



unable to survive. The salmon which went farthest upstream found water 

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

 which went beyond the town of Snelling found water cool enough so that 

 the survival was high. However, in 1949 the survival was poor except 

 among the relatively few fish Avhich 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 Joaquin 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 was sued to compel them to allow a sufficient 

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

 Friant. 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 

 Joaquin River a few miles above its junction with the Merced. The inten- 

 tion of the court was for a route to be prepared by which the salmon could 

 swim up the San Joaquin River into Salt Slough, up Salt Slough 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 Joaquin River, thence up 

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

 T^nfortunately 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 liave been effective the ladder should have been in operating 

 condilioii 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 36 fish availed themselves of the fish ladder 

 whiili was constructed foi- their use. By June 26th it was obvious that 

 the salmon run was over. AYater 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 floAv of water \\ liidi was being used for these fish. The 

 spring run of 1950 was officially declared ended. 



The program for tlie cf)nsti-uctioii of fish screens and ladders has 

 received tremendous impetus IVoiii jidditional funds made available 

 under tlic WiMlitc Conservation Act. However, as in any other long 



