Spawning Chinook salmon return to Sonoma Creek in wake of recent storms

Martin Espinoza, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Copious early rainfall and efforts aimed at restoring local salmon and steelhead trout habitat have made such scenes possible, local ecologists say.

A female Chinook salmon swam steadily against the current in a shallow section of Sonoma Creek as several male fish splashed about behind her, jockeying for position, waiting for her to lay her eggs.

Just a few yards downstream on Wednesday, near the bank of the creek, another female rolled onto her side and smacked the gravel and rocks with her tail, doing her part to dig a “redd” or nest as the current flushed away silt and sediment that can be harmful to egg development.

This spawning scene for Chinook, or king salmon, in the headwaters of Sonoma Creek within Sugarloaf Ridge State Park is an uncommon sight for most local residents.

But since late November, hundreds of Chinook have traveled up the watershed from San Pablo Bay and been spotted in numerous tributaries that drain Sonoma Valley and its surrounding elevations.

Heavy rains in November and December have created ideal stream flows that have allowed spawning salmon to make their way into the region’s headwaters, said Steven Lee, research program manager of the Sonoma Ecology Center, which monitors the health of the Sonoma Creek watershed.