Lahontan Cutthroat Trout in the Upper Truckee River:
Restoration of a Threatened Species in a
Fluvial Headwater Environment
Project Area
Meiss Meadows
1988-1990: rotenone to remove brook trout
early 1990s: LCT re-introduced & brook trout found
mid 1990s: manual removal of brook trout in
upper 5 miles stream & 8 acres lake
2007-2009: no brook trout found, resting treatment
one of the only high meadow LCT populations
in Sierra Nevada
Expansion Area
2008 -2011: beginning of manual removal of brook trout in additional 10 miles stream
Future - 2023: continue implementation in streams and begin removal of brook trout in 85 acres of lake
N
Project Area Expansion Area
Meiss Meadows
Manual Removal Methods
• Late August thru October
• Delineated reaches by natural barriers
(low water barriers, falls, and beaver
dams)
• 3-pass depletion, on varying reach
lenght
• Species identified and measured to
size class
• Brook and Rainbow trout sacrificed
• Speckled dace returned to upstream
reach
• LCT returned upstream of Barrier
T1BA4 in RL trib and 36B in UTR;
sacrificed below due to hybridization
threats
0
10
20
30
40
12
3
# o
f fi
sh
Pass
Depletion B34-B33 (254 m) LCT
BKT
RBT
0
10
20
30
12
3
# o
f fi
sh
Pass
Depletion B37-B36A (307 m) LCT
BKT
SPD
3 Pass Depletion
Meiss Meadows
2009200720052003200119991997
YEAR
0
500
1000
1500
2000
NU
MB
ER
OF
FIS
H O
BS
ER
VE
D
Adult
Juveniles
Lahontan Cutthroat Trout CatchUpper Truckee River 1996 - 2009
LCT in Meiss Meadows 1996-2009
2009 2006 2003 2000 1997
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
5.5
6.5
7.5
8.5
9.5
10.5
11.5
Total Length (Inches)
0
50
100150
200
250
300
Fre
quen
cy
Brook TroutUpper Truckee River Electrofishing Catch 2009 - 1996
Brook Trout Catch in Meiss Meadows
1996-2009
Expansion Area
Accomplishment Summary
• 2008 • 0.8 miles treated
• 3 passes completed
• 230 brook trout removed
• 213 speckled dace sampled
• 194 LCT sampled
• 2009 • 1.1 miles treated
• 2-3 passes completed
• 100 brook trout removed
• 353 speckled dace sampled
• 369 LCT sampled
• 2010 • 5.8 miles treated
• 1-3 pass completed
• 9,252 brook trout removed
• 82 rainbow trout removed
• 211 speckled dace sampled
• 509 LCT sampled
Round Lake
2011
• 3.6 miles treated
• 1-3 passes completed
• 729 brook trout removed
• 27 rainbow trout removed
• 337 speckled dace sampled
• 820 LCT sampled
– 734 returned upstream of T1BA4 and 36B
– 86 removed below T1BA4 and 36B
Round Lake Round Lake Hybrids sampled in 2010 (thanks USFWS & M. Peacock!)
Upper Truckee River
0-5cm 5-10cm 10-15cm 15-20cm 20-25cm 25-30cm 30+cm
LCT 22 116 84 85 37 3 0
BKT 39 68 96 83 18 2 0
SPD 123 5 1 0 0 0 0
RBT 0 7 3 6 0 1 0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
# o
f fi
sh
Species
Rainbow trout
LCT
Speckled dace
Brook trout
N
Round Lake tributary
Round Lake
Species
Rainbow trout
LCT
Speckled dace
Brook trout
0-5cm 5-10cm10-
15cm15-
20cm20-
25cm25-
30cm30+cm
LCT 52 196 153 54 0 0 12
BKT 29 86 162 122 24 0 0
SPD 162 46 0 0 0 0 0
RBT 0 9 1 0 0 0 0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
# o
f fi
sh
•LCT had last been planted in Round Lake in 2008
•CDFG surveyed Round Lake in summer 2010, and found only LCT and dace
N
2011 Round Lake tributary
LCT
BKT
SPD
RBT
2011: TOTAL FISH = 1,193
2010 Round Lake tributary
brook trout
Lahontan cutthroattrout
rainbow trout
speckled dace
2011 UTR mainstem
LCT
BKT
SPD
RBT
Progress Reach B41-B41A = the most upstream reach in the Expansion Area
0123456789
10
BKT
Brook Trout B41-B41A
2008
2009
2010
2011
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
LCT B41-B41A
2008
2009
2010
2011
UTR Fish Assessment
• CTC, CalTrout, CDFG, UC Davis, City SLT
• Late July and August
• Survey mouth to headwaters of perennial
streams (where possible)
• 1 pass electro-shocking
• 100 meter reaches where possible
• Record species and size class
UTR Fish Assessment
Species Total
bluegill 44
brook trout 6
brown bullhead 9
brown trout 1954
Lahontan cutthroat trout 2
Lahontan redside shiner 108
mountain sucker 119
mountain whitefish 12
Paiute sculpin 1613
rainbow trout 971
speckled dace 7528
Tahoe sucker 118
unknown sucker 37
bluegill
brown bullhead
brown trout
Lahontan redside shiner
mountain sucker
Paiute sculpin
rainbow trout
speckled dace
Tahoe sucker
UTR Fish Assessment
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