Flooded rice field is tested as salmon nursery in Yolo Bypass

From a nutrition management standpoint for the rice it might be tricky.   I know nothing about rice but I would expect nitrogen loss to denitrification and leaching.  Phosphorus could be lost with the added water too.   It would be interesting to know how they manage the nutrition.   These fields are used for flood control anyway, right?   That being the case would mean the grower is used to dealing with losses already.   


Eric Morgan
Trident Ultra 4.7
Not the guy selling the Outback
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I was thinking about this after reading the preliminary report. Could the nutrient leaching possibly be offset by the smelts waste stimulating microbes that break down organic matter thereby making nutrients readily available to future crops?

To answer the question we would need to know how much smelt poop we could expect and what the analysis of the smelt poop is.   I do think it would add some organic matter but probably nothing measurable.   To raise the organic matter 1% in the top acre foot of soil would require an addition of 40,000 pounds per acre of an organic amendment.   Like I said,  I have no knowledge of rice, only veggies.  They already deal with nutrition in very wet environments.   I would be curious to see what the anaerobic effects would be on the soil with extended saturation.

As far as the pesticides go some are very toxic to fish, many are not.   Pyrethroids are very toxic to fish  but I'm unsure how much they are used on rice, probably very little.  If I had to think about rice farming (now for the first time) I'm sure they flood the fields and then drain off the water for harvest at a later time.   If that is the case and the water moves to waterbodies that have fish and wildlife, the State and Federal regulators would factor in the fate of the residual pesticides that would be discharged into that aquatic environment.

Polepole's question on the residual nutrition will more than likely be factored into the evaluation.  Soil analysis before the introduction of the smelt could be used to determine if there is excess nutrient present in the first place.   Using the soil analysis and the volume of water expected to be introduced and its refresh rate, scientists could approximate the concentrations of nutrients that would have an impact on the smelt.  I love this stuff!  I started off in school studying wildlife management and finished in crops.  It is fun to combine the two.

Here is the last year's preliminary report.
There were lots of Heron & Egret last year but we had 58% of fish existed the rice field (considering we might lost some fish due to the levee breach), so it was pretty good.
Fish definitely grew & got fat!!!

Thanks for posting the link, I have a similar flyer from this project but couldn't figure out how to post it.

How do the farmers feel about this??? Seems like a good solution... Amazing growth!!! If they flood the field anyway. Could work out for all

These farmers got involved because Bay Delta Conservation Plan wants the low lying fields inside the bypass to converted from farm ground to habitat or pasture.  The farmers wanted to prove the flooded rice fields would have similar results as flooded pasture or habitat.  There is a lot more value for the local economy if the ground is still capable of being farmed.

How do you launch a yak in a rice paddy?   

Those flood waters carry silt and nutrients... That is why those areas are good for rice... Win win if both sides can live with each other

  What happens when the salmon return to spawn?
 

probably run up to the hatcheries they were spawned at... AR/SAC/Feather.  Droping the fry into yolo.. they imprint on hatch waters if i'm not wrong

I'll take the... I dont trust them route.

I think it's a plan that would show that the " Salmon" do not need the water from/in/ around the Delta to survive, and that the canal sending water to a desert  and draining the Delta is a " Good Idea" .

 I'm calling scam. right here, right now.   Cent. Cal  Ag is getting their Delta water ... one way or another.

probably run up to the hatcheries they were spawned at... AR/SAC/Feather.  Droping the fry into yolo.. they imprint on hatch waters if i'm not wrong

Pretty sure you are right on with that. 

I'll take the... I dont trust them route.

I think it's a plan that would show that the " Salmon" do not need the water from/in/ around the Delta to survive, and that the canal sending water to a desert  and draining the Delta is a " Good Idea" .

 I'm calling scam. right here, right now.   Cent. Cal  Ag is getting their Delta water ... one way or another.

It is terrible that we are in some ways "forced" to think this way, perhaps if we knew where the funding for the experiment was coming from?

I'll take the... I dont trust them route.

I think it's a plan that would show that the " Salmon" do not need the water from/in/ around the Delta to survive, and that the canal sending water to a desert  and draining the Delta is a " Good Idea" .

 I'm calling scam. right here, right now.   Cent. Cal  Ag is getting their Delta water ... one way or another.

Huh what?  Doesn't this show that the salmon need the water and the habitat?

-Allen

Sorry for the late response...

I just wanna to let you guys know that this project is only for study purposes right now.  We are trying to get some baseline information for others to use for the future restoration ( I must say some medias are advertising more than it is).
We trucked the salmon fry from the Feather River Hatchery and the fish are in the rice pond for only six weeks.  University folks are looking into everything including contaminants and physical abnormality; however, we are not expecting to see too many issues since the fish didn’t incubate in the pond and they’re there for only a short period of time.  We know that mercury is high in the bypass, but it shouldn’t be a problem since these salmon are not harvest-able at this size (DFW reg.) and the half life of mercury is usually about a few month.
Historically, salmon use the bypass when a flood event happens, so this is not an abnormal thing, but we are experimenting it in a more controlled environment to see how much difference in their growth & survival if they can access to the bypass (we released the same # of fish in Tule canal on the Yolo Bypass & the mainstem Sacramento River).  Due to very high nutrients in the bypass and shallowness of the water, we are observing very high levels of phytoplankton, which triggers the production of enormous amounts of zooplankton that salmon fry eat. We Coded Wire Tagged all the fish, so if they end up back in the Feather river hatchery to spawn, we will know more.
The rice farmers are helping us and hoping to see the fish get the same types of benefits that waterfowl do during their off season.
Here is the cool pic & youtube vid our colleague in UC Davis took one evening at there.  Look at little fatty salmon are leaping out of the water to try to eat the midges, SO COOL!!!

Thanks for the info Naoaki.

Found some info. 

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:FVUvN6ua_sEJ:www.usbr.gov/mp/BayDeltaOffice/docs/Yolo_Bypass_Salmonid_Habitat_Restoration_and_Fish_Passage_Implementation_Plan.pdf+yolo+bypass+salmon+servey&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi_SLwbQH_IjlDKZ6Y721srS64kYmjda0Ciz_OvVxSZqu9z1jvRr-Zm9ewu3p_e3c_dN19_fiR3Rv4AgOXqoiHcYpQUk2c0JK5tRq-nfQAjDvC0dSFFZwddfdh9fcLNXG7TwUZu&sig=AHIEtbRlBSO5kNblzTESoBicbpejWJ0IaA



http://www.water.ca.gov/environmentalservices/yolo_bypass_salmonid.cfm

http://californiawaterblog.com/2013/05/09/a-sweet-spot-for-farms-and-fish-on-a-floodplain/


http://caltrout.org/initiatives/steelhead-salmon/knaggs-ranch-agricultural-floodplain-study/