Mark Capelli, Southern Steelhead Recovery Coordinator for NOAA Fisheries, reports on the importance of the Arroyo Seco in Los Angeles County for steelhead recovery. Here are some of the major points he discusses in his presentation to students at UC Berkeley.

• The Arroyo Seco is the key steelhead recovery watershed in the Los Angeles River system.

• It still has significant habitat potential: about 45 square miles of watershed, 96 stream miles, and 22.8 miles of intrinsic potential habitat.

• The Upper Arroyo Seco remains especially important because upper watershed areas can provide the more natural habitat and refuge conditions steelhead need.

• The Arroyo’s recovery potential is being blocked by major barriers and impacts, especially Brown Mountain Dam, flood-control infrastructure, levees/channelization, and urban development.

• Restoring the Arroyo Seco is an important step to support the broader goal of recovering the endangered Southern California steelhead and reducing extinction risk over the long term.

• The slideshow points to the kinds of actions needed in watersheds like the Arroyo: fish passage, flow management, flood-control reform, riparian restoration, sediment management, and non-native species control.

• The big message is simple: the Arroyo Seco is not just a local stream — it is a major regional opportunity for ecological recovery and steelhead recovery.

View the Slides

Stewards of the Arroyo Seco | stewards@arroyoseco.org