SCOTT VALLEY, Calif. — A once-constrained stretch of the South Fork Scott River is on the brink of a major ecological comeback, thanks to a collaborative restoration effort transforming it into a vital nursery for threatened salmon and trout.

CalTrout’s nearly finished project reconnects the Klamath River tributary to its historic floodplain for the first time in over a century, creating critical spawning and rearing habitat for coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout—species central to the region’s ecosystems, cultures, and economies.

“The tribal communities depend on salmon, and a lot of our salmon runs have been lost,” said Toz Soto, Fisheries Program Manager for the Karuk Tribe. “There’s no natural recovery for mining impacts… we’re going to need heavy equipment to fix it.”

Repairing Legacy Damage

Years of gold mining left deep scars on the Scott River, disconnecting it from its floodplain and turning its flow into what Preston Harris, Executive Director of the Scott River Water Trust, described as a “bowling lane where flow came crashing down at high velocities.”

With its channel narrowed and confined, young salmon had little room to grow, rest, or feed. “There’s not a lot of space for fish to move into at higher flows,” said CalTrout project manager Dustin Revel. To change that, the project team turned to nature-based engineering.

Working with local landowners, engineers, Tribal communities, and agency partners, crews reshaped the stream using locally sourced trees and boulders placed perpendicular to the flow. This “roughening” slows water, spreads energy, and traps sediment, naturally rebuilding the riverbed to reconnect with the surrounding floodplain.

“Now we have a more complex flow field,” explained Joey Howard, Principal Engineer at Cascade Stream Solutions. “Water can move around, plunge down, and create pockets where you have spawning-sized gravels.”

Early signs are promising: David Johnson, Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, confirmed in June that “coho were found rearing in many, if not all, of the pools we’ve created.”

More Than Fish

The river’s revival extends well beyond salmon. For the Shasta, Quartz Valley, Karuk, and Yurok Tribes, healthy runs are integral to cultural identity and food sovereignty. “Opportunities to catch salmon have been greatly diminished,” Soto emphasized.

Local agricultural communities also rely on the Scott River for irrigation, linking farmers’ livelihoods with healthy waterways. And healthy salmon runs sustain rural economies—from guiding and gear sales to eco-tourism.

“Whether you care about fishing, local farms, or healthy rivers—this is what it’s all about,” said Tully Doyle, Scott River Water Trust project coordinator.

A Ripple Effect for the Watershed

Restoring the river’s connection to its floodplain helps recharge aquifers, cools the landscape, and boosts biodiversity. “Watersheds don’t follow property lines,” said Revel. “The water from the South Fork flows through public and private lands, spreading the benefits far downstream.”

These benefits can’t happen without strong, sustained financial backing. CalTrout credits its success to donors and public partners including the Bureau of Reclamation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and many others.

“Funders may never come here, but they’ve helped contribute to supporting populations of aquatic organisms,” said Howard. For Johnson, seeing coho return is “probably the highlight of my career.”

Standing by excavators shaping new side channels, CalTrout’s Mount Shasta–Klamath Regional Director Damon Goodman reflected on the milestone: “So much work has culminated in this moment, where we’re creating a nursery for Chinook, coho, and steelhead in the Scott and Klamath rivers.”

Originally reported by California Trout.