Santa Paula Fishway Damage Evaluation and Remediation Design

An inlet drop structure was constructed at the head of the Santa Paula Creek Flood control Channel in 2000 to maintain sediment capacity and contain flood flows through the City of Santa Paula, CA. The inlet contains a concrete pool and weir fishway which was severely damaged by the 100-year flood event in 2005. Since the initial damage occurred, maintenance and repairs have been made to maintain fish passage function. Recently, ladder modifications have been formulated and evaluated to better address the dynamic nature of the Santa Paula system.  Lessons learned from the original design’s performance and the modifications formulated for remediation are presented in concert with the many objectives and constraints that are required to balance project requirements.