Federal funds are helping replace a bridge that blocks fish from making it to historic spawning grounds near Temecula and poses problems for area drivers.
Three hefty, tan and silver fish caught some spring sun near Fallbrook on Friday afternoon, as they swam right up to a concrete barrier that spans a picturesque stretch of the Santa Margarita River.Crews have been working since January to lay the foundation for a new steel bridge over the river just half a football field west of the existing structure.
Citing photos from the 1940s, Zach Kantor-Anaya, a regional director with The Wildlands Conservancy, which owns the land on which the bridge is built, said they know large adult steelhead trout used to travel some 29 miles every two to three years from the Pacific Ocean up the Santa Margarita River all the way to the Temecula to deposit their eggs.
A car drives on the Sandia Creek Drive bridge, which is set to be replaced by a new bridge, as the Santa Margarita River flows near Fallbrook on Friday, April 7, 2023. Nonprofit conservation group California Trout is removing the last remaining fish passage barrier on the river with federal funding from the infrastructure act to aid endangered steelhead trout, and the project will also improve safety for drivers and pedestrians by replacing the severely flood-prone bridge.
Sandi Jacobson, CalTrout’s South Coast regional director, walks on the Sandia Creek Drive bridge as the Santa Margarita River flows underneath near Fallbrook on Friday, April 7, 2023. The nonprofit conservation group California Trout is removing the last remaining barrier to the migration of endangered Southern steelhead trout in the Santa Margarita River while replacing the existing flood-prone bridge with a new 574-foot steel bridge.
In recent years, such benefits have helped Jacobson and her team at CalTrout land five grants for the project totaling $18 million, including funds from California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Natural Resources agency and State Coastal Conservancy.
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