The Harvey Fish Ladder was one of reconstruction, replacing the old 15 feet high and 60 feet wide structure built in the 1920s to provide irrigation water to growers. The creek is a tributary to the Santa Clara River, so a fish ladder was added over 40 years ago for migrating fish. But the fish ladder was never effective in passing fish, namely steelhead trout, a species that has become a matter of concern statewide. In fact, the channel and diversion structure degraded over three decades until it became a 23-foot high “barrier” to migrating steelhead.When the city acquired Santa Paula Waterworks in 1996, the deal included the Harvey Diversion and fish ladder. Two years later, Department of Fish & Game code required that fish have right of passage over or around any dam or diversion-type structure.The then Department of Fish & Game alternative for Santa Paula Creek called for the relocation of the Harvey Diversion inlet, razing the old fish ladder, excavation for a pool, retrofitting with reinforced concrete and constructing two boulder weirs (openings) downstream.A fish ladder looks much like its name, except the “ladder” is on its side. . .water that over spills into the next “step” allows the fish passage. The 23-step ladder - each step is one foot - has a series of pools to allow the fish to jump, take a breather and then jump again onto another zigzag step. Ideally, the flow of water should be 20 cubic feet per second for it to operate properly. The January storms busted that number, with recorded information noting that at the Santa Clara River the peak flow was 146,000 cubic feet per second.The project also included piping that diverts water for use by shareholders of Canyon Irrigation Co., now owned by area farmers who received about 700 acre-feet of water annually from the project. Although the city and the Canyon Irrigation Co. were to form a Joint Powers Agreement for the fish ladder, it appears that the JPA was never formally finalized.
SP Creek fish ladders: Harvey damaged, Corps’ destroyed by storm
February 18, 2005
Santa Paula News
The two fish ladders in Santa Paula Creek were buffeted during the five-day January storm, leaving the steel of one located in the Oaks area looking like “it was peeled back with a can opener,” according to an observer.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe two fish ladders in Santa Paula Creek were buffeted during the five-day January storm, leaving the steel of one located in the Oaks area looking like “it was peeled back with a can opener,” according to an observer. The Harvey Fish Ladder located further upstream was also damaged.The Harvey Fish Ladder, a $1.5 million city project completed in April 2000 partially using grant funds, needs major repair work. An Army Corps of Engineers fish ladder downstream adjacent to the Oaks was completely destroyed by boulders and debris in the five-day January storm.Frank Brommenschenkel, a water management consultant, said that the Harvey Fish Ladder and the diversion would need a new cap. “It was one of those things where it never had flows like that to deal with before,” he said of the storm damage.Public Works Director/City Engineer Cliff Finley noted that “access is a problem at this time of the year…and the state Department of Fish and Game will have to decide if they want something done before they let us have access” for repairs.
