25 years of revitalization efforts, leads to a record-breaking salmon spawn in Putah Creek

Putah Creek, the 85-mile long stream that forms the border between Solano and Yolo counties, just had a record breaking year for salmon. 

2,100 Chinook returned to the waters of Putah Creek to spawn in 2025. A decade ago scientists estimated about 1,700 salmon returned to the stream. 

That may sound like a modest increase but compared to three decades ago when salmon were extinct in the waterway, this represents a complete turnaround for the once struggling Putah Creek. The victim of droughts, dams and water policy that diverted flows away from the stream, it was all but dried up in the 1990s.

But thanks to a landmark accord in 2000, following a decade-long legal battle, Putah Creek has undergone a transformation that has brought back the water and much of the wildlife that was once lost.

Though this past year’s record breaking salmon spawn is a major win, 25 years in the making, there is still work to be done in the continued revitalization of Putah Creek.

Robert Lusardi is a UC Davis assistant professor and Max Stevenson is the Putah Creek Streamkeeper. They both joined Vicki Gonzalez on Insight to talk about the creek and its record breaking salmon run.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

What was the state of Putah Creek back in the 1990s? And how much of a game changer was this accord to address the situation?

They tried to buy water from the Solano County Water Agency to put it in the creek. But none of those solutions worked. So it went to the courts. It was about 10 years of lawsuits. And once the accord was settled, there was a sea change in the attitude and behavior of everyone involved. The water agency folks said okay, we're going to work on this creek together now. And the fighting stopped. It drifted away and everyone started banding together. 

So, it's half from the Putah Creek Council side and Davis side and half from the Solano County side that uses the water in the creek. And all our decisions are unanimous. We meet on a monthly basis and it's a public forum for all things Putah Creek. Fast forward to today, there was that record breaking year in 2025, when it comes to salmon runs.

Everybody loves the salmon and we've got 150 land owners on Putah Creek. About two-thirds of the creek is privately owned and about a third is in public ownership. And I just feel really lucky in my job. When you want to talk about how to move forward with improving salmon conditions, people agree and want to do it.

Putah Creek is situated between agricultural lands and a variety of major metro areas. And what you're talking about is collaboration among different lifestyles and different interests surrounding Putah Creek. How do you overcome the challenges of working together for a common goal?

It isn't just about flood control or water supply or groundwater recharge. We've got recreational uses, we've got environmental uses, we've got salmon uses. And take what happened with the Pacific Flyway and rice flood areas. We stopped burning them in the 1990s to get rid of rice stubble and instead flooded them up for rice decomposition. And that was a huge improvement for the Pacific Flyway with ducks and waterfowl habitat. We can do the same thing with salmon and Putah Creek is an example of managing to these different goals. 

Putah Creek is 100% changed from its natural state. It's been mined for gravel by the university itself. There's been sewage treatment ponds placed in it. There's been wholesale removal of trees and vegetation for flood control. In fact, the lower third is an artificial channel dug in the late 1800s as a bypass to protect the city of Davis from flooding.

So, as humans, we have the ability to change the landscape and kind of do almost whatever we want. Well, let's add salmon to the list and we can have all the candy in the store. We can have flood control, water supply, habitat for ducks and birds, habitat for salmon. It's just about what we decide as a community together and working towards that and you know, as humans we can do it.

Is a record 2,100 Chinook just the tip of the iceberg?

I think about 5000 could spawn in Putah Creek with current gravel resources and it's going to help towards the recovery of salmon statewide. 

You can listen to the full conversation, including remarks from UC Davis Professor Robert Lusardi, here.