Detection of Four Runs of Telemetry Tagged Juvenile Chinook Salmon in the Sacramento River and Georgiana Slough and Associated Flow Data from 2009 to 2022

To assess the influence of run type and flow on the routing of juvenile Chinook salmon at the Georgiana Slough junction, we assembled a dataset of fish telemetry detections and flow data spanning a 12-year period. Fish detection data were obtained from the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Environmental Research Division’s Data Access Program (ERDDAP, 2023) and represent all four recognized Chinook salmon runs in California’s Central Valley. The data we selected for our dataset includes 3,004 individual fish released across 92 groups from 15 independent studies. Of these, two studies used Vemco 69 kHz acoustic tags (2007–2009), while the remainder employed 416 kHz Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Transmitters (JSATs) from 2013–2016 and 2018–2023.We filtered detections to include only fish migrating downstream verified by at least detections downstream of thier release location. Fish detected during periods when the Delta Cross Channel (DCC) was open were excluded to avoid confounding flow conditions. Flow and velocity data were downloaded from the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System. Flow data were collected from three gaging stations in close proximity to the junction (site numbers: 11447890, 11447903, and 11447905). Because acoustic receivers and flow gages were not co-located, we estimated fish passage times at the junction and gage sites by assuming fish traveled at the same speed as the river current. Fish positions were back-calculated in 15-minute increments to align detection events with flow measurements. Sixteen fish were removed from the data set due to incomplete flow data. This dataset also includes estimated probabilities of routing into Georgiana Slough for the central 80% of each run, based on timing data from catch records at Knights Landing, California. Probabilities were modeled using a logistic regression. The dataset supports analyses linking fish routing behavior to environmental flow conditions and run type. Environmental Research Division’s Data Access Program ERDDAP - Sacramento River Valley Salmonid Tagging Project - Data Access Form (noaa.gov), [accessed 27 Sep 2024] https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/FEDcalFishTrack.html