The Napa River Fisheries Monitoring Program (FMP) is part of the Napa River/Napa Creek Fisheries Monitoring Plan which was included as a project requirement in the April 9, 1999, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Biological Opinion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) and Napa County California, Napa River/Napa Creek Flood Protection Project.

Flood Protection Project

The Napa River/Napa Creek Flood Protection Project aims to provide flood protection by reconnecting the Napa River to its flood plain, creating wetlands throughout the area, maintaining fish and wildlife habitats, and retaining the natural characteristics of the river. The project consists of five separate contracts developed as a cooperative effort between the City of Napa, Napa County, the USACE, Community Coalition, Federal and State resource agencies and consultants. Construction of the project is currently phased over 7 years from 2000 through 2006.

The flood protection project has and will be implemented along 6.9 miles of the Napa River in Napa County, California. Project features include dike removal, channel modifications to create flood plain and marsh plain terraces, levees and floodwalls, bridge relocations, pump stations, and maintenance roads/recreation trails for the reach of the river from Highway 29 to Trancas Street.

The project also includes the Napa River Enhancement Plan for the South Wetlands Opportunity Area (SWOA). This enhancement plan will restore physical and biological processes in the Napa River estuary and the SWOA, which extends from the Newport North Marina to the Highway 29 Bridge on the west side of the river. The plan also calls for creating 104.25 acres of emergent marsh, converting 262 acres of farmland to emergent marsh, and creating and enhancing 136 acres of seasonal wetlands (USACE 1999). Lowering levees, breaching dikes, and constructing marsh plain and flood plain terraces are included in the enhancement plan. The FMP will conduct sampling to evaluate the use of some of these areas by listed and non-listed fish species.

Significance of the FMP

The FMP fulfills the requirement set forth by the USFWS in their April 9, 1999, Biological Opinion for the Napa River/Napa Creek Flood Protection Project. In addition, this FMP will gather information on fish habitat use within 6.9 miles of the Napa River that will potentially influence future management decisions, restoration designs, and serve to validate environmentally friendly designs in future flood control projects.