Memorandum
Date: September 22, 2026
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors, serving as the Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District
From: Dr. Pawan Upadhyay, Water Resources Director, and Tyler Linberg, Water Resources Program Coordinator
Subject: (Sitting as the Lake County Watershed Protection District Board of Directors) Adopt Resolution for Authorization to Enter into a funding agreement between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Lake County Watershed Protection District for the Lake County 2026 Hitch Barrier Removal Project
Executive Summary:
Staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors, sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District (District), approve the attached resolution accepting a $613,709 grant award from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Watershed Restoration Grant Program for the Lake County 2026 Hitch Barrier Removal Project, and authorize the Water Resources Director to execute the grant agreement and all associated documents.
The grant will fund the removal of accumulated sediment and encroaching vegetation along four approximately one-mile segments in the following waterways within Lake County: Victoria Creek (Lucerne), Middle Creek (Upper Lake), Scotts Creek (Lakeport), and Thompson Creek (Lakeport). These multi-benefit restoration projects are designed to improve fish passage for the Clear Lake hitch, enhance stream connectivity, restore channel capacity, reduce localized flooding, improve water quality, and increase the long-term resilience of these important watershed systems.
By restoring these creek channels, the project will remove seasonal barriers that limit access to critical spawning habitat for the Clear Lake hitch, a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act, while also improving hydraulic conveyance and reducing excessive sediment and vegetation accumulation.
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