Lagunitas Watershed—People are seeing lots of spawning coho salmon at the Leo Cronin Viewing Area, Samuel P. Taylor State Park, and at SPAWN’s restoration site at the former San Geronimo Golf Course this month and are wondering if this is an exceptionally good spawning year.

The simple answer is: It is too early to know.

Todd Steiner, a biologist and the founder of SPAWN commented, “After several weeks of no very little rain through most of November, people are seeing a lot of spawning salmon all at once on a single day of viewing, especially at MMWD’s Leo Cronin Viewing Area, and at the Inkwells and Devil’s Gulch in S.P. Taylor State Park.

As amazing and wonderful as this is, it is partially an artifact of the timing of rainfall this year.  If the spawning activity has been distributed over several waves of storms over the past several weeks, the spawning activity would not seem so dramatic and frenetic now.

The good news is that if more rainstorms continue to bring new waves of spawning salmon, in January, the 2021-22 winter may prove to be a great spawning year. We all have our fingers crossed, but is too early to tell.

No doubt, all the hard work of salmon habitat restoration going on in the Lagunitas Watershed is improving the chances of the survival of this endangered species.”

SPAWN hosts walks that allow the public to witness endangered coho salmon at the peak of their spawning season, learn about native plants and animals, discover the history of the watershed, and anything encountered along the way. To learn about a biologist-led creek walk to look for salmon, visit here. To join and register for a creekwalk tour, please visit SPAWN’s Eventbrite page.