'Exciting' project to help salmon run

SACRAMENTO, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Workers in California are scrambling to finish a stream-bed restoration project in time for the annual salmon migration just weeks away, wildlife officials say.

Two early fall storms have delayed the removal of physical barriers and improvements in fish habitat at Secret Ravine Creek in Roseville, identified by environmentalists as a prime spawning area for fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, The Sacramento Bee reported Monday.

The non-profit Dry Creek Conservancy says the project is significant because it aims to undo the negative impacts of development on an urban waterway located just a short distance from a movie multiplex, strip mall and water park.

"I don't think there has been a project like this in the Sacramento metro area," conservancy Executive Director Greg Bates said. "It's pretty exciting."

The conservancy and the city of Roseville are using a $150,000 grant from the California Department of Water Resources to restore the stream bed.

The work was expected to be completed last week but was delayed by storms. Officials of the city and conservancy say they hope to have the work completed soon.

"What we are trying to do is get out before the salmon season starts," Delyn Ellison-Lloyd, representing the city in the project, said.