Putah Creek, the 85-mile long stream that forms the border between Solano and Yolo counties, just had a record breaking year for salmon.
2,100 Chinook returned to the waters of Putah Creek to spawn in 2025. A decade ago scientists estimated about 1,700 salmon returned to the stream.
That may sound like a modest increase but compared to three decades ago when salmon were extinct in the waterway, this represents a complete turnaround for the once struggling Putah Creek. The victim of droughts, dams and water policy that diverted flows away from the stream, it was all but dried up in the 1990s…