A county agency to become an unlikely ally to steelhead.

For the first time in four years, the rare and federally listed Salinas River steelhead may be able to find its way between spawning grounds in the Nacimiento, Arroyo Seco and San Antonio rivers and the sea. Finally, on Jan. 12, the upper reaches of the Salinas River connected to the Monterey Bay. It’s not only the soaking rains, but newfound political will that’s improving the endangered fish’s chance of survival as the Monterey County Water Resources Agency has finally acknowledged they have a responsibility to protect the fish.

Steelhead are closely related to trout, but their habit of migrating to the sea allows them to grow to a whopping 45 inches and 50 pounds. Even larger Coho salmon were also once abundant in Salinas River waters, but were locally extinct by 1915.

Biologists have estimated that before farming and dams hammered the population, tens of thousands steelhead migrated up and down the Salinas River. A 1996 study estimated there were fewer than 100 fish remaining. A count of migrating fish in the winter of 2012-13 found 43. Since 2013, the Salinas River has been essentially a parched sand channel. Growers continued to pump, and fish retreated to the trickles of mountain tributaries.

People, lettuce and fish all need to drink.

Historical accounts suggest a different, more verdant, landscape. Walter Colton gave a colorful description of crossing the river in August 1848: “We were now on the bank of the Salinas, through which we dashed, allowing our horses a taste of its yellow waters, then up the opposite bank, and away over the broad plain, which stretches in vernal beauty beyond.”

In 1867 at Hilltown – the point where Highway 68 crosses the river today – a ferry was constructed. Ferry rates were set: footman, $0.50; buggy, $1.50; man and horse, $1; two horses and wagon, $2; four horses and wagon, $2.50; sheep $0.02 a head; and cattle $0.10.

Today, the interlake tunnel project proposes to store more winter water – and choke fish-friendly wintertime flows. The National Marine Fisheries Service and some county officials question whether more water storage projects are compatible with federally mandated endangered species survival.

Steelhead and salmon have generally been considered nuisances to planners of winter-water storage projects that choke stream flows needed for fish survival and migration. The proposed interlake tunnel project – which will dramatically increase the storage of Lake San Antonio and further curtail winter Salinas River flows – is a local example of the persistent conflict.

On Jan. 17, the Water Resources Agency signaled a change away from the old agriculture vs. environment paradigm by voting to supplement flows with modest dam releases, if necessary, to maintain the minimum needed for steelhead migration.

Of course, the offer was easier given recent abundant rainfall. But regardless, the agency took a commendable step by acknowledging that people, lettuce and fish all need to drink.

STEVE SHIMEK is executive director of The Otter Project and Monterey Coastkeeper.