Jameson Lake Trout Rescue Afoot

A handful of California Fish and Wildlife workers, armed with rods and reels, launched the first of several backcountry rescue efforts targeting the genetically invaluable trout now struggling to stay alive in the Juncal Reservoir ​— ​a k a Jameson Lake ​— ​10 miles from Montecito. “There’s not enough water, and what there is is too hot,” declared Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Andrew Hughan.

Although the trout landlocked in the dam are not technically steelhead ​— ​steelhead have to be able to go from creek to ocean to creek again ​— ​they are genetically identical. In fact, the fish held captive at Jameson, isolated from the reproductive dilutions of stocked trout, are among the most genetically robust.

With water levels plunging from 80 feet to 20, the temperature, turbidity, and oxygen levels of Juncal are reaching critically dangerous levels. Although the Montecito Water District has been testing the water on a weekly basis, there’s no established threshold demarking when such rescue efforts need to be initiated. Privately, some district personnel say the rescue campaign should have been launched this May, pointing out a number of dead trout found floating with some regularity on top of the lake.