West Coast Fish Passage Guidelines

Guidelines Documents

• Guidance to Improve the Resilience of Fish Passage Facilities to Climate Change

California Guidelines

• Pre-Design Guidelines for California Fish Passage Facilities

California Interim Guidance

• Anadromous Salmonid Design Manual
• Guidelines for Salmonid Passage Stream Crossings in California

Washington, Oregon and Idaho Guidelines

• Anadromous Salmonid Design Manual
• Guidelines for Salmonid Passage at Stream Crossings in WA, OR, and ID

About the Guidelines

Prior to designing a fish passage facility, NOAA Fisheries recommends the project proponent familiarize themselves with the NOAA Fisheries WCR Guidance to Improve the Resilience of Fish Passage Facilities to Climate Change (Improving Resilience) guidance document. The Improving Resilience document outlines how to incorporate projected future flows the facility may experience over the life of the project and should be the starting point for the design Process.

In 2013, the Northwest and Southwest regions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Fisheries merged to form the West Coast Region. The NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region Anadromous Salmonid Passage Design Manual is the first step in integrating fish passage design criteria and guidelines of the two former regions into one document and it supersedes the following documents: 

• Northwest Region’s Anadromous Salmonid Passage Facility Design, dated July 2011 
• Southwest Region’s Fish Screening Criteria for Anadromous Salmonids, dated January 1997 
• Southwest Region’s Experimental Fish Guidance Position Statement, dated January 1994 
• Southwest Region’s Water Drafting Specifications, dated August 2001