Santa Margarita River Bridge Replacement and Fish Passage Barrier Removal Project

The Project will replace an aging low-flow concrete box culvert river crossing that is a fish passage barrier on the Santa Margarita River with a new bridge. The new steel bridge will be constructed approximately 160 feet downstream of the existing crossing to replace the structure. The project includes the disassembly, removal, and site cleanup of structure. Native trees and plants will be used to revegetate the demolished road alignment.

The new bridge will allow access to 12 miles of upstream habitat for juveniles and adult steelhead. This Project will also provide over one acre of improved habitat through riparian restoration, restore natural river channel morphology that favors native fish, increase access to residents and recreationalists by improved flood management, and provide increased and safer access to the Santa Margarita River Trail Preserve for visitors. The Santa Margarita River is a high priority steelhead recovery river, as designated by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan (2012). This project addresses task SMR-SCS-3.1: Develop and Implement plan to remove of modify fish passage barriers within the watershed.