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Drainage Project The Robinson Rancheria Drainage Project was funded by the US EPA Clean Water Act Non Point Source Pollution Program and was completed in 2009. Nonpoint Source (NPS) pollution comes from many diffuse sources, while Point Source pollution comes from specific point locations such as from industrial and sewage treatment plants.
Why Water Sampling?The Robinson Rancheria Water Resource People sample every Quarter or Monthly at Kayan Meadow or Duck Pond, Frog Pond, The New Housing Pond, the Culverts draining into and out of the Casino parking lot, Hammond Slough, and the Newly placed culverts located at the corner of Old Lake County Rd. and Pyle Rd. that drain into Frog Pond. Our Sampling Plan is collecting samples for Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorous. These require more than field measurements and observations. Every quarter or month the Water Resource Coordinator and Technician will go to sampling points on Robinson Rancheria to collect samples. Over time these parameters can indicate trends in the Rancheria's Water Quality and better help the Water Resource Program to respond appropriately with the supporting data to back it up. WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS Temperature, Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), pH, Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorous Water Program Grants Fish and Wildlife Grant- Hitch
Monitoring Program
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Hitch Recovery Program As of 2009 the Robinson Rancheria has received a US Fish and Wildlife grant. This grant will focus on developing a Hitch fish captivity breeding program through a small-scale fish hatchery. The project will also work with Big Valley Rancheria and Upper Lake Rancheria on Hitch monitoring and tagging the Hitch spawning and migration. This is a large step in obtaining the goal of Hitch recovery for the tribes. To see a presentation on work that was done and future planning, please click on Hitch Presentation
Life Cycle of the Hitch Adult members of the sub-species lavinia
exilicauda chi, which can reach a maximum length of 14 inches (in the case of
the noticeably larger females) and weigh a pound or more, spend most of their
time deep in the waters of
Clear
Lake, where as "filter feeders" they subsist primarily on plankton. It is said
to be
As the days start to lengthen and
temperatures warm, and the winter's rains
fill
the tributaries of the lake, schools of hitch
After spawning, the adults do not die as
salmon do, but instead make their way back to Clear Lake:
it is surmised that the females swim downstream immediately after spawning, but
that the males may linger in the creeks in hopes of finding another opportunity
to breed. Immediately after being laid the eggs absorb water, swell to about
four times their original size, and sink to the bottom, bound together in thick
masses of shiny golden jelly. The roe settles into crevices between t For more information on the Clear Lake Hitch please visit the Chi Council
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NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even underground sources of drinking water. These pollutants include:
drainage structures, and installation of riprap for storm drain inlet protection. 
nearly impossible to catch them on a hook and line, and although they are
occasionally caught accidentally in the nets of commercial fishermen they are
otherwise seldom observed by human beings at all. But every spring for a few
weeks—or occasionally for a few months—these ordinarily invisible fish suddenly
emerge into view. 
begin to move upstream to their
spawning grounds. The run can begin as early as the beginning of February, and
continue as late as May or even June, but "prime time" for hitch most often
comes in the month of
March. Schools of migrating adults were once almost unimaginably
abundant—numbering in the millions if not the billions—but have been greatly
reduced in
recent
years. When a gravid female finds a place
she likes—clean gravel bottoms and
shallow rapidly flowing water seem to be preferred though this preference is by
no means absolute—she begins to swish her body back and forth preparatory to
laying her eggs, though no nest is excavated. A cluster of males gathers around
her, eager to fertilize them.
The spawning adults splash vigorously, with parts of their bodies frequently
emerging from the water.
he stones,
and when conditions are right can be so abundant that the gravel bottom of the
creek is largely obscured. After five to ten days the eggs hatch out into tiny
fry that resemble mosquito larvae at first. They stay near the location where
they were spawned for another five to ten days, until they can swim well enough
to start moving downstream. The journey back towards Clear Lake takes several
weeks, and after reaching the lake the young fish stay near the shoreline for
another three months or so before heading out to deep waters, where they remain
until they reach breeding age and are ready to begin the cycle all over again.