Zero fish arrived for four years at the beginning of the 1990s

The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District declared a "Water Supply Emergency" in 1998, which is still in effect and reconfirmed yearly as of January 2009 - with no end in sight.
"The Carmel River goes dry - even in good years. It is killing steelhead." US-National Marine Fisheries Service, Senior Advisor Joseph Blum in formal comments to the California Department of Fish and Game Commission Apr 6, 2001 singling out the Carmel river from all California rivers because of the dewatering impacts to the ESA listed steelhead and California Red-Legged Frog.

During the 1987 to 1995 time period the steelhead trout run in the Carmel River dropped precipitously. Zero fish arrived for four years at the beginning of the 1990s. Only single digit numbers of the species showed up for 6 of the last 10 years. This, among other things, caused the steelhead to be federally listed and protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1997. "
From the Helping Our Peninsula's Environmen: http://www.1hope.org/watersit.htm