Salmon and river restoration projects could and should focus on juvenile fish production as an integrative variable to predict restoration success under varying hydrologic and habitat conditions. The restoration of Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River and similar systems in California’s Central Valley is challenged by an unpredictable and diminishing water supply as well as the return and survival of Spring Run broodstock. We couple empirical approaches of habitat production potential, i.e. water temperature and invertebrate prey assemblages with simulation tools including fish bioenergetics, habitat simulation models, stable isotope mixing models, and drone imaging analyses to develop approaches to best assess restoration goals and probability of success. However, standard application of salmonid foraging theory to models (e.g. NEI) aiming to estimate salmonid are not suitable for riverscapes with atypical but productive habitats for juvenile salmonid production. Our empirical habitat assessment includes the abundant macrophyte habitat in the San Joaquin River which is typically overlooked in habitat assessment models despite nearly 10x the invertebrate abundance compared to adjacent drift and benthic invertebrate abundances. We found interactions of inter-habitat prey abundance over space and time. We will also cover examples of unique aspects of estimating energy sources for juvenile salmon production. Over recent years we apply these approaches to scenarios of varying water regimes (flows) and the abundance of energy to juvenile salmon as invertebrate biomass and production.