Kootenai River Floodplain Operational loss Assessment, Mitigation and Restoration Project
Statement of Work and Budget FY2005

BPA Project Number:  2002-011-00
Contract title: Kootenai River Floodplain Operational loss Assessment, Mitigation and Restoration Project
Performance/Budget Period: 9/1/05 - 8/31/06

Damming of rivers represents a cataclysmic event for large river-floodplain ecosystems. By altering water, sediment, and nutrient flow dynamics, dams interrupt and alter a river's important ecological processes in aquatic, riparian, and surrounding terrestrial environments. These environments, their life-supporting ecological functions, and the persistence of their floral and faunal communities are inexorably linked. Alteration of any component of such highly integrated natural systems generally results in cascading trophic effects throughout the ecosystem. Thus, major system perturbations, such as impounding large rivers, create a myriad of ecological dysfunction, reflected at all trophic levels on an ecosystem scale. The importance of nutrient and energy dynamics during natural pulses of water discharge in rivers has been extensively described in terms of river ecology (e.g. flood pulse, river continuum, nutrient spiraling, and serial discontinuity concepts). Incorporating this knowledge, we apply a structured series of ecological evaluations to a post-impoundment large river-floodplain ecosystem, the Kootenai River system, as part of a multidisciplinary, adaptive management approach to determine and quantify floodplain ecosystem function losses due to operation of Libby Dam.  

Goal:
Create an operational loss assessment tool to assess ecological losses due to operations of Libby Dam. Protect, restore and/or enhance floodplain ecosystem, which has been altered and degraded by the operations of Libby Dam in the Kootenai Watershed (e.g. riparian, wetland, and related uplands and tributary areas) in order to promote healthy self-sustaining fish and wildlife populations, and functional restored or normative ecological functions within and among biotic communities with an emphasis on restoring sustainable hunting/gathering populations of flora and fauna for tribal sustenance.  Provide a template/tool that can be used across other regions.

Objective 1: Create methodologies that will best assess operational losses in the Kootenai River Watershed and are regionally applicable.

Objective 2: Initiate the development of a framework for a regionally applicable operational loss assessment for the Columbia River Basin.

Objective 3: Assist in the coordination and development of Citizen Committees and Technical Committees to create a geographically-specific and comprehensive process.

Objective 4: Mitigate for restoration and rehabilitation of at least 30% of the Kootenai River floodplain system in such a way that it will provide sustainable populations of flora and fauna for tribal sustenance

Purpose:
Produce an Operational Loss Assessment Tool that can estimate aquatic, riparian and associated terrestrial ecological losses due to Libby Dam operations in the Kootenai River floodplain and will be applicable in other post-development large river-floodplain ecosystems.

Relevance of the Floodplain assessment Project to the Northwest Power Conservation Council Fish and Wildlife Program:
Coordination and cooperation between all agencies and the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT), including the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, will ensure fish and wildlife mitigation activities are consistent with the Northwest Power Conservation Council (NWPCC) Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. This project is tied strongly to the 2000 NWPCC Fish and Wildlife Program scientific principles, where ecosystem function and ecological management are key to the directed project objectives. Moreover, this project framework works to assess, characterize and address the primary and secondary limiting factors listed in the Kootenai Subbasin Plan, and the project addresses Urgent and High Priority objectives found in Kootenai Subbasin Management Plan (Table 10.5).