Lower Columbia River Ecosystem Monitoring Project
Statement of Work and Budget FY2005

BPA Project Number:  2003-007-00
Contract Number:  15114
Performance/Budget Period: September 1, 2004 - August 31, 2005

Technical Contact:  Jason Karnezis
Monitoring Coordinator
Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership
811 SW Naito Parkway, Suite 120
Portland, Oregon  97204
Phone: 503.226.1565 Ext .235
Fax:  503.226.1580
Karnezis@lcrep.org

Contracting Contact: Susan Elshire
Executive Assistant
Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership
811 SW Naito Parkway, Suite 120
Portland, Oregon  97204
Phone: 503.226.1565 Ext .235
Fax:  503.226.1580
oconnor@lcrep.org


BPA Project Manager:  Tracey Yerxa
Bonneville Power Administration
905 NE 11th Avenue
Portland, Oregon  97208
Phone:  503.230.3679
Fax:  503.230.4564
tyerxa@bpa.gov


Date of Submission:  April 5, 2005


BACKGROUND
Our ability to understand the relationship of sensitive organisms such as salmonids to the lower Columbia River and Columbia River estuary ecosystem is greatly hindered by major data gaps and poor access to existing data.  The Estuary Partnership proposes to continue to implement elements of its Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring and Data Management Strategy to address habitat and toxics monitoring needs and data management.  The proposal addresses RPAs 161, 163, and 198.  

This statement of work describes the work elements, deliverables, and costs for year two of a three year monitoring project. The first year (September 2003 to August 2004) of this contract was placed on hold for the majority of the contract year due to Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) requesting further review of the proposal by their Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP).  After ISRP review, and review by NPCC, three months remained to complete the work in the first year of the contract.  As a result, a number of tasks were delayed and will be completed in this second year.

Part 1 of this project, Habitat Monitoring, will focus on creating the tools necessary for planning and conducting comprehensive habitat monitoring for measuring the status and trends of habitat types in the Lower Columbia River and Estuary.  In September 2004, the ISRP will be reviewing the habitat monitoring plan before any implementation proceeds, per the request of NPCC.  The work elements listed under Part 1 are those directed at creating a scientifically sound sampling plan for the Lower Columbia River and Estuary.  Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, USGS, and the University of Washington are all participating in the creation of this plan.

Part 2 of this project, Toxics monitoring, will continue to address issues such as the accumulation of toxic contaminants in sensitive habitat areas, contaminant trends over time, and impacts on salmonids.  NOAA Fisheries and USGS have been subcontracted to continue the toxics monitoring and to begin fish sampling.  Additionally, NOAA Fisheries will be organizing a workshop in early fall to coordinate fish, habitat, and water quality monitoring projects being undertaken in the Lower Columbia (RM 0-146) as a means of creating a conceptual model to track toxic sources, pathways, and effects on salmonid populations.

In addition to the coordinating activities the The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership is involved with, we will be coordinating with the Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Program (PNAMP) as a means of informing other agencies of the work being conducted in this study.  We will be strategizing with PNAMP to discuss how data will be made accessible and usable for interested parties.

PART 1:  HABITAT MONITORING PROTOCOLS

The Estuary Partnership will coordinate the development of protocols, procedures, and indicators for measuring habitat condition, including habitats important for juvenile salmonids.  A consultant team with specific habitat expertise will be contracted to develop and test lower Columbia River habitat monitoring protocols, assess the results, and determine how and where to implement a habitat monitoring program for the lower river and estuary.  The Estuary Partnership Science Work Group will review the data on a periodic basis and critique the progress of the work as well as recommend possible research studies to address key questions as they arise.  

In developing habitat monitoring protocols, the team will conduct an extensive search of the existing literature.  The review should include the recent work of Simenstad and Cordell (2000) which advocates the use of measures directly relatable to the ecological and physiological responses of juvenile salmonids to restored habitats.  They propose the use of three categories of assessment measures - capacity, opportunity, and realized functions.  This work, along with research by others such as the Williams and Thom (2001) "opportunity model", will be applied system wide to develop appropriate protocols for monitoring habitat for long term trends, for project specific restoration monitoring and evaluation requirements, and to support the newly funded habitat restoration program.  

HABITAT MONITORING

Activities involved with the habitat monitoring portion of this project include creating a habitat classification system, collecting and compiling bathymetric data in the, creating a statistically sound sampling plan, and implementing a pilot field sampling plan in 2005.

TOXICS MONITORING

The Estuary Partnership in conjunction with USGS and NOAA Fisheries will continue to gather monthly water quality samples on the lower Columbia river and estuary that will develop baseline toxic contaminant data, track trends in toxic contaminant concentrations over time, target specific problem sites, identify possible levels of exposure, and evaluate possible impacts of toxics contamination on selected species such as salmonids.  

The toxics monitoring program continues to focus on three mediums: water column, sediments, and tissues.  Given the abbreviated schedule of the first year, water quality monitoring begun in May 2004.  Fish sampling did not take place last year as planned and will begin early spring 2005.  

Toxics monitoring objectives for this year include:
Continued fixed station monitoring of water quality to determine the spatial and temporal characteristics of contaminant concentrations in the water column, including both dissolved and particulate phases, and sediment.
Review data and create conceptual and ecological risk models to determine the factors that are associated with transport of contaminants into, within, and from the study area.  These include regional sources areas, hydrologic conditions, and potential management activities such as dredging and reservoir drawdown.
Evaluate the results to determine if current concentrations present a possible threat to sensitive species.
Characterize the impacts of contaminants, using biological endpoints, in salmonids in the study area.
Characterize the relationships between biological endpoints and contaminant concentrations in aquatic biota and contaminant concentrations in sediment and water.