The Problem:  Development of the Columbia River Basin hydropower system has created impoundments throughout the basin, severely restricted movements of white sturgeon and two principal food sources (eulachon and Pacific lamprey), and degraded or destroyed white sturgeon spawning and rearing habitat.  As a result, many impounded white sturgeon populations are not as productive as they were before development of the hydropower system.  In some upper Columbia River Basin reaches, the isolated populations may face extirpation.

Project Overview: Project activities to date can be broadly partitioned into a number of general phases.  In the first phase, from 1986-92, work concentrated on determining the status and habitat requirements of white sturgeon populations in the Columbia River downstream from McNary Dam.  Conclusions from this work included (1) dams limit movements of white sturgeon and have functionally isolated populations, (2) the status and dynamics of each population are unique, (3) productivity in reservoirs is less than in the unimpounded area downstream from Bonneville Dam, (4) recruitment and subsequent population size are limited by the effects of river discharge on spawning habitat, which is restricted to high-velocity areas immediately downstream from dams, (5) reservoirs provide large areas of suitable habitat for juvenile and adult white sturgeon, but compensatory population responses may reduce productivity if carrying capacity is reached, and (6) fisheries for white sturgeon in The Dalles and John Day reservoirs collapsed and population collapse was likely if high exploitation continued.  Based on these conclusions, recommendations for further work included (1) intensify management of fisheries for impounded populations, (2) evaluate if augmented river discharge in May and June improves spawning and recruitment, (3) evaluate the feasibility of enhancing depleted populations by transplanting juvenile white sturgeon from populations downstream from Bonneville Dam, (4) identify habitat requirements of subadult and adult white sturgeon, quantify amounts of suitable habitat, and evaluate constraints on enhancement, (5) refine and evaluate hatchery technology for enhancement of threatened populations of white sturgeon, and (6) investigate the need and potential measures for protecting and enhancing populations upstream from McNary Dam.
Work during the second phase of the project, from 1992-97, was based on these recommendations.  Project activities included intensive management of fisheries in Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day reservoirs.  In addition, we developed a broad recommendation for flows that will provide spawning habitat in Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day reservoirs. We determined that enhancing depleted populations in The Dalles and John Day reservoirs by transplanting juvenile fish from the area downstream from Bonneville Dam was feasible.  We also began intensive mapping of available habitat.  Finally, work during this phase showed that populations upstream from McNary Dam were severely depressed, usually due to lack of spawning success.
The third phase of the project began in 1998 and was completed in 2002.  During this phase, mitigation activities were implemented or continued, and most research-oriented activities were completed.  Mitigation activities included continuation of intensive management of fisheries in Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day reservoirs, and annual transplants of up to 10,000 juvenile white sturgeon into The Dalles and John Day reservoirs.  Population status was assessed in Bonneville, The Dalles, and John Day reservoirs to monitor the effectiveness of mitigation activities.   We also sampled to describe the annual variation in white sturgeon recruitment so that the effectiveness of eventual changes to hydropower system operations can be monitored.  
Research activities undertaken during this phase included (1) intensive mapping of available habitat, (2) work to determine which specific hydropower system operations will stimulate spawning in tailrace areas, (3) work to determine the sex, maturational status, and reproductive potential of white sturgeon in impounded and unimpounded reaches, and (4) work to evaluate the effects of decreased turbidity on predation on age-0 white sturgeon.
The final activity implemented during the third phase of the project was work to refine and evaluate hatchery technology.  Propagation may be a suitable mitigation action for impoundments where transplants are not logistically feasible, or where genetic constraints do not allow transplants of fish from one area to another.  Although attempts began in 1999, the first successful effort to spawn and rear white sturgeon occurred in 2001.      
The current phase of the project started in 2003.  Project activities are limited for the most part to mitigation actions and monitoring the effectiveness of those actions.  Intensive management of fisheries will continue, as will transplants of juvenile white sturgeon (if periodic assessments of population status indicate the need).  We will also continue to monitor white sturgeon recruitment.  
We planned to complete our evaluation of hatchery technology, including determination of the most effective size at which to release juvenile white sturgeon, during the current phase, and the first releases of over 20,000 juvenile white sturgeon in Rock Island Reservoir occurred in 2003.  Unfortunately, budget reductions forced the premature termination of this activity.  It is unlikely that any more fish will be reared and released in the future.  In late 2005 and early 2006 we plan to sample Rock Island and Wanapum reservoirs for three weeks.  This modest level of sampling should provide information on early growth, condition, distribution, and entrainment of juvenile hatchery fish that may be useful in future evaluations or mitigation actions.  In addition, information on growth will help provide critical information on individual growth rates of small-sized white sturgeon, which is currently lacking.
We also completed laboratory analyses and preparation of related final reports and manuscripts in 2003. The final report from habitat mapping included recommendations for hydropower system operations that will enhance physical habitat conditions.  We also provided specific recommendations for hydropower system operations to improve spawning conditions for white sturgeon. This completes work associated with what was previously Objective 2 of the project: recommend actions that involve changes to hydropower system operation and configuration to optimize physical habitat conditions for white sturgeon.

Project Goals:  The goals of this project are to (1) implement and evaluate selected measures to protect and enhance white sturgeon populations and to mitigate for effects of the hydropower system on production of white sturgeon in Columbia River impoundments downstream from McNary Dam, and (2) determine the need and identify potential measures for protecting and enhancing white sturgeon populations and mitigating for the effects of the hydropower system on production of white sturgeon in the Columbia and Snake rivers upstream from McNary Dam.

Project Objectives:  The following objectives are structured such that findings will result in a mitigation plan designed to offset losses to white sturgeon stocks and their productivity caused by the hydropower system:
(1) Implement actions annually that do not involve changes to hydropower system operation and configuration to mitigate for lost white sturgeon productivity.
(2) Monitor and evaluate actions to mitigate for lost white sturgeon production due to development, operation, and configuration of the hydropower system.

Project Coordination:  The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has reviewed and approved the overall project design and approach for mitigation and restoration activities.  Specific project proposals have been reviewed and approved by the Independent Scientific Review Panel.  Project proposals have also been reviewed and approved by the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority.  The approach for restoration and enhancement was reviewed and approved by the Columbia River Compact's Sturgeon Management Task Force, which includes fishery managers and researchers representing the states of Oregon and Washington, the Yakama Indian Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho, and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.  The Project is consistent with draft plans developed for the Lower Middle Columbia and Columbia Gorge subbasins. The project plan for FY06 includes the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), and Montana State University (MSU).  Annual progress reports are prepared by all involved to review and summarize project activities and findings.

Project Approach:  All project objectives have been addressed concurrently.  ODFW is the primary contractor with BPA and subcontracts portions of the project to WDFW, USGS, CRITFC, and MSU.  
As part of the first objective, we have completed an evaluation of experimental transplant technology, and will continue in FY06 with transplanting juvenile white sturgeon from areas downstream from Bonneville Dam to John Day Reservoir and The Dalles Reservoir.  Annual harvest management planning and monitoring will also continue in FY06.
The second objective is to continue to monitor and evaluate actions that mitigate for lost white sturgeon production due to development, operation, and configuration of the hydropower system.  In FY06 we will (1) update the status of the white sturgeon population in Bonneville Reservoir, (2) continue our work to determine sex, maturational status, and reproductive potential of white sturgeon in impounded and unimpounded reaches, and (3) continue to describe the annual variation in white sturgeon recruitment between Bonneville and Priest Rapids dams in the Columbia River, and in the lower Snake River.  

Relationship to the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program
In addition to addressing Northwest Power Planning Council (NWPPC) sturgeon mitigation measures 10.4A.1, 10.4A.2, 10.4A.3, and 10.4A.6, 10.4A.8, and 10.4A.9 of the September 13, 1995 Fish and Wildlife Program, this project addresses key components of the NWPPC's 2000 Program.  Specific actions recommended in the Sturgeon Program Summary that are addressed by project activities include: (1) transplant naturally-produced juveniles from below Bonneville Dam into reservoirs until changes in configuration and operation of the hydropower system are completed, and (2) regulate harvest of white sturgeon in reservoirs based on estimated abundance and exploitation rates that provide optimum sustainable yields.  The project also provides information critical to the strategies recommended in Mainstem Columbia River subbasin summaries for the Columbia Plateau and Columbia Gorge provinces, which include: (1) configure and operate the hydropower system consistent with salmonid recovery to maximize spawning and rearing success of white sturgeon in reservoirs, and (2) supplement depleted populations of white sturgeon in reservoirs until changes in configuration and operation of the hydropower system are completed.  
Past findings and publications from this project have served to inform development of subbasin plans for the Lower Middle Columbia and Columbia Gorge subbasin plans.  Objectives and tasks developed here are consistent with management plans as presented in May 28, 2004, drafts of subbasin documents.  Elements of the management plans include:
From the Lower Middle Columbia River Subbasin Plan
- Supplement less productive impounded [white sturgeon] populations through capture of juvenile [white sturgeon] from below Bonneville Dam and transporting them into The Dalles and John Day reservoirs to compensate for year class failures.
- Identify the need for and evaluate the success of [Lower Middle Mainstem white sturgeon] population recovery activities. Sustainable tribal and sport harvest is dependent upon periodic population status updates. Expand the periodic stock assessment program into McNary pool, the Hanford Reach, and into Priest Rapids Pool.
Continue to monitor harvest levels and adjust fishing regulations as necessary between Bonneville and McNary Dams. Expand annual angler survey program to McNary pool, the Hanford Reach, and eventually to Priest Rapids Pool .
From the Columbia Gorge Subbasin Plan
- Maintain intensive management of fisheries for impounded white sturgeon populations.
- Continue mark-recapture surveys to estimate population abundance.
- Continue transplanting up to 10,000 juvenile white sturgeon from populations in Bonneville Reservoir and downstream from Bonneville Dam.  
- Investigate levels of contaminants in sturgeon tissue, assess risks to fish health, and evaluate constraints on population productivity.  
? Identify habitat requirements of subadult and adult white sturgeon, quantify amounts of suitable habitat, and evaluate constraints on enhancement.
Actions to protect and restore populations and mitigate for effects of the hydropower system on productivity of white sturgeon have been called for in the "Columbia River Fish Management Plan" (ordered by the United States District Court in the case US v. Oregon), in "Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit" (the anadromous fish restoration plan of the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakama tribes), and in the "Multi-Year Implementation Plan" (Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority 1997 Draft).  Recommended actions from earlier work are described in "A Review of Alternatives for the Restoration and Management of White Sturgeon Populations and Fisheries in the Columbia River between Bonneville and McNary Dams (Zone 6)" (March 13, 1997 draft of report by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife).  These recommendations are being implemented and assessed under this project as specific measures that can protect and restore populations and mitigate for effects of the hydropower system on productivity of white sturgeon in the three reservoir between Bonneville and McNary dams.
The project goals correspond to those of the "White Sturgeon Research Program Implementation Plan" developed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in cooperation with state and federal fishery agencies, tribes, universities, and the private sector, and approved by the Northwest Power Planning Council in 1985.  The earlier phases of the project focused on high priority information needs conducted in high priority areas, as designated in this plan.  The project also addresses research priorities described in the White Sturgeon   Management Framework completed by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in 1992.