PROJECT PURPOSE

Contract Amendment Background:  Contract 27178 is being amended to facilitate the purchase of a spare cone for the BPA purchased rotary smolt trap located in Nason Creek, Washington.  The spare cone is needed so that when the existing cone is out for repair, or when the existing cone can no longer be repaired. We do not miss any data collection.  We extended the final end dates in the SOW to June 23rd to facilitate this purchase.  Work Elements E & G will now have new end dates.  We have created a new capitol equipment line item in the existing budget.


Project #2003-017-00 (Project) seeks to develop two novel monitoring and evaluation programs: (i) subbasin-scale pilot status and trend monitoring efforts for anadromous salmonids and their habitat in the Wenatchee, John Day and Upper Salmon River basins, and (ii) effectiveness monitoring for suites of habitat restoration projects in selected watersheds within the three target subbasins. This work builds on current status and trend monitoring programs within each of these basins. Several regional and local organizations are funding and implementing these programs. In short, this project will integrate existing and new monitoring and evaluation activities in three pilot subbasins to help ensure that provisions of the BiOp are satisfied.

This Scope of Work (SOW) will enable the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to implement the Project in the Wenatchee Subbasin. Specifically, within this SOW, the Yakama Nation (YN) will 1) estimate the smolt production of spring Chinook salmon and steelhead for the Nason Creek watershed within the Wenatchee Subbasin in 2006 and 2) describe the temporal variability of outmigrating spring Chinook and steelhead within Nason Creek. Knowledge of this temporal variability will facilitate the development of adaptive rules for more efficient allocation of sampling effort in future years (e.g. 2007 and beyond) so that future-year sampling will simultaneously serve the needs of USFWS and BPA at little or no additional cost to BPA.

These work elements expand upon existing monitoring work being conducted by the YN and will help insure that future YN monitoring work will be compatible with Project needs. These work elements are interrelated with other Project components including: 1) smolt production estimates of other species at other locations.  While the completion of work elements within this SOW is not dependent on the implementation of interrelated Project components, the completion of this SOW will provide the context for, and facilitate the interpretation of, data collected in other Project components.

Technical methodologies for all work conducted under this SOW will follow protocols specified in the following document unless changes to these methodologies are mutually agreed to by RTT and YN: Hillman, T.W. 2004. Monitoring strategy for the Upper Columbia Basin: Draft report February 1, 2004.  Prepared for Upper Columbia Regional Technical Team, Wenatchee, Washington.

An appendix to this Hillman (2004) document is being created by NOAA-Fisheries and the RTT which describes the specific interrelationships between several monitoring elements to be contracted and implemented in 2004. While this appendix is not finalized, a draft version that covers all Project components is being developed. This draft document, and eventually the final appendix, provides additional context for this SOW (but does not constitute a contractual element of this SOW). BPA support for this monitoring beyond 2004 is conditioned, in part, upon BPA receiving an acceptable plan that clearly identifies the monitoring and analytical framework, timeframes (i.e., expected schedule across years), and collaborative contributions for data collection and analysis by partner entities.

In order to coordinate among Project elements, the need for any changes in scope that may arise during the implementation of this SOW will be communicated to NOAA Fisheries and RTT (by contacting Chris Jordan (206-860-3423) and Mike Ward (509-486-2426)). Actual changes to this SOW must be approved by BPA.