The Walla Walla Subbasin Collaborative Salmonid Monitoring and Evaluation Project: Change in Contract Request (CCR-13780) Rationale:

We are requesting increased FY-2008 Project funding as per the 2008 Columbia Basin Fish Accords Memorandum of Agreement between the Three Treaty Tribes and FCRPS Action Agencies (MOA) to continue and expand the Walla Walla Salmonid Monitoring and Evaluation Project as previously supported by the ISRP.  Our rational for this request is two fold.  First, we require additional funds to maintain consistent funding for our current smolt outmigration work; second, we need to “ramp-up” our baseline monitoring of natural and hatchery production prior to planned MOA-funded, full-scale hatchery production in the Walla Walla Subbasin.

Currant project funding is uncertain.  Since 2005, The Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund has supported a significant portion of our lower Walla Walla out-migration work as cost-share.  Unfortunately, these funds will no longer be available to the project beginning January 2009.  Thus, to maintain this critical task, we must request to re-schedule out-year MOA funds.  Additional MOA funds are also required for more consistent and robust field operations and results analysis.  Specifically, additional temporary staff is needed to keep traps running continuously at multiple sites; while more FTE time is required to complete additional hydrosystem abundance and survival estimates for spring Chinook and summer steelhead.

In addition, the requested project ramp-up would also reschedule MOA out-year funds towards establishing a robust pre-hatchery M & E baseline and database from which to compare the effects of pending MOA funded hatchery and habitat restoration programs.  This work would include overall hatchery and natural in-reach survival, improved adult enumeration (i.e. total adult return), and future habitat restoration effectiveness monitoring.  As proposed, comprehensive juvenile and adult monitoring of the pre-hatchery conditions will ensure that subsequent evaluations are comparing “apples to apples” when evaluating full hatchery implementation project effectiveness.

This request is consistent with the MOA as per the following:
“This MOA is intended to….. address the Parties mutual concerns for certainty and stability in the funding and implementation of projects for the benefit of fish affected by the FCRPS and Upper Snake Projects,”(Pg. 1).

“Maintaining and improving research monitoring, and evaluation programs is critical to informed decision making on population status assessments and improving management actions effectiveness.  The action Agencies will implement status and effectiveness research, monitoring and evaluation sufficient to robustly track survival improvements and facilitate rebuilding actions”. (Pg. 3)

In sum, it is our request to annualize a portion of this project’s MOA funding towards ISRP approved M & E as identified in the 10-year MOA project-spending plan.  These funds would meet immediate budget needs; establish a consistent fiduciary foundation, and produce robust data analysis and effectiveness monitoring prior to full hatchery production in the Walla Walla.







Introduction
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) share fish and wildlife co-management responsibility with the Federal Caucus, regional authorities, and local governments in the Walla Walla Subbasin. The Walla Walla Salmonid Monitoring and Evaluation Project (BPA project number 2000-039-00) is funded by Bonneville Power Administration as directed by section 4(h) of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 (P. L. 96-501) and as outlined in The Northwest Power Planning Council Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (measures 4.2A, 4.3C.1, 7.1A.2, 7.1C.3, 7.1C.4 and 7.1D.2; NWPPC 1994).  In June 2007, BPA approved 3 years of continuing funding for the Walla Walla Salmonid Monitoring and Evaluation Project.  This collaborative State and Tribal project represents and integration of two existing fish monitoring and evaluation projects (200003900 and 199802000) and is intended to improve coordination, planning, and implementation of salmonids monitoring and evaluation in the Subbasin. WDFW and CTUIR project partners retain individual contracts with BPA, but collaborate on the project proposal, budget, and statement of work to produce a joint annual progress report as the “Walla Walla Salmonid Monitoring and Evaluation Project” (BPA project number 2000-039-00).

Assessing BPA funded hatchery supplementation, hydrosystem operations, and habitat acquisitions are federally mandated actions to mitigate for and restore former salmon and steelhead fisheries within the Columbia plateau.  This project provides status and trend information and effectiveness monitoring in support of BPA funded fish and habitat restoration efforts in the Subbasin and provides technical assistance and guidance to other agencies or groups, and the public in support of adaptive management and recovery planning.

As a project partner with the WDFW, CTUIR has similar restoration goals and objectives for the Walla Walla River as have been developed for the Umatilla River. The Tribal fisheries management objective is to provide sustainable (tribal and non-tribal) harvest opportunities for aquatic species of the first food order (e.g. salmon, steelhead and lamprey) by protecting, conserving, and restoring native aquatic populations and their habitat; and to monitor the status and trends of these populations and their habitats to generate the information needed to form sound management and policy decisions.  Work is done throughout the Oregon and Washington portions of the Walla Walla Basin; project offices are located at the William A. Grant Water and Science Center at Walla Walla Community College and in The Washington Department of Transportation building in Dayton Washington. Focal species for study are spring Chinook salmon and ESA-listed Middle Columbia River summer steelhead. Work elements include: fish ladder counts, spawning surveys, rotary trapping and PIT-tagging, radio-telemetry, fish salvage, project administration and reporting. Biological metrics include: smolt abundance, survival, and run timing; adult movement, ladder use, delay, and escapement, fish per redd and smolt to adult return.  Areas to be more intensely monitored include the Walla Walla River, Touchet River, and Mill Creek.  We believe these monitoring and evaluation actions meet the highest priorities as identified by the Walla Walla Subbasin Plan and Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan.

This current collaboration has provided critical information to managers working to restore salmonids to the Walla Walla River Subbasin.  Staff have studied the presence and potential impacts of hatchery residuals on naturally producing anadromous and resident salmonids, and have advised on the release location and timing of hatchery projects.  Staff has assisted in the development and implementation of a variety of critical uncertainty research projects including the delineation of ESA-listed summer steelhead population structure, and the assessment of ESA-listed bull trout age and growth, movement, spawning, and survival.  Collectively these data have been utilized in a number of plans and management actions including limiting factors analysis, habitat plans, passage restoration, flow augmentation, harvest planning, and hatchery master planning.  Most recently, project staffs worked with regional scientists using WDFW and CTUIR data to develop, run, and evaluate the Walla Walla Subbasin Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment model used in the Walla Walla Subbasin Plan and addendum.  The project used EDT to quantify the potential of the Walla Walla Subbasin to produce on average thousands of additional spawners via the restoration of specific habitat attributes in priority reaches.  We have drafted a comprehensive RM&E plan, and produced several progress reports.  This information has been effectively communicated to managers, and a great deal of the information has been archived and made public via the internet.  Past reports for this project are available on the BPA, CTUIR and WDFW web sites at: efw.bpa.gov/searchpublications/; www.umatilla.nsn.us; and www.wdfw.wa.gov.


BPA Furnished Property or Services
BPA will furnish 10,000 PIT tags to CTUIR in FY 2008