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 South Fork Salmon River subbasins, and (ii) effectiveness monitoring for suites of habitat restoration projects in selected watersheds within the three target subbasins.  This work – critical for implementing the 2000 NMFS FCRPS Biological Opinion (RPA Actions 180, 181, and 183) (BiOp) – builds on current status and trend monitoring programs within each of these subbasins.  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 contract is one of several contracts that will implement this project.  The FINAL REPORT for this contract will contain data that will 1) be submitted to NOAA FISHERIES (also a contractor under this project) and 2) be submitted to BPA as a contract final report according to the terms of this contract.

There are two main purposes for this contract: (A)  Measure population dynamics to estimate carrying capacity at restoration sites in the Entiat River, and (B) to continue water quality monitoring in the Entiat.  This Scope of Work (SOW) will enable the Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) to implement the Project in the Wenatchee and Entiat Subbasins with the objectives of:

(A)  Comparing the carrying capacity (and accompanying variation) between treated and un-treated reaches and between pre-treatment and post-treatment conditions in the same reach of the Entiat River subbasin.  Habitat availability and diversity have been identified as limiting factors for rearing juvenile salmonids.  Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) efforts are necessary to scientifically validate the effectiveness of in-stream habitat restoration projects designed to enhance fish production in tributaries of the upper Columbia River basin.  The response to in-stream restoration is typically quantified in terms of the numerical response of fish at the treatment site.  Censuses of abundance are performed for a specified length of time following a treatment and the results are compared to data obtained prior to treatment.  Increased fish abundance in treated reaches is the primary indication of a successful restoration action. However, this approach does not distinguish between actual increases in production and immigration to restored habitat from adjacent reaches; thus it is necessary to establish whether increases in abundance truly indicate increased capacity for fish production at restoration sites.  This work adds to and complements the effectiveness  monitoring already underway in the Entiat under ISEMP using snorkeling surveys to obtain fish density estimates at pre-treatment, treated and untreated sites and addresses the need to incorporate density dependence and an accurate estimate of carrying capacity called for in the Upper Columbia Spring Chinook and Steelhead Recovery Plan (UCSRB 2007).  

Population ecology provides several tools for evaluating how fish performance (measured as individual growth, survival or other parameter that is correlated with the fitness of individuals in the population) changes with increasing population density.  If the relationship between fish performance and density is positively changed, then managers can confidently say that their restoration action has improved production of the fish species in question. We are proposing to perform field studies that quantify juvenile salmonid abundance and productivity that will extend effectiveness monitoring beyond censuses of abundance.  This project extends normal monitoring procedures beyond censuses that detect increases in abundance, by providing a direct estimate of whether the restored habitat can support greater production of fish compared with untreated habitat.  A further benefit will be a more precise estimate of the variability in the carrying capacity of fish for a given reach.  Because carrying capacity is used to parameterize many landscape-scale models that consider whole sub-basins, detailed knowledge of variability in carrying capacity will make the predictions of these models more robust.  Estimates of carrying capacity will also help researchers who use models to predict landscape-scale fish population responses to environmental fluctuations including climate change, supplementation, natural disturbance, and other restoration actions.

(B) Measuring, analyzing and interpreting temporal trends in natural stream water quality in the Entiat River subbasin using state-of-the-art electronic sensors for continuous unattended monitoring.  

Entiat Water Quality Study
Dr. Richard Woodsmith , the Team Leader/Research Hydrologist with the Aquatic and Land Interactions Program at the PNW Research Station, USDA Forest Service, is leading the work measuring, analyzing and interpreting temporal trends in natural stream water pH in the Entiat River subbasin as well as other basic water quality parameters (temperature, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity) using state of the art electronic sensors for continuous unattended monitoring.  

The ISEMP program monitors the status and trend of water quality elements that may affect restoration project effectiveness in the Entiat subbasin.  Past exceedences in pH suggest that this water quality parameter may have a confounding effect on understanding trends in salmon and steelhead production.  The primary objective of this project is to better understand the spatial and temporal trends in stream water pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance and temperature in the Entiat River subbasin.  This study will employ the use of cost-effective multiparameter data logging instruments which will allow us to monitor the primary water quality parameters of interest to salmon recovery in the Entiat River subbasin.  Data collection will conform to USEPA data quality standards.   Probe deployment will follows the USGS, NAWQA approach in that a few points that integrate critical drainage areas will be sampled intensively.