Contract Description: The Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program (ISEMP, 2003-017-00) is an ongoing collaborative effort to design, test, implement and evaluate Status and Trends Monitoring for salmon and steelhead populations and their habitat, and watershed-scale Effectiveness Monitoring for management actions impacting salmon and steelhead populations and habitat in the Interior Columbia River Basin.

ISEMP explicitly addresses work requirements of many 2008 FCRPS Biological Opinion RPAs (56.1, 56.2, 56.3, 57.1, 57.2, 57.3, 57.4, 57.5) and is directly related to additional 2008 FCRPS Biological Opinion implementation strategy requirements and recommendations. ISEMP takes a pilot-project approach to the research and development of monitoring by implementing experimental programs in several major subbasins of the Interior Columbia: the Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow, John Day, South Fork Salmon and Lemhi River basins. The overall goal of the project is to provide regional salmon management agencies with the data, information and tools necessary to design efficient and effective monitoring programs.

Specifically, ISEMP generates quantitative guidance on and examples of: the robustness and limitations of population and habitat monitoring protocols, indicators and metrics; sampling design approaches for the distribution of monitoring effort in time and space; analytical approaches to the evaluation of monitoring data, information and programs; effective data management and communication designs that support the use, standardization and compilation of implementation, compliance, status, trends and effectiveness monitoring data by regional data generators and decision makers; and finally the design and implementation of watershed-scale restoration actions to maximize both the biological impact and associated learning opportunities resulting from the design and implementation strategy.

Through its work to date, ISEMP has developed expertise in the coordination and implementation of large-scale monitoring data collection programs. Applying this experience, ISEMP coordinates the installation, maintenance and calibration of in-stream PIT tag arrays across the Snake River basin and is designing and coordinating the implementation of a Columbia River basin-wide stream habitat status and trends monitoring. These programmatic implementation facets of ISEMP leverage previous experience with logistics and social factors to effectively implement comprehensive, standardized monitoring research and development at an unprecedented scale.  

This contract is one of several contracts that will implement this project.  Each contract is responsible for an end of contract progress report.  Additionally, a project level "synthesis report" will also be produced under this project and data and analysis from this contract will be utilized in the production of that project level report.  The synthesis report is a deliverable under the Terraqua contract (not this contract) under this project.  Under this contract, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will collaborate with ISEMP and other participating agencies ( Yakama Nation and US Fish and Wildlife Service) to conduct fish tagging and monitoring surveys at status and trend sites in the Wenatchee and Entiat subbasins.  Additionally, the contract will support continued work on a Steelhead spawning ground  "resightability" study.  This study is described in greater detail in WE D, Steelhead spawning ground resightability study.

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 Terraqua, Inc. and YN: Hillman, T.W. 2006. Monitoring strategy for the Upper Columbia Basin: Draft report August 1, 2006.  Prepared for Upper Columbia Regional Technical Team, Wenatchee, Washington, and Nelle et al 2010.  Monitoring strategy for the Upper Columbia Basin Appendix B: An Implementation Strategy for an Intensively Monitored Watershed Study in the Entiat River Subbasin, 2010 Working Version, Prepared for Bonneville Power Administration, Entiat Watershed Planning Unit, Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board, November 30, 2010.

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 Terraqua, Inc. (by contacting Chris Jordan (1 541 754 4629) and Mike Ward (509-486-2426)).   Actual changes to this SOW must be approved by BPA.