This FY 2014 contract continues project-scale action effectiveness monitoring of Upper Columbia habitat projects in the instream structure and floodplain enhancement categories using the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board monitoring protocols for those categories.  This effort began during the 2011 monitoring field season focused on Instream Habitat and Floodplain Restoration Projects using the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board's Monitoring Effectiveness of Floodplain Enhancement Projects v.1 and Monitoring Effects of Instream Habitat Projects v1.0 protocols.  These protocols set sampling schedules with visits during years 0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 for instream habitat projects, and 0, 1, 2, and 5 for floodplain enhancement projects. Consistent with these sampling schedules, monitoring this year includes instream structure and floodplain enhancement projects that were implemented and and previously monitored in 2011, 2012, and 2013.  In the context of BPA's new Action Effectiveness Monitoring (AEM) Program, these projects are on-going case studies. At this point there are no planned additions of new monitoring sites to the projects for the year, but because of ongoing planning efforts within the AEM Program, there may be changes to specific sites within this contract.  Currently planned monitoring includes project sites this year include:

Projects implemented in 2013 receiving their first post-implementation visit (Year 1 field sampling):
• White River Large Wood Atonement - Instream Habitat
• Pharr Rd - Floodplain Enhancement
• Hopkins Swale - Floodplain Enhancement

Projects that were implemented in 2011 or 2012 receiving their second post-implementation visit (Year 2 field sampling):
• Chewuch RM 10 – Instream Habitat
• Pioneer Side Channel – Floodplain Enhancement

This is the fourth year of the Upper Columbia Project-scale Action Effectiveness Monitoring Project.  During the previous three years of the project, monitoring was conducted at
• Boat Launch [Wenatchee] (2011, 2012, 2013)
• Hopkins Swale [Okanogan] (2011)
• Pharr Road [Okanogan] (2011)
• Chewuch River Mile 10 Side Channel [Methow] (2011, 2012, 2013)
• Pioneer Side Channel [Wenatchee] (2012, 2013)
• Chewuch Rivermile 10 Mainstem [Methow] (2011, 2012)
• Goodfellow [Wenatchee] (2011, 2013)
• White River Large Wood [Wenatchee] (2012, 2013)

Although this is the fourth year of the monitoring project, because of the sampling schedule and the rate of implementation, only two habitat projects have received more than one year of post-implementation monitoring.  Results for the second year of post-implementation monitoring at these sites and the rest of the 2013 monitoring season will be available in early spring 2014.  Monitoring this year will add an addition two sites that have received at least two years of post-implementation monitoring.

This contract, like previous contracts in this project, fills an important gap in project (reach-scale) effectiveness monitoring identified by the Upper Columbia Regional Technical Team and others.  Work under this contract will support (a) the Upper Columbia Adaptive Management Framework, (b) the 2008 FCRPS BiOp, (c) the Tribal MOA Habitat Projects, and (d) the Upper Columbia Habitat Programmatic Project by increasing the number of sites monitored as part of the Washington State Salmon Recovery Board's Reach-scale (Project) Effectiveness Monitoring Program.  This contract increases the number of instream structure and floodplain enhancement projects that receive project effectiveness monitoring.