Program Updates for FY 2016:

In FY16, CHaMP will be implemented in the Middle Fork JD, South Fork JD, Grande Ronde (Upper and Lower), Catherine Ck, Tucannon, SF Salmon (Secesh only), Lemhi, Wenatchee, Entiat, and Methow,  Coordination and support of CHaMP deliverables associated with additional watersheds beyond those included in the list of pilot watersheds are outside the scope and budget of this contract.

SFR in CHaMP FY 2016:

SFR will continue to provide baseline support for GIS tool development (CHaMP Topographic Toolbar), sampling design review and updates, metric review and data QA, and GRTS estimate updates (status-only).  New and notable tasks in 2016 include:

--the explicit management and running of 2.5D hydraulic models for CHaMP visits (2011-present) in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment
--running and management of 2.5 hydraulic models at multiple flows (2011-present) in the AWS environment
--development of the AWS environment (with North Arrow Research), including QA and curation of modeled products run in the AWS environment
--development of temperature models (MODIS based) for 2014 (continued) and 2015 (first part of year as data is available) for CHaMP watersheds
--involvement in the review and information gathering of analytical web tools, such as ICESHEDS
--support for BPA RM&E products as needed for Council and ISRP reviews and internal program scoping and planning.  Examples of work requests that could come from BPA in FY16 include:  A possibility to produce Expert Panel Process (EPP) documents, a plan to synthesize data for the anticipated CE and BA in Fall of 2016, and an adaptive management framework at 2 scales, the watershed and the broader Columbia Basin.  It is uncertain what level of effort SFR will contribute to all the previously stated.  

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SFR Role in CHaMP (general to 2011-present):

SFR provides centralized support for CHaMP in multiple capacities, including sampling design and analysis, GIS tool development and crew support, and participates as a member of the core CHaMP development team.  SFR does not conduct watershed-level field sampling and all field related activities are related to training and protocol development needs.  

SFR is the lead organization for designing, curating, and updating sampling designs for CHaMP watersheds (CHaMP Background Section 2).  SFR has maintained this role since 2011 and has statistical staff in place to assist in appropriate annual design adjustments (minor) and ensure that program-wide survey designs continue to meet CHaMP needs and are not compromised over time.  SFR also provides watershed-level estimates of CHaMP metrics to support reporting needs (CHaMP Background Section 5) as the watershed-level survey designs provide the framework for generating these estimates.  Other analytical support includes the development and update of the hydraulic model, which is run against all CHaMP visit-level topographic data to generate spatially explicit estimates of depths and velocities, which are inputs to other models that generate derived metrics, such as HSI and NREI. SFR also provides analytical support to questions around repeat sampling and crew variability (CHaMP Background Section 3ii).  The second major area of SFR involvement in CHaMP is the development and update of the CHaMP Topographic Toolbar (CHaMP Background Section 4ii).  This work is conducted in affiliation with North Arrow Research and EcoLogical Research.  The CHaMP Topographic Toolbar provides a standardized method for generating GIS products from field-collected topographic data.  SFR provides the training (CHaMP Background Section 3) for this this tool as well as in-season and post-season support to ensure all data collected using CHaMP are processed to the best of the program's ability.  Since SFR is involved in crew-level support there is active involvement in the post-season workshop and analysis meetings (CHaMP Background Section 6).

This contract is in support of all RPAs supported by the CHaMP Program, including 56.3, 57 and 3.  Since CHaMP analyses and products are produced directly to address these initiatives, this contract can be affected by shifting priorities that may be warranted as new directives and priorities arise.  In 2016, the Expert Panel Process (EPP), support to the combined ISRP/AB-Council presentation in Feburary 2016, and support needed to inform the CE and BA synthesis plan in Fall 2016 are potential sources of new initiatives that SFR may be required to support as part of CHaMP.  SFR's GIS capacity and role and analytical support are the expected areas in which CHaMP effort (as described in this contract) would be affected.  SFR will work with the COTR Joe Connor to prioritize and inform BPA of potential risk to completion of current Deliverables in case support of these initiatives is needed.


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Background:
This contract is in support of a BiOp Fast track II project.

In support of habitat restoration, rehabilitation and conservation action performance assessments and adaptive management requirements of the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (FCRPS BiOp), the Bonneville Power Administration is working with NOAA and other regional fish management agencies to monitor status and trends of fish habitat for each major population group (MPG) in the Pacific Northwest identified through the Endangered Species Act (ESA).   Status monitoring provides information on the quantity and quality of current habitat and thus maximizes spatial coverage with a given number of sample sites.  Trend monitoring is used to detect changes in habitat through time and thus requires repeat samples at given sites.  Minimizing sampling and measurement error is crucial in order to differentiate this variability from natural variability though time and space.  

In order to compare information across multiple MPGs, BPA is adopting a standardized fish habitat monitoring protocol, the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP) for the Columbia River Basin monitoring programs.  CHaMP is a Columbia River basin-wide habitat status and trends monitoring program built around a single habitat monitoring protocol with a program-wide approach to data collection and management which meets FCRPS Action Agency (2010) programmatic prescriptions for habitat monitoring.    CHaMP will help BPA meet the requirements of the 2008 FCRPS BiOp and RPA 56.3.  This program will provide information on the status/trends in habitat conditions, and will support habitat restoration, rehabilitation and conservation actions, performance assessments, and the adaptive management requirements of the 2008 FCRPS BiOp.  In addition, the CHaMP meets RPA 56.3, RPA 57, and RPA 3 by characterizing stream and fish responses to watershed restoration and/or management actions in at least one population within each steelhead and Chinook MPG which have, or will have, fish in-fish out monitoring (identified in RPA 50.6).  The watersheds originally identified for CHaMP include: Hood River, Wind River, Toppenish, Klickitat, Fifteen Mile, Lower Mainstem JD, North Fork JD, Upper Mainstem JD, Middle Fork JD, South Fork JD, Umatilla, Upper Grande Ronde, Catherine Ck, Imnaha, Lolo Ck, Tucannon, Asotin, SF Salmon, Big Ck, Lemhi, Pahsimeroi, Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow, and Okanogan.  These watersheds were chosen to maximize the contrast in current habitat conditions and also represent a temporal gradient of expected change in condition through planned habitat actions.  CHaMP was implemented in FY2011 in a subset of these watersheds, including: John Day, Tucannon, Grande Ronde, Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow, SF Salmon, and Lemhi.

CHaMP collaborators will be supported by cross-project data management, stewardship and analysis staff, annual pre- and post-season meetings, annual field protocol and data management tool implementation training sessions.  The project collaborators are also working with the US Forest Service PIBO staff monitoring program to coordinate on "efficiencies" with implementation of both the CHaMP and PIBO monitoring programs.  This work will continue in FY16.  CHaMP will also continue to coordinate with and support BPA's Acton Effectiveness Monitoring (AEM) program in FY16; however, substantial AEM development and implementation support is outside the scope and budget of this contract.

(1)             Roles
CHaMP staff - refers to individuals under contract with BPA through the following list of contractors (e.g. TQ, QCI, ELR, SFR, Sitka) and includes Chris Jordan (NOAA) who is principle investigator of Project #2011-006.  Collaborators/Collaborating Agencies:  Refers to those contractors implementing CHaMP status/trend monitoring under Project #2011-006. First-Time Collaborators - Refers to collaborators whose first year of sampling is 2014.  Returning Collaborators - Refers to collaborators whose first year of sampling was 20

Program Elements

(2) Sampling Design
A Generalized Random-Tessellation Sampling (GRTS) survey design was recommended by Crawford and Rumsey (2009) for monitoring habitat status and trend in the Columbia River Basin.  The GRTS design was initially developed under the EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program and is a probabilistic sampling design that has been shown to be advantageous for generating habitat condition parameters with known statistical characteristics.  The CHaMP monitoring design follows a  GRTS design with a 3 year rotating 1-to-1 split panel structure to distribute sampling effort in space and time, and has management tools for sampling design.  Implementing a GRTS survey design correctly is critical to producing a final dataset with known statistical characteristics requiring the implementation of strict procedures during the site evaluation and selection process.  A GRTS Site Selection Protocol and Tool will be provided to each collaborator to support field crews with efficiently completing the process while strictly enforcing design requirements.  

(3) Field Sampling
Habitat field sampling will follow the Bouwes et al. (2011) protocol, modified in 2012, 2013 and 2014  in response to Pilot-year "lessons-learned". The protocol was developed after a review of fish habitat requirements, interactions of processes that influence fish habitat, the spatial scales for the context of these interactions, and current monitoring programs.  The protocol has the greatest probability of being comparable to other protocols and most relevant to salmonids and has been designed to be applied across varying spatial contexts depending on the logistical constrains of the sites.  In areas where GPS signals can be obtained, along with aerial photos, habitat units within reaches can be superimposed onto aerial photos with a map grade GPS.  In situations, where a GPS signal is not obtainable, units can be referenced to aerial photos and supplemented with on the ground measurements.  All approaches use a GPS map-grade data logger and thus do not require new gear for differing spatial contexts across related approaches.  

(i) Standardized Crew Training: Sampling and Data Capture Tool
Standardized field crew training in the recommended methods will be provided/required of all CHaMP field crews.  This standardized approach will promote crew efficiency and improved standardization across the region.  In addition to agency-specific safety and other training, CHaMP staff will provide training to support cooperating agencies that implement the recommended habitat protocol.

(ii) QA/QC crews to do repeat sampling across all participating watersheds
Repeated sampling of habitat monitoring sites within the same sampling season has proven to be an important component of GRTS-based, watershed-scale habitat monitoring.  Repeat sampling assists with 1) quality assurance/quality control, 2) the assessment of crew variability as a component of variation, and 3) providing improvements to temporal variability recognition (i.e., trend detection).  Furthermore, repeat sampling will be important to CHaMP's research goals of testing the performance of the recommended protocols across the Columbia Basin.  To achieve these objectives, in CY16 CHaMP will develop, coordinate and implement limited repeat sampling at least 1 site per CHaMP watershed by local or nearby crew(s) funded from their watershed budgets.  This effort requires singular coordination and further development of a study design for 2016.

(4) Data Management
For a monitoring program at the scale of the Columbia River Basin to be successful a robust data management system must be in place before initiating data collection.  Monitoring habitat in the CHaMP watersheds will generate a massive volume of data.  A system of data processing, storage, analysis, reporting, and distribution is available to meet the needs of a large-scale monitoring program, such as (a) documenting monitoring objectives, study design and intended analysis; (b) summarizing how, when, and where the monitoring data were collected, (c) supporting a range of analytical methods, such as hypothesis testing, time series analysis, structural equation modeling, and GIS support; and (d) adapting to changing requirements in the future.  The data system (see www.CHaMPMonitoring.org) includes a centralized data warehouse and web-based data discovery tool; data exchange and loading procedures; a database schema that defines data storage format; metadata tools; data capture, validation, and summary tools; quality control and assurance procedures; and data stewards who support the system.

(i) Field Data Capture Tools: Hand Held Loggers
Field crews will need applications to support data capture, review, summarization, and reporting and a suite of handheld and desktop tools to support both habitat and fish monitoring is available.  These tools have XML-based mechanisms to synchronize data.  This workflow includes documenting metadata about project and statistical design, entering survey event information and observations, performing quality assurance procedures, deriving metrics, and submitting data for archiving.

(ii) GIS Data Management and Geoprocessing
The large spatial scales that the CHaMP will cover means that assimilating and managing spatial datasets in GIS, accounting for the geomorphic context of sampling, and performing watershed or subbasin-scale analyses are important data features within these programs.  GIS data management support, coordination, and basic processing for monitoring programs that require data management guidance or processing assistance is available and development of geospatial models, the use of remote sensing technologies to collect continuous GIS datasets, such as LIDAR and aerial photos, and integrating field-based tabular data within a geospatial context is ongoing.  

(iii) Data Storage and Retrieval
The CHaMP will have multiple groups collecting data and it will be critical to have data accessible and available for use by all groups within the program.  The CHaMP data management system serves as a long-term storage facility for monitoring datasets including metadata and features online interfaces for searching, viewing, and downloading datasets and documents associated with the coordinated monitoring program. In 2016, CHaMP will continue to coordinate with other monitoring efforts, such as PIBO, explore options for storing, serving, and displaying data from both/multiple programs, if/as appropriate, in a manner that could generate efficiencies and better inform management decision making.

(5) Reporting
Beginning in CY2015, the Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program (ISEMP; BPA Project 2003-017-00) and Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP; BPA Project Number 2011-006-00) will produce a single joint technical report. Report materials will be developed by ISEMP and CHaMP contractors and delivered to Terraqua, Inc. for compilation into a single report for transfer to BPA. The ISEMP/CHaMP Integrated Technical Report will focus on:
1. Results from ISEMP Intensively Monitored Watersheds (IMWs).
2. Fish status and trend data.
3. Habitat status and trend data
4. Fish/habitat relationships.
5. Method/protocol updates.
Due to the performance dates of the contracts associated with this reporting requirement (2/15/2016 - 2/14/2017) the CY2016 RME Integrated ISEMP/CHaMP Technical report will be completed under subsequent FY17 contracts.

(6) Post-season Workshop
Post-season feedback and dialogue may occur in the form of a workshop or via other follow-up mechanisms and be used to address the questions and comments posed by the ISRP and the Council pertaining to CHaMP and to review the FY16 season, look at the data, discuss the protocol, review the draft logistics/RME and BiOp reports, and plan the next season. Topics covered could include a programmatic overview of CHaMP, an overview of the study design and objectives, review of the protocol and data management tools, and analytical approaches.