Off-site mitigation for the juvenile and adult mortality associated with the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) includes the restoration of tributary habitat. The primary assumption of this approach is that improvements in tributary habitat will result in greater survival/production of juvenile emigrants and survival of adult migrants.  Problematically, the relationship between freshwater productivity and tributary habitat conditions has been elusive. The integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Project (ISEMP; BPA Project Number 20013-017-00) developed and validated a Quantile Random Forest (QRF) model that estimates the total capacity of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) summer parr (e.g., total number of Chinook parr that can be supported by available habitat) using habitat metrics generated by the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP; BPA Project Number 2011-006-00). These estimates can be gene... rated at the site-scale, tributary-scale, or watershed-scale in watersheds sampled by CHaMP. Moreover, using model-assisted regression informed by globally-available attributes, these estimates can be generated throughout the interior Columbia River Basin (CRB), with the possible exception of the Clearwater River Subbasin, which is not well represented by CHaMP data. Using CHaMP data and funding provided by the Bureau of Reclamation "Upper-Salmon Integrated Rehabilitation Assessment" and collaboration with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), redd capacity QRF models were developed for Chinook salmon and steelhead/rainbow trout (O. mykiss); likewise summer capacity models were extended to steelhead summer parr capacity estimates.

This contract supports data collection and analysis to generate QRF winter capacity estimates for Chinook salmon and steelhead. Combined with existing redd and summer QRF capacity estimates, a simple deterministic model of survival from across these life-stages will enable tributary habitat restoration efforts to more explicitly target habitat deficiencies, and provide guidance on the amount/types/locations of tributary habitat restoration actions necessary to most efficiently achieve de-listing and recovery goals in a standardized and quantitative fashion throughout the interior Columbia River Basin.

This contract funds the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to conduct snorkel surveys at up to 50 sites previously surveyed by CHaMP within any/all of the following watersheds: Asotin, Entiat, Methow, and Wenatchee. The density of juvenile Chinook Salmon and rainbow trout/steelhead will be estimated using the "Protocol for Snorkel Surveys of Fish Densities v1.0 (https://www.monitoringresources.org/). Densities will be expanded to estimate total juvenile abundance at each CHaMP site using depletion or mark-recapture methods described in the protocol "ISEMP Field Manual of Scientific Protocols for Capture, handling, and Tagging of Wild Salmonid" (https://www.monitoringresources.org/).

Survey data from this effort, similar efforts conducted by the ODFW in the Grande Ronde River watershed, and Quantitative Consultants, Inc. in the Lemhi River and Secesh River watersheds will be combined to develop a Chinook salmon and steelhead/rainbow trout winter habitat capacity QRF model utilizing the "ISEMP Data Analyst Protocol" (https://www.monitoringresources.org).   Show More