This contract is related and supplemental to two Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) Projects that are funded by BPA,  Project Number 1994-115-00 - Idaho Fish Screening Improvement (Contract # 70536) and 2007-399-00 - Upper Salmon Screen Tributary Passage (Capital Contract # 71413).

This project provides the funding for the12  temporary workforce personnel, Screen Tenders,  that operate and maintain 280 fish screens in the Upper Salmon River Subbasin.  These fish screens are operated and maintained to NMFS Juvenile Fish Screen Criteria throughout the 8 month irrigation season from March 15 - November 15th.  These fish screens were cooperatively funded, designed, permitted, installed, and maintained by the NMFS (Mitchell Act) and BPA since 1994.  These fish screens are located along the mainstem Salmon River, North Fork Salmon River, Lemhi River, Pahsimeroi River, East Fork Salmon River, Valley Creek,  and associated tributaries within these subbasins.  These fish screens significantly reduce the entrainment of anadromous and resident salmonids and improve the egg to smolt survival of four ESA-listed salmonids; Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon, Snake River summer steelhead, Snake River sockeye salmon, and bull trout.

This contract is for the associated personnel costs of the Screen Tenders to include salaries, benefits, and overhead.  All operating expenditures, materials, fleet, gasoline, etc are cooperatively funded by the NMFS funded Mitchell Act Project (# NA15NMF4360222) - Idaho Anadromous Fish Screens, Passage, and Habitat Project.

In 1938 the U.S. Congress passed the Mitchell Act in an attempt to partially mitigate for losses resulting from hydroelectric projects, logging, mining, and agricultural developments.  The Act provided a mechanism for conserving fishery resources of the Columbia River basin and created the Columbia River Fisheries Development Program (CRFDP).  The CRFDP program was extended to include the upper basin (above McNary Dam) in 1956.  Between 1958 and 1966, Idaho Department of Fish and Game constructed more than 200 screens on the mainstem Salmon River and tributaries.

Funding was first provided to the IDFG  by BPA in 1994 to supplement Mitchell Act funding for improving fish passage by expediting the replacement of old fish screens with new NMFS Juvenile Fish Screen Criteria screens and for anadromous fisheries projects falling outside the scope of the Mitchell Act.  These funds were used in non-traditional ways to eliminate or consolidate irrigation diversions, improve fish passage, conserve water and provide proper screening of water withdrawals.  Today about 265 fish screens are in operation in the Upper Salmon River Basin in Idaho.  These projects have been undertaken by IDFG on a tributary wide basis to maximize the potential for success.

Beginning in 2016, IDFG and BPA jointly determined that using BPA some of this project's funds to maintain existing infrastructure would have a greater conservation benefit than solely using the funds to construct or install new infrastructure. Funds to maintain infrastructure from the Mitchell Act have not kept up with inflation or the increasing amounts of infrastructure that needs to be maintained.  BPA and IDFG determined that 40% of the project's budget would be spent on maintenance going forward.