BPA is funding this contract with BOR maintenance of Roza fish passage facilities as it is directly associated with the Cle Elum & Prosser Hatcheries and provides the adult fish trap for broodstock collection. The work element used here is #61 Maintain Hatchery associated with the O&M of passage facilities.

The Yakima/Klickitat Fisheries Project (YKFP) is a long-term, co-managed, multi-species, interdisciplinary project designed to restore anadromous fish populations to the Yakima and Klickitat watersheds by artificial production and strategic habitat actions. A key science component of the YKFP is testing whether supplementation of upper Yakima spring Chinook salmon can be used to increase harvest and natural production while maintaining the long-term genetic fitness of the fish population being supplemented and keeping adverse genetic and ecological interactions with non-target species or stocks within acceptable limits. The scientific uncertainty associated with supplementation is arguably the most important fisheries management uncertainty in the Pacific Northwest, and the information that will be generated in the Yakima watershed has the potential to be used throughout the Columbia watershed. Operations at the adult fish trap at Roza Dam are a key component to monitoring the effectiveness of on-going artificial production and habitat actions in the upper Yakima River Basin. This contract allows for continued maintenance of the adult fish trap so that it may operate efficiently and allow monitoring and evaluation of the upper Yakima River portion of the YKFP.

In accordance with the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, Bonneville is funding the design, construction, operation and maintenance of fish protection, mitigation and enhancement facilities in the Yakima River Basin. Reclamation already operates and maintains similar facilities, and is willing to operate and maintain Bonneville's facilities at Bonneville's expense.
In 1994, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Bonneville, Reclamation, and Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) was drafted and agreed upon (BOR# 1425-4-MA-10-00840, WDFW# 241-950010). This MOA, through the use of an Annual Work Plan (AWP), assigns specific duties to Reclamation for O&M of Phase II facilities and the Roza Adult Fish Trap Facility and was funded by Bonneville through master contract 1995-033-00. In 2005, the Roza Adult Trap was separated from this contract and a new contract was developed to track costs in a way that better reflects the goals of the Yakima Klickitat Fisheries Project.
This budget is an "estimate" and is not inclusive of everything that may be needed to maintain the Roza Adult Trap Site. Previous years have shown to be more than or less than the estimate of $11,000.00, depending on scheduled and emergency maintenance activities for this site.

Salmon and steelhead populations in the Yakima Basin and throughout the Columbia Basin are far below historic levels. Historically, 500,000-900,000 adult salmon and steelhead returned to the Yakima Basin annually and now only a fraction of that returns. For example, an average of 200,000 spring Chinook salmon returned to the Yakima Basin prior to 1800, but declined to an average of fewer than 3,500 fish annually from 1982-1999. Summer Chinook, sockeye, and endemic coho salmon are extinct in the Yakima Basin. Steelhead are listed as threatened and fall Chinook are depressed. Monitoring adult fish moving into the upper Yakima River Basin at the Roza adult fish trap allows for continued monitoring of these numbers in the Upper Yakima River Basin.

The YKFP partially or wholly addresses the three key limiting factors in the Yakima Subbasin Plan Supplement (page 4): 1) habitat, 2) population performance and response, and 3) institutional efficiency. Section 3.2.2, Page 26, Table 8 identifies “Objectives and the Implementable Strategies” of population performance and response. The objectives are:

1) Restore existing populations to their former range, maintain genetic, and spatial diversity.
2) Improve understanding of population dynamics and the negative and positive effects of artificial population management (production hatchery, supplementation programs, physical transfer of fish).
3) Manage appropriate populations for harvest and all populations for sustainability over the long term.
4) Reduce competitive effects with non-native and hatchery reared fish.
5) Restore extirpated populations.

Strategies include:

1) Continue YKFP supplementation experiments and habitat restoration.
2) Monitor population productivity, abundance, and life history and habitat restoration.
3) Continue and enhance the YKFP programs for spring and fall chinook, coho reintroduction, kelt reconditioning and others.

The Roza adult fish trap is a key component to all these objectives and strategies to achieve them.

One of the original intents of the YKFP was to generate information about critical uncertainties so that the information could be used throughout the region. The YKFP is specifically identified as a high priority within the Yakima Basin and is consistent with the 2000 Fish and Wildlife Program, and addresses key uncertainties identified in the Biological Opinion. Much of the technical aspects of the YKFP are addressed in Monitoring and Evaluation Project 1995-063-25. The quantitative objectives that we have identified for the project are described in other YKFP documents. Achievement of these objectives will be coordinated, managed and implemented by the Policy and Technical Work Group supported by other contracts under this project.