 | GEOREV-1994-015-00 | Proposal Version 1 | Existing Project | Pending BPA Response | 1994-015-00 | Idaho Fish Screening Improvement | Provide management and operational support for a capital construction program dedicated to the protection of anadromous fish from loss in water diversions, improve fish passage at diversions for juvenile and adult anadromous fish, and improve stream flow conditions where possible. Project funding is coordinated with multiple sources in order to maximize the potential for anadromous fish recovery efforts in the Salmon River basin. Gravity water diversions are only screened following an intensive ditch consolidation and diversion elimination program. Water conservation avenues will be explored and implemented where possible. Screens will be constructed in ditches diverted from streams that are migration routes and rearing areas for anadromous fish, both hatchery and wild/natural salmon and steelhead produced in the upper Salmon River drainage. Upstream and downstream protection and passage will be improved for anadromous fish as they migrate to and from the Pacific Ocean. Other species also benefit from these improvements. A tributary wide approach will be incorporated in order to maximize benefits to the habitat. Fisheries surveys are conducted in these tributary streams utilizing electro-fishing methodologies to document the distribution, occurrence, and abundance of species throughout the project watersheds. These initial watershed inventories provide baseline data for monitoring and evaluation assessments of future fisheries improvement projects. The surveys will determine management directions for improving irrigation practices for fisheries benefits. This work includes determination of landowner willingness to participate in future year fisheries improvement projects, mapping irrigation systems, and documentation of seasonal in stream flows, fish passage, and identification of water conservation potential. This project is coordinated with all stakeholders, state and federal agencies, and the Tribes. All projects are implemented in accordance with State of Idaho and Federal regulations.
This project also funds two fishery biologist positions (personnel only), one in the Salmon Region, and one in the Clearwater Region in order to accelerate the pace of implementation and completion of high priority, on-the-ground fish habitat improvement projects that will be funded from a variety of sources. These sources may include (but are not limited to) Bonneville Power, Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund, Farm Bill, Snake River Basin Adjudication, Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act, National Fish Passage Program, Western Native Trout Initiative, NOAA, Landowner Incentive Program, Habitat Improvement Program, etc. The primary responsibilities will be to identify potential fish habitat improvement projects, prepare proposals for funding, review and prioritize projects and proposals, coordinate activities with other public and private entities, and implement fish habitat improvement projects.
The primary goal of the work is to enhance and restore the fisheries resource. Ultimately it will assist with the recovery of ESA threatened or endangered fish species. Secondary goal is to reconnect tributaries and improve fish passage to restore fluvial fish migration. Work is expected to improve habitat for all species, anadromous and resident.
This project proposal addresses the impact of water withdrawal from Idaho anadromous rivers and streams. Irrigation diversions date back to the 1860's in the Salmon River basin of the Snake River drainage and have impacted anadromous fish in a number of ways. These impacts include loss of habitat, entrainment of smolts on their migration to the ocean, and returning adults have been blocked by irrigation diversion wing dams. Riparian corridors have been degraded by various management actions. During peak irrigation, water temperatures rise and available thermal refuge for fish is minimal. Most unscreened diversions are currently found throughout both the large and small tributary systems of the main rivers, and number in the hundreds throughout the basin. Unlike most of the main-stem river diversions, which occur on private property, many diversions in the tributaries are located upon a combination of private property as well as lands administered by Federal land management agencies, primarily the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest Service (USFS). Many tributary streams are completely de-watered by irrigation during annual low stream flow. Specific problems exist for specific species based on run timing and other biological factors. For example, adult steelhead are capable of navigating upstream small tributaries during increased spring stream flow. Following successful spawning, their offspring may perish due to entrainment in diversions, or they may succumb to high water temperatures in the late summer when water withdrawal de-waters the stream channel. Additionally, Chinook salmon parr pioneer into tributaries for rearing and thermal refuge during summer months and are subject to threats from water withdrawal. It is estimated there are still many diversions throughout the Clearwater River basin that have yet to be identified. While most diversions in the Clearwater basin are pump intakes, there are some gravity diversions. Inventory work completed in the past five years found numerous unscreened diversions on tributaries to the lower Salmon River and the Snake River below Hells Canyon Dam. Many of the diversions on the lower Salmon River tributaries service backcountry ranches and are only accessible via airplane or jet boat. Work in those areas will be far more costly than previously completed projects.
A tributary wide approach is incorporated in order to maximize benefits to the habitat. Tributary restoration, stream flow reconnection, fish passage, and fish screening work will be completed in cooperation with all stakeholders. Consolidation of irrigation diversions reduces the number of times a fish is entrained into a canal during its migration to the ocean as well as decreases the overall cost of screening. Diversion eliminations reduce ditch entrainment potential and eliminate fish passage issues at the typical push-up gravel structures. Conversions from gravity flood irrigation systems to sprinkler systems can reduce irrigation water consumption by up to seventy percent. Water conservation and riparian improvements decrease water temperatures, improve habitat for rearing, and improve available in-stream flow conditions.
One limiting factor identified in the Subbasin Plan is that a small population size of a species can hinder recovery efforts. This proposal will also address many problems identified in the Salmon Subbasin Management Plan. These problems include decreased stream flow, disconnected tributaries, fish entrainment, and ditch interceptions of tributaries. This program proposes to conduct work to functionally reconnect tributaries to increase spawning and rearing habitat for anadromous and resident salmonids. This will be accomplished by increasing stream flow, providing fish passage, and reducing entrainment into irrigation ditches. Fish screens will be installed to eliminate entrainment into unscreened diversions. Because of insufficient data in many tributaries, initial inventories are needed to identify stream diversions, stream reach characteristics, and fish species distribution and abundance. A major problem that still exists throughout all anadromous waters is that populations are isolated and stream habitat blocked by the interception of tributary streams by irrigation ditches. Tributaries that are intercepted by ditches will be identified and all attempts will be made to separate the tributary water from irrigation water that originates in other drainages. Often, irrigators possess water rights for both the ditch as well as the tributary stream that the ditch intercepts, thereby compounding the problem. Work includes improving diversion passage, installing siphons, transferring water rights, consolidating ditches, and providing water conservation measures in order to segregate these flows. Additionally, the problem of degraded riparian corridors will be addressed by initiating stream reconnects and water conservation projects. Riparian vegetation will respond and re-establish in corridors once the in-stream flow begins to provide additional water. Ultimately, tributary reconnections this program proposes will increase available stream habitat and decrease the effects of population isolation and threats from water withdrawal.
Most of the work in this proposal constitutes identifying and developing projects. Those projects will be completed by this program in other BPA funded proposals such as 2007-399-00 or completed using a cost share approach with other entities that use PCSRF monies, SRBA funding, and Mitchell Act funding. Work is targeted toward streams identified as having multiple limiting factors. | Lynn Stratton (Inactive) | | | 01/25/2013 | 11/26/2013 | Lynn Stratton (Inactive) | Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) | Habitat | None | 2013 Geographic Category Review | 2013 Geographic Review | BiOp |
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