 | GEOREV-2010-072-00 | Proposal Version 1 | Existing Project | Pending BPA Response | 2010-072-00 | Lemhi River Restoration | The Columbia Basin Fish Accords (Accords) are ten-year agreements between the federal action agencies and states and tribes. The Accords supplement the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program and are intended to assist the action agencies in meeting obligations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by producing substantial biological benefits for Columbia Basin fish. The Accords also acknowledge the tribes’ and states’ substantive role as fish resource managers, and provide greater long-term certainty for fish restoration funding and biological benefits for fish. Ongoing projects supported and new projects developed under these agreements are designed to contribute to hydro, habitat, hatchery and predation management activities required under the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Biological Opinion. In addition, projects within the agreement assist Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in meeting its mitigation obligations under the Northwest Power Act.
A broad range of partners have worked together to establish conservation objectives that will benefit ESA-listed Chinook salmon and steelhead trout as well as resident cutthroat, redband, and bull trout found on private and state properties located within the Lemhi watershed. Conservation partners include staff from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Upper Salmon Basin Watershed Program (USBWP), Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation (OSC), Lemhi Soil and Water Conservation District (LSWCD), Bureau of Reclamation (BoR), and BPA. The Lemhi watershed encompasses over 803,000 acres and includes vital spawning and rearing habitat occurring in the Salmon River Basin. The Lemhi River is a major tributary of the Upper Salmon and was historically a major spawning and rearing tributary for Snake River spring/summer-run Chinook and Snake River steelhead.
The Lemhi River Restoration Project (2010-072-00) seeks to protect in-stream and riparian habitat, improve stream flow in the Lemhi River, and assist in reconnecting tributary streams to the Lemhi River to benefit all life stages of Snake River spring/summer-run Chinook salmon and Snake River steelhead. This project will address the following limiting factors identified in the FCRPS planning process: 1. Stream flow; 2. Migration barriers; 3. Entrainment; and 4. Riparian condition, sediment, and temperature. This will be accomplished through restoration of pool habitat, spawning habitat, rearing habitat, riparian condition, stream flow, and passage to benefit all life stages of Snake River spring/summer-run Chinook salmon and Snake River steelhead.
OSC plans to utilize the IDFG, USBWP, LSWCD and non-government organizations including Lemhi Regional Land Trust (LRLT), TNC and Trout Unlimited (TU) as subcontractors in order to achieve the conservation outcomes referenced above.
Idaho’s Salmon River once produced some of the largest salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River Basin. Mallet (1974) estimated that historically 55% of all Columbia River steelhead trout originated from the Snake River basin, which includes the Salmon subbasin. Stream habitat in the Lemhi watershed has been altered by human activity much more than in other watersheds in the Upper Salmon River (Loucks 2000). Key land uses that have had limiting effects on habitat in the Lemhi River and its tributaries are irrigation, grazing, and road construction. More than 95% of the known Chinook salmon use of the river as a spawning and rearing area occurs along the upper 28 miles of the Lemhi, between Hayden Creek and the town of Leadore, Idaho. This section of river is bordered by private land, frequently lacks high quality pools and the bank stability provided by vigorous riparian vegetation, and experiences high and widely fluctuating water temperatures during the mid-to-late summer (Servheen 2001).
Idaho has selected areas in the Lemhi watershed having the highest densities of active Chinook salmon spawning, and have prioritized tributaries having the highest intrinsic potential to support spawning and rearing to maximize the biological benefits for anadromous fish. The habitat actions that target low stream flows, high stream temperatures, fish passage barriers, degraded riparian reaches, and associated sedimentation are expected to improve the productivity of Lemhi River Chinook salmon and steelhead. The tools used to accomplish these goals include irrigation diversion modification or removal, irrigation water management, livestock grazing management, and water rights lease or purchase. This work is accomplished throughout the Lemhi River Basin with the cooperation of local landowners and water users.
One of the primary limiting factors in the Lemhi watershed is adequate fish passage conditions between the Lemhi River and tributary habitats. Irrigation withdrawals that dewater stream segments and fish passage barriers (e.g. diversions and road culverts that block fish migration) effectively disconnect tributaries from the mainstem. These factors prevent access to historically available spawning and rearing habitat for anadromous species while isolating resident fish populations. Big Springs Creek and Hayden Creek are the only tributaries connected to the Lemhi year-round. Partial season reconnects have been achieved through irrigation projects on Kenney Creek and Big Timber Creek (Idaho Department of Water Resources 2011). There are 2,950 points of water diversion in the Lemhi watershed and 191 stream-alteration permits recorded. Low flows are a primary concern in the Lemhi, but channelization has also caused a loss of floodplain access and lack of habitat diversity in the lower reach. When State Highway 28 was constructed in 1952, approximately five (5) miles (8 km) of the Lemhi River channel were altered and/or isolated from the river (Gebhards 1958). An additional ten (10) miles (16 km) of Lemhi River channel were altered in 1957 in response to significant flooding (Gebhards 1958). Altered riparian habitats are common in the drainage. High water temperatures in the Lemhi River downstream of Agency Creek and in Big Springs Creek impact habitat quality (NPCC 2005).
Depending on the snow pack and early season irrigation practices, dewatering of the lower river can delay anadromous smolt and adult migrations. The large number of irrigation diversions may also delay smolts on their seaward migration, thus potentially decreasing survival. Tributaries of the upper Lemhi River above Hayden Creek (with the exception of Big Springs Creek) do not contribute to anadromous production because of low flows and irrigation withdrawals
The Lemhi River Restoration project will provide either partial season or permanent stream reconnects for Lemhi tributaries. Tributary reconnects benefit both resident and anadromous salmonids by providing access to historical spawning and rearing habitat. Chinook salmon do not have access to historical tributary habitats that would provide good quality spawning and rearing conditions, particularly in the headwater reaches that are generally unimpaired by irrigation withdrawals and land use.
This proposal implements projects developed using staff and operational support under project 2007-394-00. Proposal 2007-394-00 funds the Upper Salmon Basin Watershed Program office and staff to accelerate the pace of project development and implementation of high priority, on-the-ground fish habitat improvement projects. A project coordinator and 2.5 project planners identify, prioritize, and develop potential fish habitat improvement projects, coordinate activities with other public and private entities, and identify and prepare proposals for funding. By the time projects are proposed for implementation under 2010-072-00, they have already been vetted by the USBWP Technical Team and received support from the USBWP Advisory Committee. Environmental compliance is also completed under the 2007-394-00 contract. In short, Proposal 2010-072-00 receives developed projects from 2007-394-00 and follows through with implementation.
IDWR will assist in monitoring water outcomes. The IDFG will complete compliance and effectiveness monitoring activities under the Lemhi Conservation Plan (LCP). The premise of ISEMP is that implementation of conservation measures proposed in the LCP, is anticipated to exert a statistically detectable influence on physical habitat in the Lemhi watershed, in turn positively influencing fish vital rates (e.g., the distribution of anadromous salmonids and juvenile survival and growth). However, existing monitoring and evaluation projects in the Lemhi River sub-basin are likely insufficient to detect these changes, or identify life stage specific limiting factors to support adaptive management strategies. Thus, a rigorous study design was developed under ISEMP to guide monitoring efforts. Monitoring data generated by ISEMP will inform the LCP adaptive management process and guide future management decisions relative to improving anadromous fish habitat in the basin.
The ISEMP design underwent extensive scientific review and was approved by the Independent Scientific Review Panel. The ISEMP project will generate more precise estimates of juvenile abundance, growth, survival, and distribution as well as adult escapement and distribution. Additionally, the ISEMP project will generate continuous quantitative data describing habitat quantity and quality through the use of green Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and empirical habitat data collected at the reach scale via on-the-ground habitat surveys. Thus, the project is capable of determining how effective the conservation actions were at increasing the abundance and overall quality of habitat, as well as how fish responded to these changes. | Amy Hines | | | 12/18/2012 | 11/26/2013 | Amy Hines | Idaho Governor's Office of Species Conservation, Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited (TU) | Habitat | None | 2013 Geographic Category Review | 2013 Geographic Review | BiOp, Fish Accord |
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