2010-073-00: Proposals

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Proposals

A Proposal is an application to continue existing work or start new work. While historically the Program solicited for all types of projects at once, starting in fiscal year 2009, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and BPA are reviewing and soliciting for projects that are similar in nature and intent. These "categorical" reviews started with Wildlife projects and continue with Research, Monitoring, & Evaluation (RME) and Artificial Production (Hatchery) projects.

Project 2010-073-00 - Columbia Land Trust Estuarine Restoration

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	Proposal Number	Proposal Version	Type	State	Project	Title	Description	Creator	Percent Complete	Proposal Budget Limit	Create Date	Last Updated	Primary Contact	Proponent	Purpose	Emphasis	Solicitation	Portfolio	Biop Fish Accord
		Proposal Version 1	Existing Project	Pending BPA Response				Scott McEwen (Inactive)


	GEOREV-2010-073-00	Proposal Version 1	Existing Project	Pending BPA Response	2010-073-00	Columbia Land Trust Estuarine Restoration	Columbia Land Trust acquires private property in the historic floodplain of the Lower Columbia River to develop, design and construct on-the-ground restoration actions that are intended to benefit threatened and endangered salmonid species and help meet survival benefit targets/goals required under the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Biological Opinion (BiOp). The Columbia Land Trust Estuarine Restoration Project is intended to implement the following RPA required by the FCRPS BiOp. RPA action 37 states: “Estuary Habitat Implementation 2010-2018 - Achieving Habitat Quality and Survival Improvement Targets. The AAs will provide funding to implement additional specific projects as needed to achieve the total estuary survival benefits identified in the FCRPS BA.” Project work will occur within the lower Columbia River and estuary. The estuary is delineated in this proposal by that which encompasses the entire complex of gradients ranging from fluvial to nearshore ocean ecosystems and includes the tidally influenced portions of the Columbia River mainstem and its tributaries and floodplain from the River’s mouth to Bonneville Dam and the Willamette Falls. This definition is based on tidal variation, rather than salinity. This definition follows the CREEC system (Simenstad et al. 2004) being developed by the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership (2003-007-00) for monitoring sampling design and restoration planning in this region. All restoration actions implemented within this project are intended to benefit threatened and endangered salmonid species rearing and migrating in main stem and tidal habitats of the Columbia River estuary. Columbia Land Trust has permanently conserved 6,222 acres of Columbia Estuary floodplain over the last twelve years. Columbia Land Trust has accomplished this by securing a land base (through purchase, donation and easements) from willing private land owners at appraised value through fair market processes. Once permanently protected these lands serve as a land base where on-the-ground restoration projects are implemented. The restoration projects developed within this program are primarily tidal reconnection actions that restore full or near full tidal influence to wetland and floodplain areas that have been historically disconnected from tidal and fluvial hydrologic processes by such anthropogentic feature as levees, roads, dredge material and railroad causeways. These restoration actions intend to restore such natural habitat forming processes as tidal hydrology, sediment accretion, and the movement of macro-detritus that shape and maintain estuarine wetland habitats. Columbia Land Trust coordinates with other Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program (CEERP) partners on the prioritization of projects using recently developed landscape assessment tools such as: 1) Tidally Impaired Dataset – This is a polygon GIS file that maps areas in the floodplain that could be inundated but that is currently impaired by structures such as dikes, levees, culverts, tidegates, etc. 2) Lower Columbia River Terrain Model - This is seamless elevation model which includes the most current topographic and bathymetric data that have been collected for the Lower Columbia mainstem and floodplain. All topographic data and the majority of the bathymetric data were collected subsequent to 2008. Historical bathymetric data was included in gap areas, in order to provide as complete coverage as possible. The data sets were compiled and merged into the seamless model by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in 2010. Much of the recent shallow water bathymetric data was collected under contract by the Estuary Partnership. The model has seen a variety of applications, including hydrodynamic and sediment modeling, as well as simple flood inundation predictions in GIS. 3) Columbia River Estuarine Ecosystem Classification (Classification) - This robust classification was developed through collaboration between the Estuary Partnership, University of Washington, and USGS. It is a hierarchical classification which characterizes the unique ecosystem of the lower Columbia River. The various hierarchical levels define the hydrologic regimes, as well as the geophysical processes which have formed the unique landscape over geologic time. Four of the six overall levels are directly applicable to estuarine research, restoration, monitoring, and management. This project, being implemented under the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program within the Columbia River estuary, is required to undergo technical review at both the project (ISRP) and at the action level. At the action level, the acquisition and restoration actions implemented within this project are technically reviewed using: 1) project review committee that uses a broad ecosystem review criteria developed by the Estuary Partnership that evaluates potential benefits to both fish and wildlife, consistent with the Council Program; 2) a juvenile salmon review criteria developed by BPA and the Corps to assess the benefits to juvenile salmonids in response to emerging needs from the FCRPS BiOp. These juvenile salmonid review criteria are meant to supplement the broader Estuary Partnership review criteria during the BiOp period (through 2018). These juvenile salmonid review criteria are evaluated and updated regularly as part of the CEERP adaptive management process. In 2012, scientists from PNNL and NOAA developed a Synthesis Memorandum summarizing RM and E results relevant to habitat restoration in the LCRE. Key findings from the SM and other regional studies have been incorporated into the review criteria. All of the restoration actions implemented under this project receive action effectiveness monitoring known within CREEP as Level 3. Level 3 action effectiveness monitoring entails: 1) the deployment of equipment for continuous data logging (e.g., water surface elevation and temperature), 2) periodic (once per year for 5-10 y) measurements of sediment accretion, 3) photo points, 4) time series of aerial photographs. A subset of sites will be chosen for Levels 1 and 2, which include more intensive indicators and higher level of effort, depending on the outcome of a prioritization of restoration projects on an estuary-wide basis. The ultimate goal on a programmatic level is to correlate the results of the Level 3 AEMR with results of Levels 1 and 2 AEMR. This approach was designed within CEERP to be a cost effective mechanism of assessing benefits of restoration actions on an estuary-wide basis by capturing as much AEMR data as possible, recognizing that intensive AEMR cannot be done at all sites.	Scott McEwen (Inactive)			12/12/2012	11/26/2013	Scott McEwen (Inactive)	Columbia Land Trust	Habitat	None	2013 Geographic Category Review	2013 Geographic Review	BiOp