Subbasin planning update
for July 15, 2003 Council meeting
The Council?s role in the subbasin planning process has continued in
the contract negotiation phase since the last subbasin planning update in
April. Most of the planning groups are in full swing now, and the
Council?s work will transition to more of a support and tracking
role. Work that will occur in the next year involves: tracking
progress; continued coordination with our federal partners for Recovery
Planning and statewide processes for subbasin and Recovery Planning;
providing technical data and support; and planning for and implementing
the process for the scientific review of subbasin plans. This update
will summarize the status of issues related to our work in these areas:
Status of workplans, contracts and overall budget
Workplans
Since the last subbasin planning update in April, several more subbasin
workplans have gained Council approval. Subbasins that will not be
developing a plan within our current timeframe are the Blackfoot,
Bitterroot, Clark Fork and the Sandy. The workplans awaiting
approval are for the Klickitat, White Salmon, Lower Middle Mainstem
Columbia River and Crab Creek, and these are anticipated to come in for
Council approval in late July or August.
Contracts
To date, we are administering or negotiating 77 contracts for subbasin
planning. Of the 77, there are 53 for the subbasin level.
There are 54 subbasins that are moving forward on plan development. Often,
one contract covers multiple subbasins, or one subbasin includes multiple
contracts. There are 17 state-level contracts and another seven
regional level contracts.
Budget
There are $15.2 million available for subbasin planning for
FY03/04. Of that, the Council has approved $12.2 million for
Bonneville to release funds, leaving $3 million. Of the $3 million
remaining, $500,000 is from the regional level, and the remainder is split
between the four states ranging from $414,000 to $946,000. The
amount of subbasin planning funding actually spent to date is just over $1
million. That figure is less than originally anticipated, but not
surprising because contract negotiations have been the primary focus of
efforts for the last seven months. The spending will increase
significantly over the next year as the actual planning activities are
undertaken.
Overview of planning progress
Those subbasins with signed contracts are fully engaged in the
assessment and inventory components of the planning process. Those
still awaiting contracts or signatures have started the preliminary
processes, such as scheduling meetings and hiring consultants. The
assessment work in many subbasins has been slower than anticipated for a
variety of reasons. This has some subbasin planners concerned about
finishing by May 2004.
Schedule
There is commitment at a variety of levels to maintain the May 28th
deadline for submitting plans. However, there is expressed concern
by the statewide coordinators that the deadline will be difficult to meet
in subbasins that have gotten off to a particularly slow or late
start. Statewide Coordinators and staff will continue to track
progress of each subbasin throughout the year.
Technical support
Mobrand Biometrics, Northwest Habitat Institute, and The Nature Conservancy are
providing information, data, and analysis for subbasins in the
region. Various tools are being used, or will be used as the process
moves forward, including Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment, Interactive
Biodiversity Information System, The Nature Conservancy?s SITES model,
and Qualitative Habitat Assessment. The work on Out of Subbasin
Assumptions began in early June with a meeting of relevant parties.
Assignments were made for key people to assemble the appropriate data and
information. The results will be available for planners in
August. Mobrand staff continues to work with local biologists to
develop the necessary tools to run EDT models for Bull Trout. The
Northwest Habitat Institute continues to work with the wildlife managers
on the coordinated approach for wildlife assessments.
ISRP review of subbasin plans
Staff is continuing to develop the process for reviewing subbasin
plans. The general review structure is outlined in the revised Call
for Recommendations (August 2002) for pre-formal and formal submission of
plans. The process will include the optional pre-formal submission
period in which the ISRP can review a plan before May 28. This
option may also include a response period that occurs before May 28th
in which planners could respond to ISRP comments. All plans
must be submitted on May 28th, whether they are first-time
submittals or revised plans based on early ISRP review during the
pre-formal submission phase. Staff will continue to work with each
state on pre-formal submission implementation. Staff will also
prepare a more detailed description of this process for the August
meeting.
Regional Coordination Group meeting
The next RCG meeting will be held on July 22 in Boise at the Senate
Caucus Room of the State Capitol building (700 W State Street). All
of these topics will be discussion items at that meeting. Staff will
report back to the Council in August on the highlights of this meeting.
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