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Council recommends funding $1.9 million in innovative fish and wildlife
projects
Related link: Innovative
Project Selection
August 14, 2002
Helena, Montana — The Council this week
picked 10 fish and wildlife projects that will utilize new and
innovative techniques to enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia River
Basin. Meeting in Helena, the Council recommended the projects to
the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal power marketing agency
that funds the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife
Program, which is designed to mitigate the impacts of hydropower dams on
fish and wildlife.
The projects total $1,960,710, which is within the $2 million set aside
in the Council’s program for funding innovative projects. Three
projects will be conducted throughout the Columbia River system, three
are in Idaho, two are in Washington, one is in Oregon and one is in the
lower Columbia River of Oregon and Washington. See below for
details on recommended projects.
The Council annually solicits innovative projects, which are projects
that rely primarily on a method or technology that has not been used
before in a fish and wildlife project in the Northwest, or that use an
established method or technology in a new way. The innovative
projects make up a small but significant portion of the Council’s
program, which annually directs more than $150 million to fish and
wildlife enhancement.
“Most of the projects in our program rely on tried and true
techniques, but we also specifically seek out new ideas that have
scientific merit,” Council Chairman Larry Cassidy said. “Together
with Bonneville, we are pleased to encourage and reward innovative
thinking.”
The Council began soliciting and recommending innovative projects in
1998, in response to a recommendation of the Independent Scientific
Review Panel (ISRP), which annually reviews all projects proposed for
funding through the Council’s fish and wildlife program. In
2002, innovative projects were solicited in February,
reviewed by the
ISRP in May and made available for public comment in June.
The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and
Washington and is directed by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to prepare
a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife of the
Columbia River Basin affected by hydropower dams while also assuring the
region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.
Details on recommended projects
Click any project number for full proposal.
Columbia River systemwide: “Systemwide projects are intended to improve our knowledge about
fish survival and fish science throughout the Columbia River Basin,”
Council Chairman Larry Cassidy said. “The projects we
recommended target specific research needs and will provide information
that will be useful to other efforts we have under way, and also to our
work in the future.”
- Project No. 34008, compile and compare data from habitat
restoration projects in multiple watersheds to enhance the rate of
learning about effects of restoration actions on fish populations,
optimize the design of future restoration programs and improve
monitoring.
- Project 34002, develop better protocols for spawning salmon in
Columbia River Basin hatcheries and assess reproductive success of
individual fish in hatcheries.
- Project 34005, use recent advances in DNA microarray technology to
address genetic issues underlying questions related to hatchery
management and interactions of wild and hatchery fish populations.
Idaho: “It is important to seek out and reward innovative thinking,” said
Council Vice Chair Judi Danielson, an Idaho member of the Council.
“I am pleased that several of the projects we recommended will be
carried out in Idaho and will focus on Idaho species.”
- Project 34019, evaluate the relationships among river discharge,
subsurface (hyporheic) zone characteristics, and egg pocket water
temperature in Snake River fall chinook salmon spawning areas and
evaluate the potential for improving Snake River fall chinook salmon
smolt survival.
- Project 34022, identify population structure of indigenous chinook
salmon in the Middle Fork Salmon River of Idaho from patterns of
genetic variation.
- Project 34036, develop a calibration tool to enable analysis of
biological productivity for streams and rivers throughout the
Columbia River Basin, to be demonstrated on a subbasin of the Salmon
River in Idaho (yet to be determined).
Washington: “The projects selected in Washington will provide important
information on existing water quality and will demonstrate techniques to
improve water quality and fish spawning habitat,” said Tom Karier, a
Washington member of the Council. “The projects are in the
Columbia River and in a Snake River tributary, Asotin Creek, and will
address both ESA-listed and non-listed fish species.”
- Project 34001, monitor the occurrence of salmon pathogens and
assess sources, fate and transport of pathogens in the upper middle
Columbia River.
- Project 34030, increase water infiltration during high
precipitation periods by adopting proper agriculture practices, and
use land and aquifers to temporarily store water for subsequent
release into streams for flow enhancement and temperature
control. The project would take place in Asotin Creek.
Oregon: “The project recommended in Oregon continues the Council’s long-term
investment in the Hood River, where the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
have made impressive gains in improving chinook salmon populations and
spawning habitat,” said John Brogoitti, an Oregon member of the
Council and chairman of the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee.
- Project 34023, test hydraulics and biological safety (injury and
mortality) of a new design for fish screens. The design in
question is called an undershot horizontal flat plate screen, in
which water flows under the screen rather than over the top of
it. The project would test the ability of the undershot design
to pass fish, sediment and debris as compared to an overshot
screen. The screen would be tested in Elliot Creek, a
tributary of the Hood River.
Lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington: “We know there are shad in the lower Columbia River, but we don’t
have a good understanding of how shad and juvenile salmon compete for
food,” Council Chairman Larry Cassidy said. “This project will
provide valuable information that will help Oregon and Washington manage
these and other species in the river.”
- Project 34021, explore the role of American shad in Columbia River
food webs to better understand shad and fall chinook salmon feeding
ecology in the Columbia River. The study would take place in
the lower Columbia River of Oregon and Washington.
Contact: John Harrison, 503-222-5161, |
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