Project Goal: The overall goal is to continue the research, monitoring, and evaluation program being conducted in the John Day basin (Basin) by the John Day Basin Office (JDBO) of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.  Four primary objectives will be implemented, through a combination of tasks, to meet issues that have been identified with the existing monitoring effort and to address emerging issues associated with the program.  The objectives are related to three primary areas of interest:  1) assessing resource recovery that has resulted from past restoration activities; 2) evaluating trends in resource recovery resulting from the ongoing watershed program; and 3) identifying the current condition and trends in resources as a background to other ongoing evaluations.

Specific goals are further identified and discussed in the appropriate sections, which follow.

Background:  Since 1997, the JDBO has conducted a watershed restoration program in the Basin in cooperation with multiple funding and implementing agencies.  In addition to serving as the Tribal coordination program, the JDBO also serves as the liaison office for the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and coordinates the BOR's activities in the basin as well.  Integral to the watershed program is an annual monitoring and evaluation effort, implemented for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of various agency funded watershed restoration projects.  The monitoring program is conducted under an annual monitoring plan(s), which is prepared by the JDBO in cooperation with other Basin agencies.  

As the watershed program has grown (from $230,000 in FY97 to over $1.0 million in FY02), the monitoring and research component has not kept pace.  Also, as the program has evolved, issues associated with project implementation activities have been identified.  For example, some funding agencies and segments of the local community have repeatedly requested an assessment of the actual benefits associated with prior restoration activities (e.g., riparian corridor fencing program).  In addition, local irrigators and the Oregon Water Resources Department have identified concerns with specific types of restoration project categories (e.g., irrigation efficiencies) as they relate to water availability elsewhere.  These needs were identified in the original JDBO proposal to the BPA for funding and resulted from extensive discussions with the local community, other agencies and internal needs assessments.  In addition, they were captured within the John Day Sub basin Summary.  The proposal currently in front of the BPA, and previously approved by the Northwest Power Planning Council, is to continue the annual monitoring program in order to address additional site- and resource-specific issues that are larger in scope than the prior annual monitoring effort.

Location:  Various locations in the upper main stem, Middle Fork, and North Fork John Day Rivers (see attached map).

BPA Furnished Property or Services:  None.

Objective 1:  Determine scouring effects on Chinook salmon redds.

Objective 2:  Monitor water quantity and quality within the upper John Day River basin.

Objective 3:  Study the effects of flood irrigation on adjacent stream flows and temperatures for a period of 3-5 years. - Continuing

Objective 4:  Manage the program; complete budgeting requirements and other administrative functions.  - NOT FULLY FUNDED - Continuing