StreamNet Project
BPA Project No.:  1988-108-04
FY 2012 Work Statement
October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012

The StreamNet Project, a cooperative data compilation and data management project under the Fish and Wildlife Program (FWP) focused on fish and fish related data, provides regionally standardized, georeferenced fish related data and data services.  Emphasis of the project in FY-12, in addition to routine data acquisition, standardization, georeferencing and update, is to support regional scale reporting of Viable Salmonid Population (VSP) indicators through the Coordinated Assessments effort of Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) and Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership (PNAMP), support reporting of status and trend data through the Status of the Resource (SOTR) report, and to promote and support development of data management capabilities in the data source agencies to improve data flow and efficiency.  

StreamNet is playing a strong role in regional scale collaborative efforts, including PNAMP (Steering Committee, Data Management Leadership Team, Metadata Work Group, etc.) and CBFWA (providing data to the SOTR).  A primary focus is supporting the Coordinated Assessment effort through participation on the planning team, supervising the initial data gathering effort, and providing data management advice and guidance as the fisheries agencies and tribes develop their programs to begin routine sharing of VSP indicators externally.

Key components of planned emphasis in Fiscal Year 2012 include the following:

•  Emphasis on data to feed regional scale reporting at a high level.  High priority will be on the three derived VSP indicators that are the initial focus of the Coordinated Assessments project.  Derived estimates are somewhat of a new direction for StreamNet because most data served through the project have primarily been either basic field data or slightly summarized data.  The project will continue its involvement in the project and begin planning for the potential to add acquisition and dissemination of these VSP indicators through the StreamNet database and online query system.  High Level Indicators (HLI) under the NPCC will also be emphasized if requested.

•  Priority on data to feed regional reporting through the SOTR report.  Priority for updating established data trends will be given to data describing focal species that are reported through the SOTR.

•  Maintenance and update of data sets that constitute the long term data housed in the StreamNet database and disseminated through the StreamNet online data query system and interactive map applications.

•  Establishing automated data flow.  Work will continue toward developing automated processes for sharing data, including for transferring data from the source agencies to the main StreamNet database and for providing routine data to specific data users, such as CBFWA for use in the SOTR.  We see automation as the primary means of increasing efficiency within the project in the future.  We will expand upon the successful tests of automated transfer from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) Idaho Fish and Wildlife Information System (IFWIS) database.  We will also continue to explore means to automate data transfer via Extensible Markup Language (XML) based web services, which will be a prerequisite for any move toward implementing an exchange network approach to regional data sharing.

•  Support development of data systems within agencies.  We will continue to support development of the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Information System within IDFG, and provide assistance as requested with other agency efforts, such as the Juvenile Migrant Exchange (JMX) in WDFW and the Salmon Recovery Tracker in Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).  These and similar agency systems will greatly improve data sharing within agencies, to StreamNet, to the public, and eventually to automated approaches similar to the EPA Exchange Network.

•  Refine our strategy to compensate for lost staffing.  Inflation over time has eroded staffing capacity, particularly in Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and ODFW.  As a result, WDFW StreamNet had to limit data acquisition to only the lower Columbia Basin subbasins, and ODFW StreamNet has taken a subbasin by subbasin approach to acquiring data for priority focal species, but may be unable to address all subbasins each year.  Several components of the project have moved some of their staff time to other funding sources, but for other work.  Without funding to restore staffing levels, strategy options may include 1) encouraging data source agencies to emphasize development of agency-wide database approaches, 2) increased automation of data exchange where made possible by the first option, 3) continue or increase reliance on other funding sources to support specialized staff to free up funding to support additional data technicians until automated data exchanges become more feasible, and 4) attempt to identify funding to leverage efforts that meet goals for the project and other funding sources.  Without changes, it will be necessary to update some data types only on an every other year basis or skipping parts of a state, a significant departure from our goal of increasing coverage and speed of data compilation.  As currently budgeted in FY-12 and unless other agency funding can be obtained, data compilation in Washington may be limited to the lower Columbia subbasins and in Oregon all subbasins may not be included in data capture.  We anticipate addressing this need in the FY-13 project proposal.

•  Increase emphasis on acquiring data from tribal programs.  While the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) portion of the StreamNet project is using Accord supported projects to work with their member tribes and improve data flow, we will investigate means of providing internal support to other tribes to assist with internal data system development and flow of data to StreamNet.  This was based on our experience with the Coordinated Assessments which illustrated the tribal desire to improve their data sharing capabilities.  Funding to address this need will be included in the FY-13 project proposal.

The StreamNet statement of work is organized around seven Work Elements, with multiple individual WE Titles and associated milestones for all project participants:

1.  WE 159 Transfer/Consolidate Regionally Standardized Data.  This work element encompasses the acquisition, standardization, georeferencing and consolidation of fish related data by the agencies that participate in the StreamNet project.  This also includes acquisition of source documents for all acquired data and submission of the references to the StreamNet Library at CRITFC.   Specific data types involved are detailed in the milestones in the work statement.

2.  WE 160 Create/Manage/Maintain Database.  All components of the StreamNet project maintain databases and computer systems to support their work at both the source agency and regional (PSMFC) levels.  This work includes maintenance and needed upgrade of the hardware and software systems, development of applications to assist in data management and manipulation (including stored procedures for quality assessment of data), development of standard data formats to assure data consistency across the region, and maintenance of regional base data layers essential for management and depiction of data, including the new mixed scale routed hydrography (stream layer) and various general GIS layers.

3.  WE 161 Disseminate Raw/Summary Data and Results.  Data from StreamNet and independent data sets from the Data Store, maps, data references, and various other materials are disseminated primarily through the StreamNet website www.streamnet.org.  Other data services include responding to requests for information from individuals, subbasin planners, other FWP supported projects, watershed councils, recovery teams, agencies and regional entities.

4.  WE 189 Regional Coordination.  StreamNet coordinates with a variety of other database projects and regional initiatives, including CBFWA (SOTR, Data Management Framework Subcommittee), PNAMP (Steering Committee, Data Management Leadership Team, other work groups), Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG), Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC), Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program (ISEMP), subbasin planners, recovery planners, data source agencies including states, tribes and federal agencies, etc.  The purpose of coordination is to facilitate flow of data, provide data management expertise, and avoid duplication of effort.  A primary emphasis in FY-12 will be continued activities related to the Coordinated Assessments.

5.  WE 119 Manage and Administer Projects.  All project participants contribute to management of the StreamNet project, including managing their own respective components and through participation in the StreamNet Steering Committee.

6.  WE 132 Produce (Annual) Progress Report.  All project participants contribute to a detailed annual report of activities and accomplishments throughout the fiscal year.

7.  WE 185 Produce Pisces Status Report.  This work element entails completing and submitting abbreviated quarterly and final status reports in the Pisces system.

The bulk of the project consists of sub-projects within four state fish and wildlife agencies (WDFW, ODFW, IDFG and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks - MFWP) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to develop data and databases within the respective agencies and facilitate data transfer in regionally consistent format.  In addition to administratively housing the StreamNet sub-projects, these cooperating agencies also contribute in kind support.  The kind and amount of support varies between agencies.  Most agencies provide at least some salary support for their respective StreamNet Project Leader (from one or two months to full time).  Several agencies contribute use of servers or other computer equipment and services that are not covered by charges for indirect costs.  All contribute time by biologists and in some cases data entry staff to provide data to the project.  

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) administers StreamNet and is responsible for the regional components of the project, including maintaining the regional database, assuring regional data standardization, making data available in tabular and Geographic Information System (GIS) formats, building and operating Internet based data delivery systems, and posting the data for public access.

Details of the actual tasks performed by the project are detailed in the Milestones under each Work Element.