Overview:  The Snake River Salmon Recovery Board (SRSRB) manages the Tucannon River Programmatic Habitat Project (2010-077-00) through this parent contract for the operations support, management organization, implementation assistance, and reporting described in this summary. The goal of the Tucannon River programmatic is to restore habitat function and channel processes in the spring Chinook priority restoration reaches of the Tucannon River, leading to improved population productivity and abundance.  

Background: The Programmatic Habitat project works to: 1) set an annual workplan in coordination with the implementation partners, and then allocates budgets and assists in the pursuit of matching funds; 2) provide technical support to the implementation partners and coordinates outside technical design review; 3) provide a forum for the implementers to coordinate their restoration project among regional BPA funded projects including the CCD Columbia County Tucannon Stream & Riparian Restoration Project (1994-018-06), the CTUIR Tucannon Watershed: Protect and Restore Habitat (2008-202-00), and the WDFW Floodplain Management Plan; 4) support collaboarative project development so that implementers may gain local endorsement of proposed restoration projects by vetting habitat concepts and design elements through the regional salmon recovery board (SRSRB); 5) conduct public involvement and develop outreach materials for the purpose of promoting the Programmatic's restoration goals and objectives; and 6) collect information about project implementation outcomes to document performance, report accomplishments, validate improved habitat conditions, and inform program reporting.

Current Emphases:  Project management activities in 2020 will encompass the following major tasks. The SRSRB will assist CCD, CTUIR, NPT and WDFW staff to implement the ecological restoration and habitat improvement projects in the following priority stream reaches: PA-13 (Phase I) construction; PA-13 (Phase II) pre-construction; PA-17 & PA-18 (Phase II) design & pre-construction/construction; PA-26 design and pre-construction; PA-28 (Phase I-III) riparian planting; and PA-32 design update and construction. The SRSRB staff will also assist in the development and design of priority projects in the following areas:  PA-2, PA-27/28 (CTUIR), PA-26, PA-32 Phase II (CCD); Tummalum Barrier & BDAs (NPT); and PA-13 Phase II (WDFW).  These projects have been prioritized and selected for their high-benefit to spring Chinook habitat. The primary focus of the ten projects are to increase stream channel complexity through wood placement, and promote floodplain connectivity through increasing connection to side and off-channel habitats. The SRSRB will continue to work with the watershed partners through the CCD to review and finalize the Conceptual Restoration Strategy and Implementation Plan for the Tucannon during the Winter of 2020 -- for immediate implementation in evaluating and selecting habitat projects beginning in the next work period. Finally, in this period the programmatic implementation partners will work to distill existing monitoring plans into a comprehensive approach, of sufficient scope and scale, but that can still be implemented in a period of diminshed RM&E budgets.

Constraints (the need to phase certain project-area work): For pragmatic reasons, PA-17 & 18 (Phase II) and PA-13 (Phase I & II) are being sequenced across multiple implementation periods due to the size of the reach areas, the complexities involved in funding both projects (within a single fiscal-year), and permitting constraints for some of the actions proposed. The two-phased approach at PA-17 &18 will also provide an opportunity to incrementally develop design concepts with multiple private landowners. The design contractor selected in 2017 for Phase-I is continuing to work with CTUIR and program staff to develop designs for Phase-II that balance landowner needs and interests with the requirements of effective and well-considered salmon and steelhead habitat actions. This continuity should lead to a quality restoration design that incorporates project elements ready for implementation in 2020 or 2021. PA-13 is currently being phased to accommodate both funding complexities as well as a limited seasonal work window; implementation activities commenced at PA-13 in the Fall (2019), with in-water work scheduled for completion in 2021.

Ongoing: The SRSRB will continue to support the CCD in the completion of the Conceptual Restoration Plan update (2019-20), and the application of the Strategy to subsequent project proposal evaluations. The SRSRB will work with sponsors to prioritize restoration actions based on the Plan recommendations, and complete restoration designs for future implementation. In the interim, the SRSRB will support the CCD in updating and adapting the design for PA-32 (Phase I), developing the PA-26 wood loading design, and providing coordination assistance for the CCD’s EC-clearances in 2020-21. The SRSRB will support WDFW in the finalization and implementation of designs for PA-13 (Phase I & II), for implementation beginning in 2019, and work in support with WDFW in securing project matching funds, EC clearance and review of those designs.  The SRSRB will support NPT in the assessment and coordination of the fish barrier assessment/design at the Tumalum Bridge.

To track the progress of implementation toward habitat goals in the Tucannon, the SRSRB will continue to conduct pre and post project surveys of conditions within the project reaches using a Rapid Habitat technique adapted from the CHaMP protocol. The greatest value of the surveys to the Program is their use as an as-built condition of each project quickly following construction. The surveys will be made available to those conducting change detection research to better assist them in understanding the restoration activities and results.
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Habitat restoration projects developed though the programmatic are vetted in the SRSRB recovery process building local support in the communities where the restoration will take place.  Restoration projects recommended for funding under the programmatic have undergone multiple levels of review and technical comment before being recommended for implementation.  Only projects exhibiting high benefit to spring Chinook are currently recommended for funding, with selection criteria that prioritize projects that will address the limiting factors outlined for the Tucannon River in the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Biological Opinion.

Purpose:  The projects are expected to increase pool and LWD frequency, improve off-channel habitat, promote floodplain connectivity by increasing stream channel roughness (LWD), and increase channel and side channel length.

Objectives:  The restoration objectives for the Tucannon spring Chinook are as follows (channel structure, LWD and floodplain connectivity being the highest priority):  
  1.  Increase riparian function to 75% of maximum
  2.  Increase large woody debris to 2 or more pieces per channel width
  3.  Increase pool frequency to 15% of stream area
  4.  Reduce channel confinement/increase floodplain connectivity to at least 25% of river length
  5.  Reduce maximum daily water temperature so that it does not exceed 72F at confluence of Pataha Creek (RM 11.8 of the Tucannon)
  6.  Decrease substrate embeddedness to 20% in all reaches above confluence of Pataha Creek (RM 11.8).

Status:  In 2015, the SRSRB RTT worked with project sponsors to identify the high priority projects which are in stage of design that could put them in position for construction in the 2018 & 2020 work windows. The RTT has selected projects based on their ability to achieve measurable progress towards one or more of the objectives listed above, that are outlined in a work plan through 2020.  Solicitation of projects will take place annually as the following two years’ work is outlined and recommended to BPA for funding. Project designs will be evaluated by the RTT and the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board as they are developed leading into implementation.  It is anticipated an updated work plan will be developed in 2020 as the Tucannon Conceptual Restoration Plan is finalized and will be reviewed by the  local RTT.

In 2017, the Programmatic continued to use it annual project implementation funding to leverage matching grants from outside funders, and typically averages cost-share amounts between 200-400 k/fiscal year.  In 2016 >700k was awarded to the program sponsors from the SRFB for implementation in 2017.  It is not the desire of the programmatic nor sustainable to pursue grants of that size from the SRFB due to the funding impact on other projects within the region.  In 2019,  matching funds were pursued by WDFW for PA 13 for implementation in 2020-21, 400k awarded in SRFB round.  The  CCD also was assisted in the development of 250k grant request in 2019 which is anticipated for the 2020-21 implementation work window.  The Programmatic provides technical support to its project sponsors in the pursuit and acquisition of matching grants for both the design and construction of projects within the framework of the review and evaluation process for the Tucannon.

Management Considerations: Implementation of projects is expected to be completed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Columbia Conservation District, Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group (legislative program that supports non-profit groups of volunteers who cooperate with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to improve salmon resources throughout the state), the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Pomeroy Conservation District, Nez Pierce Tribe and/or other qualified groups, tribes, or agencies that submit proposals that are approved by the SRSRB.

This ongoing BPA contract support will facilitate the development of future projects and the refinement of the work plan as well as soliciting project sponsors for implementation.  The SRSRB will also facilitate the collection and reporting of data for implementation status, action and habitat effectiveness, and trend monitoring.  The SRSRB will update the Habitat Work Schedule restoration project data base with new project starts, and the completion status for active projects.  With long-term and sufficient funding levels, restoring channel processes and habitat function across large reaches will improve spring Chinook productivity in the Tucannon River.