Overview: Previously, individual reach-scale Project Areas (PA) encompassed in yearly contract support for the Columbia Conservation District (CCD), have been identified and prioritized by the geomorphic assessments and conceptual restoration plans for the Watershed, reviewed by the SRSRB Regional Technical Team (RTT), Tucannon Coordinating Committee (TCC) and Tucannon Implementers Workgroup (TIW), and placed on the SRSRB 3-year habitat work schedule.  Project areas were assessed under the following elements: channel characterization, floodplain characteristics, conceptual project actions, geomorphic implications, biological benefits and potential challenges.  Projects were then evaluated and placed in implementation tiers based on four criteria: expected biological response, consistency with natural processes, benefit-to-cost, and reach priority (Anchor November 2012, pages 29-44).

Currently, there is a on-going effort to complete the Tucannon River Conceptual Restoration Plan (Update); project proposals for this funding cycle are reflective of the "Draft" plan update: Tucannon River Habitat Restoration Design, Geomorphic Assessment (7/19), and Habitat Restoration Prioritization and Conceptual Restoration Plans (10/2019). For this assessment, Anchor QEA developed methodologies and performed analyses to characterize the geomorphic conditions of the Tucannon River basin through the lens of four parameters: channel and floodplain connectivity, channel complexity, bedload and sediment dynamics, and in-channel structure. The updated geomorphic assessment for the Tucannon River is primarily grounded in these four attributes, analyzed to understand and describe the performance or condition of existing physical processes: floodplain connectivity, river complexity, stream power, and pool frequency.

The restoration strategies and recommendations for each delineated reach is based on habitat limiting factors identified in the Tucannon Subbasin Plan (CCD 2004), Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan (SRSRB 2006, 2010), and the "Draft" Tucannon Conceptual Restoration Plan Update (in development), including salmonid life history and site-specific physical, hydrologic and geomorphic conditions. The selection criteria that will prioritize projects for implementation address the limiting factors outlined for the Tucannon River in the Biological Opinion (Bi-Op) for the FCRPS.

The District (CCD) will implement actions under the Tucannon Stream and Riparian Protection, Enhancement and Restoration Project to address and improve riparian area recovery/maintenance, floodplain connectivity and function, and instream habitat quantity and diversity, the primary aquatic habitat limiting attributes identified in the "draft" Tucannon River Conceptual Restoration Plan Update, Tucannon Subbasin Plan and Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan.  The District will focus implementation on private lands; approximately 75% of the assessed basin is in private landownership. Restoration actions on public lands are being led by WDFW and CTUIR currently.  CCD will present project proposals to affected landowners and assess interest and willingness to participate; as priority projects planned for implementation progress through design stages, they will be reviewed by the RTT, TCC and TIW, incorporating technical input.  Tiered projects from both Untreated and Treated categories will be considered for future development and implementation. Plan assessment, technical merit, ranking and private landowner interest, adjoining restoration activities and local technical teams(s) input and the District's ability to leverage BPA funding are critical drivers in successful implementation of these additional projects.  
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Ongoing (FY20): Under separate contract for implementation in FY20/21, the District will use contract funds, leveraged with SRFB-RCO funding, to construct the planned habitat restoration actions on a portion of Project Area 26, located between River Miles 26.9-26.0 (Conceptual Restoration Plan, Reaches 6 to 10 Tucannon River Phase II, Anchor QEA Nov. 2011). Restoration actions include: a) construction of LWD instream structures (28) to enhance habitat complexity and diversity, and enhanced floodplain connectivity, b) LWD/rootwad log structures (15) for roughened floodplain conditions to reduce overland flow velocities and enhance floodplain juvenile habitats. Design features address identified limiting factors with multiple lifecycle benefits for ESA-listed Spring Chinook, Snake River steelhead and Bull trout (Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan).

The additional work emphases expected in this period include: (1) permitting and environmental compliance activities associated with construction support, that are ongoing: additional requirements may continue past the start of the contract term (Apr), and will be completed by July 2020; (2) design engineering that may be refined (as needed) to reflect any year-to-year changes in channel morphology or to site conditions, and be adjusted to any variations in compliance requirements expected to continue into the start of the contract term (Apr); (3) Tucannon River Conceptual Restoration Plan (Update): finalization of the now more data-driven "Draft" work-products, Anchor QEA (2019-20); and (4) Touchet River Conceptual Restoration Plan: coordination of the continued development of the Touchet River Conceptual Restoration Plan foundational documents, as the basis for project assessment, evaluation, selection and design of habitat restoration actions proposed in the Touchet watershed.

Status: Initial development expectations for the Tucannon Plan update have changed as we engaged with the technical work group and co-managers during the prior contract period (2019). Foundational documents for the Update follow the outline of the earlier restoration planning approach in the Tucannon; and development efforts parallel the in-progress Touchet River Conceptual Restoration Plan process, to ensure consistency among existing salmon recovery planning efforts, technical work group collaboration and review, the involvement of co-managers and stake holders, and between the two watersheds to the extent possible. However, input from the Tucannon and Touchet stakeholders has been more technical, and expectations more substantial, than expected. These expectations include more rigorous data analyses and a more technical approach to resource prioritization. Through expanded data analysis using three different flow regimes to help capture the range of overwintering conditions (RCI analysis), we will have a more robust approach for using the data, and a better understanding of factors limiting salmon productivity and abundnce, to assist with the prioritization of restoration actions for the watershed. This approach for the Tucannon Plan Update has influenced the Touchet Plan development as we continue to strive for consistency, to the extent possible, between the Plans in two very similar, adjacent watersheds.
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Background: Project goal is to implement habitat protection, enhancement and recovery strategies to restore habitat function and channel processes throughout the basin to improve species key life-cycle stage survival, productivity and abundance. Project focus is to promote and manage implementation of the 45 projects previously prioritized into three implementation tiers throughout the 50 river miles in the completed geomorphic assessment areas. The 45 projects are broken into three tiers of implementation priority (Tier-1 being the highest): includes 12 (Tier-1), 14 (Tier-2) and 19 (Tier-3) projects.  Individual Project Areas are designed at a sub-reach and/or reach scale.  The accumulated sub-reach and reach scale restoration actions will significantly improve natural processes and habitat conditions as well as the process utilized for identifying and prioritizing project selection and implementation.  Effectively changing river processes and habitat function requires reach-scale actions which is a goal of this project.  Conventionally, small scale or site-specific actions have been the norm because of lack of reach scale geomorphic assessments and long-term funding commitments.  Long-term sufficient funding level commitment will lead to restoring channel processes and habitat function at and across the reach scale, improving species survival and productivity in the Tucannon River.

The technical basis for individual project areas was to first complete Phase I, Tucannon River Geomorphic Assessment and Habitat Restoration Study, (Anchor QEA April 2011) which includes; basin description, geomorphic conditions, fish habitat and distribution, hydrologic analysis, sediment transport and mobility analysis, sediment budget analysis and reach characteristics and delineation of 10 discrete river reaches.  This work strengthened the technical understanding of previously identified limiting factors, existing physical conditions and geomorphic processes in the basin in order to identify and prioritize habitat restoration areas.  Included in Anchor's assessment was Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and true color Orthophotography of the Tucannon River floodplain, (Watershed Sciences, 2010).  

Phase II completed conceptual restoration plans for river reaches 6-10 and reach 2 and then ranked and prioritized them based on a restoration framework loosely following the recommendation of Roni et al. (2002).  The criteria used for this framework was focused on Spring Chinook in support, coordination and cooperation with the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board (SRSRB) in their development of the Tucannon River Programmatic Habitat Project.  It was reasonably assumed habitat improvements for spring Chinook will also greatly benefit steelhead.  This phase was completed in November 2011 (Anchor QEA, November 2011).  This phase also included 30% designs for Project Area (PA) 2 (Anchor QEA November 2011b) and PA-14 (Anchor December 2011).  

Phase III included the conceptual restoration plans for reach 3 and 4 (Anchor QEA October 2012) and the development of the Integrated Species Restoration Prioritization, Tucannon River document (Anchor QEA November 2012) covering the Tucannon River from river mile 0.7 to 50.3 as well as including all ESA listed species and life cycles.  The conceptual restoration plan for reach 5 was completed for the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board (Anchor QEA October 2012) and included in the final work-product; the Integrated Species Restoration Prioritization (Anchor QEA November 2012).
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Objectives: Riparian recovery/maintenance, flood plain connectivity and instream habitats are critical management objectives addressing the broadest diversity of limiting attributes in identified priority restoration and protection geographic areas will be addressed.  Biological objectives of diversity, reduced embeddedness, LWD recruitment, primary pools, high flow refugia, riparian recovery and temperature will be addressed with this strategy and benefit ESA-listed and cultural significant focal species, spring and fall Chinook, steelhead and bull trout during their respective key life stages throughout the watershed.  Accumulated restoration/protection geographic areas, Pataha/Marengo thru Mountain Tucannon matches NOAA’s Major Spawning Aggregation designation, (MSA), Pataha/Marengo to Tucannon Mouth and Lower Pataha match NOAA's Minor Spawning Aggregation designations (mSA).  

Implement habitat protection, enhancement and recovery strategies to support FCRPS BiOp habitat goals, the Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan, the Tucannon Subbasin Plan, and the Walla Walla Subbasin Plan -- including support for identified ESA-listed and culturally significant or focal, species of interest in the Tucannon/Walla Walla Subbasins. Instream habitat quantity and diversity project focus is within priority protection/restoration geographic areas which cover the entire watershed due to species- and species-specific life cycle needs.  Projects, implementing identified strategies, address various biological objectives; sediment reduction, primary pools, floodplain connectivity and LWD recruitment/placement.  Project implementation will provide habitat benefits to spring/fall Chinook, steelhead and bull trout during their respective varied life stage needs throughout the watershed.
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Management Considerations: Full project (Tucannon River Conceptual Restoration Plan Update)  implementation to achieve the habitat restoration objectives identified in the various assessment documents remains an ambitious challenge. Prior to the establishment of the Tucannon River Programmatic Habitat Project [#2010-077-00] coordinated by the SRSRB, habitat restoration was primarily restricted to actions directed through the Tucannon Stream and Riparian Restoration program (CCD) - with a limited and leveraged funding base.  The now well-coordinated, cooperative implementation of prioritized habitat improvement projects among the CCD, WDFW, SRSRB, CTUIR (Fish Accord) and Nez Perce Tribe will accelerate priority restoration actions addressed to identified limiting factors throughout the subbasin.  Considering the number of projects identified, still limited annual funding (although greatly improved among the programs), an abbreviated seasonal work-window, potential project phasing due to complexity and scale/scope, landowner willingness to participate, and the available capacity to implement multiple projects per year, effective planning and implementation progression require close cooperation.

The CCD and other Tucannon Implementer were utilizing the project effectiveness monitoring BPA was funding through the CHaMP program for the Tucannon Watershed.  BPA has suspended this monitoring program, at least in its former application.  BPA monitoring in the Tucannon Watershed is now performed thru their AEM program as a modified CHaMP application and funded by BPA.

Initiated previously at the local scale, and currently being utilized to supplement (or replace) the absence of other monitoring, is the Rapid Habitat Survey approach, implemented by Snake River Salmon Recovery Board staff with support from CTUIR, NPT, WDFW and CCD staff.  This protocol has proven to show habitat component change in a pre/post site comparison and utilizes characteristics common with the CHaMP process.  We will continue to utilize this monitoring approach in 2020.  A pre-construction Rapid Habitat survey was completed on PA-26 and data utilized in developing the restoration plan.  The project site will be visually monitored over the winter; if flow conditions suggest that habitat characteristics may have been modified, an additional pre-construction survey will be conducted prior to implementation.  A 2020 post-construction survey is also planned for comparison of changes in habitat condition.