The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS) Hood River Habitat Program works in partnership with the Hood River Watershed Group (HRWG), Hood River Soil and Water Conservation District, the East Fork Irrigation District (EFID), and numerous state and federal agencies to restore, enhance, and protect aquatic and riparian habitat for native salmonids throughout the Hood River Basin. The program focuses on improving habitat conditions for spring Chinook salmon, winter steelhead, and coho salmon—species integral to the Tribe’s cultural heritage and treaty rights. CTWS restoration efforts emphasize the design and implementation of large-scale floodplain and instream habitat projects, removal of fish passage barriers, and improvement of streamflow and water quality in priority reaches identified in the Hood River Basin Partnership Strategic Action Plan (2021).

The Hood River office has now been staffed back to previous capacity and the 2026-2027 SOW includes the planned hiring of an additional junior-level project manager. This expanded capacity will enable the Tribe to increase the number of in-house project designs and implementation efforts, strengthening local partnerships and supporting long-term habitat recovery goals in the basin.

Goal 1: Complete feasibility evaluations and project designs for fish habitat restoration projects in high-priority stream reaches, as identified in the Hood River Basin Partnership Strategic Action Plan (2021).
Objective 1: Complete the Powerdale Powerhouse Floodplain Restoration design, evaluating options to remove legacy infrastructure, restore floodplain connectivity, and reestablish native riparian vegetation within the Powerdale corridor.
Objective 2: Continue development of the East Fork Hood River Phase 3 fish habitat restoration design, expanding on prior design phases to address floodplain reconnection, side-channel development, and riparian enhancement in critical spawning and rearing reaches.
Objective 3: Develop designs for the Lower Tony Creek Restoration Project, focused on improving fish passage, reestablishing floodplain connectivity, and increasing channel complexity to support steelhead and coho rearing.


Goal 2: Implement fish habitat restoration projects in high-priority stream reaches, as identified in the Hood River Basin Partnership Strategic Action Plan (2021).
Objective 1: Support permitting and pre-construction planning for the Powerdale Powerhouse Floodplain Restoration Project, with implementation anticipated in future fiscal years.
Objective 2: Implement the EFID End Spill Removal Project to improve efficiency of irrigation infrastructure and restore hydrologic continuity within the East Fork subbasin.
Objective 3: Advance design and implementation for the EFID Gilkerson Subliceral Conversion Project, which will replace open-ditch conveyance with piped infrastructure to reduce system losses and support increased instream flow targets under the 2020 CTWS–EFID MOA.

Goal 3: Enhance and monitor streamflows within the East Fork Hood River bypass reach in accordance with the 2020 CTWS–EFID Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
Objective 1: Continue to monitor flows within the East Fork bypass reach to ensure maintenance of a minimum of 17 cubic feet per second (CFS) in accordance with the 2020 MOA.
Objective 2: Collaborate with EFID to identify, design, and implement additional water conservation projects, targeting a cumulative 27 CFS bypass flow by April 2027. Projects include the Gilkerson sublateral conversion and other future irrigation efficiency upgrades.

Goal 4: Evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of completed habitat restoration projects.
Objective 1: Conduct post-project effectiveness monitoring of completed CTWS and HRWG restoration projects using the joint CTWS–USFS–HRWG habitat monitoring protocol.
Objective 2: Integrate monitoring data into ongoing adaptive management processes to inform design of future restoration projects and improve basin-scale outcomes for anadromous fish populations.

Goal 5: Educate and engage the community in watershed restoration and stewardship.
Objective 1: Provide up to nine public presentations on watershed ecology, fisheries management, and tribal restoration activities in the Hood River Basin.
Objective 2: Recruit three to five new private streamside landowners for development of future habitat restoration projects in high-priority reaches, with a focus on reaches identified in the Strategic Action Plan.

CTWS will continue to coordinate regularly with BPA, HRWG, EFID, and other project partners to ensure alignment of design and implementation priorities, compliance with environmental regulations, and timely completion of deliverables. The program will provide quarterly status reports, including updates on project progress, expenditures, and milestones achieved. All environmental compliance documentation, landowner access agreements, and permitting deliverables will be completed in accordance with BPA and HIP IV requirements prior to implementation.

Implementation funding for projects currently under design may be added to this contract through a future Contract Change Request (CCR), or alternatively scoped under a separate BPA contract depending on project readiness, permitting timelines, and available funding.