The John Day is the nation’s second longest free-flowing river in the contiguous United States and the longest containing entirely un-supplemented runs of anadromous fish. Located in eastern Oregon, the basin drains over 8,000 square miles, Oregon's fourth largest drainage basin, and incorporates portions of eleven counties. Originating in the Strawberry Mountains near Prairie City, the John Day River flows 284 miles in a northwesterly direction, entering the Columbia River approximately four miles upstream of the John Day dam. With wild runs of spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead, westslope cutthroat, and redband and bull trout, the John Day system is truly a basin with national significance.

The John Day River basin is within the CTWS ceded lands and supporting restoration efforts such as this project is an important part of maintaining cultural foods and fish populations. The mission of the CTWS Branch of Natural Resources Fisheries Department is to provide fisheries populations at harvestable levels for tribal members using information gained from research, management, production, and habitat programs while exercising co-management authority across ceded lands and usual and accustomed stations. In 1997, the Tribes established an office in the basin to coordinate restoration projects, monitoring, planning and other watershed activities on private and public lands. Once established, the John Day Basin Office formed partnerships with local agencies and stakeholders to implement restoration actions.

The goal of this project is to address limiting factors by implementing restoration actions that protect and restore passage, flow, and habitat for anadromous fish and listed species in the John Day River Basin. This includes the use of the John Day Basin Watershed Restoration Strategy to assist the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS), John Day Watershed Restoration Program with the ability to focus on implementing suites of restoration actions that will more effectively address priority-limiting factors.

The CTWS John Day River Watershed Restoration Strategy (2014) prioritized geographic areas with the greatest restoration potential for focal fish species, these areas were identified based on a synthesis of analytical results from the Ecosystem Diagnostic and Treatment model, Qualitative Habitat Assessments, and Technical Team review. Watersheds are delineated with a Restoration Potential Benefit (RPB) score along the range of low potential (0) to high potential (9). Within the Strategy, the target and focused restoration actions were identified for each Subbasin to have the most impact in addressing limiting factors.

In addition to Tribal Strategy, CTWS worked as part of the John Day Basin Partnership to collaboratively analyze the most current biological and physical habitat data to prioritize sub-watersheds within the John Day Basin and rank restoration opportunities within those watersheds.  The Partnership's Prioritization utilized the Atlas Framework to determined tier I, II, and III priority areas and prioritized hundreds of restoration opportunities within these watersheds. The goals are to assist partners to implement projects that will address the highest priority limiting habitat factors to benefit the limiting life stages for focal species within the basin.

JOHN DAY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM SUMMARY
The John Day Basin Partnership – CTWS is one of 28 organizations signed onto a Memorandum of Understanding.  CTWS continues to be an active member of the Partnership in regular coordination meetings and project specific collaborations for restoration planning, design, and implementation. The Partnership was awarded funding through OWEB’s Focused Investment Partnership (FIP) program in 2019 for 6 years of funding focused on native fish habitat. The Partnership uses the Atlas framework for prioritization of both native fish habitat and uplands restoration. As the FIP lifecycle comes to a close in 2025, the Partnership is taking the opportunity to evaluate restoration successes over the last 6 years and begin preparation for future FIP applications. This will involve updating the current ATLAS prioritization to reflect work completed since 2019, as well as updating and re-writing the Partnership’s Strategic Action Plan as necessary. Outputs of these efforts will include the selection of future watershed priorities and focal areas and subsequently seeking funding to continue to drive collaborative restoration in those areas.

RESTORATION PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Recent, successful completion of several large scale, complex restoration projects demonstrate the evolution John Day Basin program. The ecological trajectory of these projects provide ongoing insight into restoration ecology, collective learning, as well project effectiveness monitoring which will be important to ensure their long-term, ecological success. Information from these efforts will also inform the planning and design of future project opportunities in the basin.  Partners continue to build off previous efforts and are worth tracking including the importance of increased habitat productivity in Lower Basin at 30 mile creek and re-emerging habitat patches at Murderer’s Creek in South Fork basin. This contract will support the continuation of a Hydrologic Assessment lead by Gilliam SWCD and Oregon State that will lead to increase understanding of groundwater/surface water interactions. Findings of this initiative will inform additional restoration opportunities to ensure success of long-standing effort to increase habitat complexity and floodplain connectivity.

The complexity of managing the scale projects at this scale requires creative planning and partnership building to leverage a diversity of financial resources to successfully implement restoration measures. This will also bolster long-term resiliency needs of project sites to manage uncertainty associated with climate change. Specific threats from fire and changes to hydrologic patterns increases the importance of larger floodplain reconnection project types along with other project elements such as strategic native planting and channel design.

MONITORING PROGRAM UPDATES
Structured Implementation and Monitoring (SIM) Framework - this is a joint effort between CTWS and ODFW to focus restoration and monitoring that will guide our efforts in the future. 2019 - 2022 covered the original implementation timeline in the Middle Fork Subbasin, but several projects will continue to be in-design for this contract. Results have been summarized both in the MFIMW 15-year IMW summary report and have resulted in one publication to date (Watershed-scale dispersal patterns of juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhyncus tshawytscha) revealed through genetic parentage analysis, Kaylor et al. 2024). Results from this effort have provided critical data for assessing previous work and prioritizing future efforts in the MFJDR. Additional SIM efforts in collaboration with ODFW and CRITFC are in development and are largely supported through PCSRF funds.

The Upper John Day River was the intended focal watershed for the SIM framework during the 2023 – 2026 implementation window. However, prioritization of restoration in the MFJDR as a result of JDBP FIP funding has resulted in an extended implementation window within the watershed. This, combined with challenges in designing and implementing restoration in the UJDR, has shifted the SIM timeline to reflect ongoing efforts. CTWS continues to coordinate closely with ODFW and future SIM timelines and focal areas will be adapted to JDBP partnership priorities, focal areas, and funding opportunities.

Monitoring and Adaptive Management Plans (MAMPS) have been developed for previously implemented projects (Vincent to Vinegar, Fox Creek) and have been completed or are in progress for projects currently in design (Oxbow Phase 6, Phipps Meadow, MSFCA Restoration). CTWS staff continue to collect pre or post-implementation data for these MAMPS and summarize results annually to assess restoration success, identify adaptive management opportunities, and inform future projects.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF WORK [review/revise as needed]

Total implementation schedule for 2026-2027 this contract supports in collaboration with John Day partners include the following projects:

2026:
Caribou Reconnection
Belshaw Diversion
Cottonwood Phase II
Smokey Creek LTPB
Hay Creek Planting
Hay Creek LTPB
Deep Creek Barrier Removal
Battle Creek Barrier Removal

2027:
Mainstem FCA In-stream Habitat
Phipps Meadow Restoration
Dunstan Preserve Floodplain Enhancement
Holmes Diversion
Vincent to Caribou Gravel Augmentation
Bates Pond Reconnection
Rock Creek Diversion
Fox Creek Reach 9
Cottonwood RM16 LTPB
Cottonwood RM1 LTPB
Cabin Creek LTPB