2008-527-00

Zone 6 Fishery (Prosser Hatchery Upgrades)

Fall Chinook historically spawned in the mainstem of the Columbia River upstream of Celilo Falls. Construction of The Dalles Dam in 1957 and John Day Dam in 1967 inundated spawning and rearing areas for fall Chinook. Congress authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to mitigate for the losses in salmonid spawning and rearing habitat caused by construction of the two dams, however mitigation plans were delineated solely under the John Day Dam authorization. The difficulty in determining the level and location of mitigation is indicated by the long history of correspondence between the USACE and the state, tribal, and federal fish agencies. Unresolved mitigation issues remain between Columbia River Basin co-managers and the USACE. Funding for The Dalles/John Day mitigation was used to produce fall Chinook at Bonneville Hatchery and Spring Creek Hatchery, both of which are downstream for the area of loss. More recently the USACE funded fall Chinook production at Priest Rapids Hatchery, which is upstream of the area of loss.

The US v OR parties made significant progress engaging with the USACE in developing improved production and release levels. Co-managers ultimately agreed to support a new mitigation plan based on meeting two goals: 1) production needed to produce the 107,000 Total Adult Production (TAP) goal, and 2) the in-place, in-kind goals for stock and location (75% upriver bright (URB) : 25% Tule). The plan was laid out in three phases: current production (as was occurring in 2012, ~70,000 adult returns); an interim, transitional level with an intermediate adult return goal of about 90,000; and a long-term final plan after completion of a modernized Ringold Hatchery and I-182 satellite facility in the Yakima River that would release an increased number of smolts sufficient to meet the 107,000 TAP goal. Releases of fall Chinook were increased in the Umatilla River, and much of the URB production from Bonneville Hatchery was transitioned to Little White Salmon and Priest Rapids Hatcheries. Currently, interim production level targets are being met, but more progress is needed toward meeting the 107,000 TAP goal where URBs are represented at 75% of the stock composition above Bonneville dam (i.e., 75% of 107K = 80,250).

While separate from the comprehensive mitigation plan being developed by the USACE, the CRITFC Accord project is intended to be complementary in nature to assist in implementing the mitigation goal, specifically by reprogramming existing production. Efforts to coordinate timelines with the USACE have been ongoing throughout the Accord project years, however numerous delays to the USACE’s mitigation implementation have complicated the implementation of the Zone 6 Fisheries Accord project and the approximately $4M in capital construction remains unspent as of today.
The objective of the CRITFC Zone 6 Fisheries Accord Project is to address in-place, in-kind mitigation for losses due to the construction and operation of John Day and The Dalles dams by reprogramming existing production. Specifically, the project aims to help adjust the current stock mix of fall Chinook from the current 50:50 URB to Tule ratio to the target 75:25 URB to Tule ratio (In-kind), and to move fall Chinook releases to areas impacted by the construction of the two dams, thereby maximizing transit of returning adults through the Zone 6 fishery (In-place).

The three options outlined in 2012 include the following:
1) Build an adult handling/acclimation site in the lower Yakima River (I-182; see YN master plan). The nature and extent of the project capital budget plan may necessarily depend on the planned facilities at the Ringold site. Federal funding constraints seem to negatively impact the Ringold/I-182 project and the USACE is so far unable to maintain the project schedule. Because of the numerous delays, the tribes have been considering how best to move forward on Option 1.
2) Implementation of the CTWSRO proposal to support a summer run component of Deschutes fall Chinook. CTWSRO completed a study in 2017 to i.) assess feasibility of rearing the 1.2M spring Chinook currently reared at Warm Springs NFH (WSNFH) to Schoolie Springs in the upper watershed, and ii.) determine the feasibility of converting existing raceway systems at WSNFH to partial water re-use system technology with chillers. This project will provide site and feasibility assessments of Schoolie Springs and WSNFH respectively with options for improving summer rearing of Chinook salmon production in a warming climate.
3) CRITFC received a request from the CTUIR to develop a feasibility study assessing potential locations for sturgeon and lamprey propagation facilities and to provide designs for those facilities. Options are being discussed at the CTUIR Policy level, and staffs await guidance prior to commencing with a feasibility study for production of alternative species.

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2008

2032

Andrew Traylor

Implementation - Project Status Report

Province	Subbasin	%
Mainstem	-	100.00%

Artificial Production

Harvest Augmentation

Chinook - All Populations
Chinook - Deschutes River Summer/Fall ESU
Chinook - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU
Chinook - Upper Columbia River Summer/Fall ESU
Coho - Unspecified Population
Lamprey, Pacific
Sockeye - All Populations
Steelhead - All Populations
Sturgeon, White - Lower Columbia River

Anadromous: 100.0%   Resident: 0.0%   Wildlife: 0.0%

RM&E Plus Cat. Review - Submitted and Reviewed (Public Tags)
2011 Individual ISRP review (Public Tags)
RME/AP Categorical Review (Public Tags)
Council Recommended Projects (Public Tags)
2019 Mainstem and Program Support Categorical Review (Public Tags)
Contextual - 2021 Anadromous Fish Habitat and Hatchery Review (Public Tags)

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