IDFG Engineering Services, P2

Funding for IDFG Engineering Services, P2 allowed IDFG fish habitat engineers to design restoration projects in the Clearwater and Salmon River subbasins prior to submitting proposals for funding of specific projects. Conceptual designs of restoration projects address limiting factors of salmon and steelhead in tributary habitats for 96 acres and 4.6 stream miles in the Upper Salmon, and 6.1 acres and 2.1 stream miles in the Potlatch. The actual metric for area encompassed (acres) for the Upper Salmon River exceeded the proposed metric tenfold due to a number of projects having an APE that included the surrounding riparian and floodplain area. This work focused on high priority projects, addressing fish passage, in-stream habitat, and in-stream flow projects. Work focused on addressing limiting factors of survival and production of Sp/Su Chinook Salmon and steelhead in Idaho tributary habitats requires restoration of physical habitat, natural processes, and hydrological functions (NMFS 2017).

Within the Upper Salmon River watershed, funds were used to provide engineering assistance on development of five projects in the North Fork Salmon River, four projects in the Lemhi River, and one project along the main Salmon River. IDFG engineering assistance was provided for three projects in the Potlatch River basin.

This funding also provided much needed engineering infrastructure such as computers and software, and facilitated staff training to maintain professional licenses and certifications.

Previous work has demonstrated that this project will improve the quality of proposals for implementation funding by providing detailed engineered drawings for future projects, including cost estimates. Additionally, project development and environmental permitting will be more efficient with engineering consultation early in the process.