Lemhi River Effectiveness Monitoring, P4

Salmonid Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RM&E)

Monitoring
Project ID004 18 SA
Recovery DomainsSnake River
Start Date01/01/2019
End Date10/31/2022
Year2018
StatusCompleted
Last Edited01/31/2024
 
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Description    


The Lemhi River Effectiveness Monitoring, P4 project supported the continued remote juvenile salmonid capture and PIT tagging surveys, operation of In-stream Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) Detection Systems (IPTDS), and the installation of two additional IPTDS. This effort quantified populations and provided data to help support habitat rehabilitation project development and advancement toward delisting of spring/summer Chinook salmon and steelhead. Operation of the North Fork Salmon River, Big Springs Creek, Hawley Creek, and Kenney Creek PIT tag arrays were continued. Two new IPTDS on the lower-mainstem Lemhi River at the Eagle Valley Ranch habitat restoration project were installed. Additionally, extensive electrofishing effort occurred in the Lemhi River to bolster tagged salmonids within the monitored populations.



Juvenile salmonid capture and PIT tagging, including mark/recapture surveys within priority streams and rivers within the Lemhi sub-basin, occurred from May 2019- September 2020. Both years utilized a continuous fish sampling design and focused on the same priority streams and rivers as previous years and listed above. The intent was to create population estimates and bolster the numbers of PIT tagged Chinook and steelhead within the basins for resulting downstream analysis.

Restoration actions at Eagle Valley Ranch (EVR) are the most aggressive site-based habitat restoration actions undertaken to-date in the Lemhi River (PCSRF projects 019 16 SA, 016 17 SA, 008 18 SA, 009 18 SA, 018 18 SA, 007 19 SA, 016 20 SA, 009 21 SA). Actions at EVR directly target estimated habitat capacity deficits documented for spring/summer Chinook salmon and steelhead during the summer and over-winter rearing periods. Two new dual pass arrays were installed on the project’s upstream and downstream boundaries. Interrogation data from these two newly installed IPTDS will quantify transition time, survival, habitat usage, and habitat capacity due to habitat rehabilitation.



Throughout 2019 and 2020, funds were also utilized to maintain the PIT tag arrays at lower Eighteenmile Creek, Big Springs Creek, upper Eagle Valley Ranch, and lower Eagle Valley Ranch. These sites were monitored remotely through the BioLogic web portal for monitoring site condition, automatic data uploads, and submittals to PTAGIS.



The work funded with this project is part of a collaborative project including PCSRF, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration. This project continued work funded by three previous PCSRF projects: 007 16 SA (Lemhi Habitat Improvement Effectiveness Evaluation, P3), 004 14 SA (Lemhi Effectiveness Monitoring, P2), and 002 11 SA (Lemhi Effectiveness Monitoring).

Project Benefit    


This project targets two populations: Snake River spring/summer Chinook Salmon ESU, upper Salmon MPG, Lemhi River population and the Snake River steelhead DSP, Salmon MPG, Lemhi River population, both of which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.



This project enables us to estimate life-stage-specific habitat capacity deficits for spring/summer Chinook salmon and steelhead. Importantly, those analyses can be completed for any population of spring/summer Chinook salmon or steelhead within the interior Columbia River Basin – excluding the Clearwater River Sub-basin.



The effort proposed herein will allow us to quantitatively evaluate how the type and extent of a given restoration action increases life-stage-specific capacity. In turn, this allows us to determine when sufficient restoration has occurred to support delisting. The ability to make this determination based on changes in habitat is critical, because it might take decades to detect a response by monitoring salmonid productivity. Ultimately, this will allow habitat restoration actions to be more strategically arrayed across populations.

Accomplishments

Metric Completed Originally
Proposed
Research and Monitoring
  Stream Miles Monitored 260.00 260.00

Funding Details

SourceFunds
PCSRF$573,840
Other$191,121
Report Total:$764,961


Project Map



Worksites

Site 1 - Lemhi River    


  • Worksite Identifier: Site 1 - Lemhi River
  • Start Date: 01/01/2019
  • End Date: 12/30/2020
Area Description
Lemhi River

Location Information

  • Basin: Salmon (170602)
  • Subbasin: Lemhi (17060204)
  • Watershed: Upper Lemhi River (1706020405)
  • Subwatershed: Zeph Creek-Lemhi River (170602040510)
  • State: Idaho
  • Recovery Domain: Snake River
  • Latitude: 44.865997
  • Longitude: -113.624699

ESU

  • Snake River Basin Steelhead DPS
  • Snake River Spring/Summer-run Chinook Salmon ESU

Map

Photos

Metrics

Metrics
  • E.0 Salmonid Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RM&E)Y (Y/N)
    •      . . E.0.a RM&E Funding 757,961.00
    •      . . E.0.b
      Complement habitat restoration project
      Lower Lemhi River Rehabilitation, IDFG, SR1503. Lemhi River Restoration Project, IDFG, OSC, 2010-072-00. Upper Lemhi Rehabilitation, IDFG, PCSRF, 004 07 SA. Amonson Lemhi Side Channels, IDFG, PCSRF, 004 12 SA. LSC/Lemhi River Restoration, IDFG, PCSRF 006 10 SA.
    •      . . E.0.c
      Project identified in a plan or watershed assessment.
      NOAA. 2017. ESA recovery plan for Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Snake River Basin steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). 284pp.
    •      . . E.0.d.1 Number of Cooperating Organizations 3
    •      . . E.0.d.2
      Name Of Cooperating Organizations.
      Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Bonneville Power Administration, Bureau of Reclamation.
    •      . . E.0.e.1 Number of reports prepared 1
    •      . . E.0.e.2
      Name Of Report
      Bureau of Reclamation. 2018 (draft). Upper-Salmon River integrated rehabilitation assessment. 577pp.
    •      . . E.1 MonitoringY (Y/N)
      •      . . . . E.1.a Monitoring funding 757,961.00
      •      . . . . E.1.b.1 Stream Miles Monitored 236.00
      •      . . . . E.1.b.2 Acres of Watershed Area Monitored 6,024.4
      •      . . . . E.1.c.15 Intensively monitored watershed (IMW)Y (Y/N)
        •      . . . . . . E.1.c.15.a # miles (to nearest 0.01 mile) of stream or streambank monitored 236.00
        •      . . . . . . E.1.c.15.c # acres (to nearest 0.1 acre) monitored 6,024.4
        •      . . . . E.1.d
          Name Of Comprehensive Monitoring Strategy/Program
          Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Project. QCI. Quantitative Consultants, Inc. 2005. Study design for habitat and population status and trend monitoring for the South Fork Salmon River, Idaho and habitat action effectiveness monitoring for the Lemhi River, Idaho. Prepared for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center. 61pp.

Site 2 - North Fork Salmon River    


  • Worksite Identifier: Site 2 - North Fork Salmon River
  • Start Date: 01/01/2019
  • End Date: 12/30/2020
Area Description
North Fork Salmon River

Location Information

  • Basin: Salmon (170602)
  • Subbasin: Lemhi (17060204)
  • Watershed: Upper Lemhi River (1706020405)
  • Subwatershed: Zeph Creek-Lemhi River (170602040510)
  • State: Idaho
  • Recovery Domain: Snake River
  • Latitude: 44.865997
  • Longitude: -113.624699

ESU

  • Snake River Basin Steelhead DPS
  • Snake River Spring/Summer-run Chinook Salmon ESU

Map

Photos

Metrics

Metrics
  • E.0 Salmonid Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation (RM&E)Y (Y/N)
    •      . . E.0.a RM&E Funding 7,000.00
    •      . . E.0.b
      Complement habitat restoration project
      NF Salmon River Habitat Improvement, 20171113, USFS PCSRF projects: o 010 12 SA North Fork Habitat Improvement, IDFG o 023 13 SA North Fork Salmon River Habitat Restoration, IDFG o 014 14 SA North Fork Salmon River Habitat Restoration Design Dingey Property, IDFG o 008 16 SA North Fork Salmon River Habitat Restoration, P3, IDFG o 011 17 SA North Fork Habitat Restoration Thomas Property, IDFG o 020 17 SA North Fork Salmon River Habitat Restoration Miller Property, IDFG
    •      . . E.0.c
      Project identified in a plan or watershed assessment.
      NOAA. 2017. ESA recovery plan for Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Snake River Basin steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). 284pp.
    •      . . E.0.d.1 Number of Cooperating Organizations 3
    •      . . E.0.d.2
      Name Of Cooperating Organizations.
      Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Bonneville Power Administration, US Bureau of Reclamation
    •      . . E.0.e.1 Number of reports prepared 1
    •      . . E.0.e.2
      Name Of Report
      Bureau of Reclamation. 2018 (draft). Upper-Salmon River integrated rehabilitation assessment. 577pp.
    •      . . E.1 MonitoringY (Y/N)
      •      . . . . E.1.a Monitoring funding 7,000.00
      •      . . . . E.1.b.1 Stream Miles Monitored 24.00
      •      . . . . E.1.b.2 Acres of Watershed Area Monitored 43.6
      •      . . . . E.1.c.1 Adult salmonid population monitoringY (Y/N)
        •      . . . . . . E.1.c.1.a # miles (to nearest 0.01 mile) monitored for adult salmonids 24.00
        •      . . . . E.1.d
          Name Of Comprehensive Monitoring Strategy/Program
          Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Project QCI. Quantitative Consultants, Inc. 2005. Study design for habitat and population status and trend monitoring for the South Fork Salmon River, Idaho and habitat action effectiveness monitoring for the Lemhi River, Idaho. Prepared for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center. 61pp.