Warm Springs Reservation and John Day Basin Habitat Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring II

The Warm Springs Reservation supports populations of multiple salmonid species, including Chinook salmon, redband trout, naturalized Coho salmon, ESA-listed threatened mid-Columbia River steelhead, and bull trout. Reservation streams provide vital spawning and rearing habitat for these species. Declining trends in certain salmonid populations, particularly spring Chinook salmon and bull trout, have been observed in Reservation streams over the last two decades. These declines are believed to be the cumulative result of a number of factors, including the blockage of key migration routes by dam construction, rising water temperatures due to climate change, and decades (possibly centuries) of poor land management practices, among other causes.



As part of the greater effort to mitigate these deleterious effects and reverse the damage to local salmonid populations, the CTWSRO has been tasked with developing and implementing a comprehensive watershed restoration strategy for both the reservation lands and ceded lands of the John Day Basin. These strategies are centered around completing in-stream and riparian habitat improvement projects to restore ecosystem function and create key environmental conditions and features necessary to support both anadromous and resident salmonids through all of their freshwater life history stages. Habitat restoration effectiveness monitoring is a vital component of the watershed restoration strategy. Such monitoring will answer key questions regarding projects and inform future restoration decisions.



Where practicable, habitat effectiveness monitoring will follow a before – after – control – impact (BACI) design, under which sampling is conducted before and after project completion at one or more treated and control (untreated) sites. This will help ensure that the highest quality data are collected and the most robust results possible are achieved. Specific monitoring techniques include, but are not limited to: 1) fish counts via snorkel surveys to assess abundance and compare population trends between treated and untreated sites; 2) topographical cross-section surveys of project sites to monitor the creation/preservation of vital fish habitat, e.g., accumulation of spawning, pool creation, reduction of bank erosion; 3) photo point monitoring to assess riparian habitat recovery, including the use of drone surveys; and 4) collection of groundwater level data via monitoring wells and depth loggers to assess mesic habitat recovery. The

specific monitoring techniques employed will vary, depending on the design, conditions, and objectives of a particular project, and additional monitoring measures will be employed where necessary.



Under this project, habitat restoration monitoring will occur at 9 worksites, and include a variety of techniques:



• Snorkel surveys of salmonid populations in project (treated) and control (untreated) reaches

• Topographical cross-section surveys to assess the formation/preservation of vital habitat, e.g., pools, spawning gravels, and side channels

• Photo point collection to assess riparian habitat recovery

• Periodic (every 3 – 5 years) stream surveys to assess channel complexity and quantify in-stream LWD

• Collection of groundwater level data via monitoring wells and depth loggers to assess mesic habitat recovery

• Mark-recapture electrofishing surveys of steelhead populations in four project (treated) and four control (untreated) reaches

• Produce high-resolution orthoimagery via UAV at two restoration reaches for monitoring vegetation and floodplain connection

• Mark-recapture ‘snerding’ surveys of salmonid populations in five reaches to gather baseline information on seasonal salmonid movement, reach use, migration, and survival in treatment and control reaches

• Periodic (3x/year) mobile-PIT detection to assess seasonal and reach scale moveme

The CTWSRO Fisheries Habitat Program’s comprehensive watershed management strategy will benefit target salmonid species (Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout) by: 1) directly generating vital spawning and rearing habitat; 2) directly mitigating deleterious environmental effects; and 3) resorting ecosystem processes and function. (For specific expected benefits of individual projects, see section directly above.) Habitat restoration effectiveness monitoring will be key in assessing the performance of restoration efforts and in identifying fish-limiting factors and guiding implementation of future projects. This will maximize realized benefits to targeted salmonids and ensure that restoration resources and efforts are executed as efficiently as possible and maximize positive results.