Warm Springs Reservation Habitat Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring III

The Warm Springs Tribe had to terminate this project and replace it with a new project due to a lack of capacity within one of the CTWS Fisheries Department programs. The new project (20-Warm-05 Middle Fork John Day Effectiveness Monitoring project) replaced this original project. The following work was completed before this project was canceled.



The project facilitated the collection and processing of high-resolution orthoimagery through the purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which were used at two aquatic habitat restoration sites. The imagery provided critical spatial data for monitoring changes in vegetation cover, assessing floodplain connectivity, and analyzing stream channel morphology before and after restoration efforts. By capturing fine-scale topographic and ecological features, these datasets serve as essential tools for informing restoration design, evaluating project success, and identifying opportunities for adaptive management. The high-resolution imagery enhances CTWS’ ability to detect subtle changes in habitat conditions over time, supporting data-driven decision-making to optimize ecological outcomes and improve habitat suitability for salmonid populations. Additionally, the imagery can be integrated with other remote sensing and field-based monitoring efforts to provide a comprehensive understanding of restoration impacts and guide future conservation strategies.



High-resolution (2-20 inches/pixel) imagery was collected via UAV at two worksites. No work was done at the originally proposed Shearer Falls worksite. These data was analyzed via GIS or multi-spectral image processing software to quantify spatial coverage of imagery elements. Specifically, floodplain inundation will be described quantitatively over a range of discharge levels (3-5 sampling events). Similar to building a discharge rating curve using discharge measurements and continuous water level data, a floodplain inundation curve will be created using inundation area and continuous discharge measurements. These inundation-discharge relationships will be compared pre and pos-restoration to determine if floodplain reconnection objectives have been met.



Vegetation monitoring conducted via UAV consisted of constructing digital elevation models using aerial imagery and structure-from-motion analysis. These models were used in conjunction with LiDAR data to quantify vegetation maturity via metrics such as percent canopy coverage over a threshold height, or overall vegetative volume.



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 (e.g. reduce thermal loading through riparian enhancement, increase and sustain flow through floodplain and groundwater reconnection, etc.); 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 guiding the 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.

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 (e.g. reduce thermal loading through riparian enhancement, increase and sustain flow through floodplain and groundwater reconnection, etc) ; 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 guiding the 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.



The Warm Springs tribal creel surveys will benefit target salmonid species (chinook salmon, coho salmon and summer steelhead) by enumerating the number of fish removed from the natural and hatchery spawning population due to tribal harvest.