FY20 JSKT Dungeness Salmonid Recovery and Riparian Habitat Restoration Planning and Coordination

This on-going planning effort allowed the Tribe’s habitat program and environmental planning program staff to continue developing and/or coordinating with partners on new or ongoing projects to advance ESA-listed salmonid habitat, especially in the Dungeness/Sequim Bay watersheds. Tasks are organized by worksite below.



[Worksite: JSKT Admin/NR Offices]:



1) Planning for riparian habitat restoration and protection projects in the Dungeness and Sequim Bay watersheds.

The focus for this task was on continuing riparian habitat and floodplain restoration and protection within the lower 11 miles of the Dungeness riparian corridor and relevant shorelines. Tribal staff continued to engage in planning and coordination of floodplain and riparian restoration and protection projects. Staff continued managing two dike removal projects, both located along the Dungeness River (the dike removal project adjacent to the Dungeness River Nature Center and the Rivers Edge levee set-back project). Staff strategized on riparian protection and restoration projects, including planning for potential Dungeness River parcel acquisitions and potential culvert/fish-barrier removal projects.

[Worktype: Coordination on implementing recovery plan]



2) Providing technical assistance to partners planning and implementing restoration projects benefiting ESA-listed salmonids.

Technical support provided by JST to partners included assistance to Clallam County in partially re-designing a segment of the lower Dungeness levee set-back project, which was immediately downstream of the Tribes Rivers Edge setback project. This included site-visits and strategizing sessions, and ultimately reconnected more floodplain than the County originally thought possible. JST also participated in Lower Big Quilcene Riverscape Restoration project meetings and site visits and provided professional opinion on the bridge replacement phase and river channel design development.

[Worktype: Evaluation and analyses of restoration projects]



3) Coordinating activities related to ESA-listed salmonid recovery and watershed restoration.

a) JST continued to co-lead the Dungeness River Management Team (DRMT), as well as restoration project meetings, as opportunities arose. JST staff and the DRMT continued to evaluate salmon recovery projects, and coordinate on projects to address climate resiliency for salmon and water supplies during drought, such as the off-channel reservoir and other drought strategies or mitigation. This award helped support seven monthly Hybrid DRMT meetings, coordinated and Chaired by Tribal staff. The DRMT meetings were especially important in providing information exchange and public awareness about the Dungeness Off-channel Reservoir project proposal being developed by Clallam County, and other water issues relevant to the Dungeness Watershed and its stakeholders.

[Worktypes: Coordination on implementing Recovery Plan (Chinook); Evaluation and analyses of restoration projects.]



[Worksite: Point-No-Point Treaty Council Offices]:



b) This task also included salmon recovery planning/assessment activities appointed by JST to the Point-No-Point Treaty Council (Treaty Council), including: 1) assisting in riparian salmonid habitat protection and restoration planning; 2) refining and implementing the ESA-listed Puget Sound Steelhead Recovery Plan and implementing the HCCC Hood Canal/Strait of Juan de Fuca Summer Chum Salmon Recovery Plan through adaptive management; 3) designing projects that address factors limiting the productivity and viability of ESA-listed Pacific anadromous salmonids, 4) using climate-related streamflow models to identify vulnerabilities to salmon habitat; and, 5) participating in other recovery forums, processes and initiatives focused on improving salmonid productivity and viability in the region.

[Worktypes

This project will assist with capacity support so that the Tribe’s Habitat Program and Environmental Planning Program staff may continue habitat restoration planning efforts, largely aimed at riparian and floodplain restoration, which is necessary to promote salmonid/treaty resource recovery. Floodplain reconnection is our (as well as the Dungeness River Management Team’s) highest priority for increasing salmonid spawning and rearing habitat, and for reducing the potential for high flood events to scour salmon redds, projected to be more frequent with climate change, particularly in river reaches constrained by hard armoring or dikes. Technical assistance to and partnerships with restoration groups will target key factors limiting salmonid productivity, including low flows, undesirable channel morphology, and other habitat impairments. Treaty Council efforts allow us to extend our local planning and coordinating capacity, as well as to participate in more regional efforts that impact treaty rights.