draft Upper Willamette River Conservation and Recovery Plan for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead

1. draft Upper Willamette River Conservation and Recovery Plan for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Within Our Reach December 8, 2010

2. ESU Listing Units (Threatened 1999) • Spring Chinook ESU • Winter Steelhead DPS

3. Today’s Presentation Contents of Draft Plan • Current and recovery goal status for populations • Overall strategies/priorities to meet recovery goals Relation to a healthier Willamette River • Limiting Factors and threats in mainstem • Juvenile Chinook rearing/migration diversity • Freshwater habitat strategies and actions Questions/Comments

4. Where to find Plan Information • ODFW Native Fish Conservation and Recovery • http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CRP/upper_willamette_river_plan.asp • Executive Summary (~ 30 pages) • Main Body (> 450 pages) • Appendices (~200 pages) • Willamette Basin Explorer • http://www.oregonexplorer.info/willamette/WillametteRecoveryPlanning • NOAA WLC Technical Recovery Team • http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/trt/wlc.cfm Public review period ends Dec 21, 2010

5. Plan Features ESA Plan: conservation road map to remove species units (ESU’s) from the ESA T/E list Biological / listing factor criteria:ESU delisting Population goals:extinction risk (VSP criteria) Specific actions:population goals/listing factors  achieve recovery Cost estimates/implementation schedules Rely on • plans with regulatory rules/actions (BiOp’s, TMDL’s, etc.) • voluntary implementation of other actions

6. Salmonid Biological Criteria VSP parameters • Abundance • Productivity • Spatial Structure • Diversity

7. Current Status Desired Status Clackamas Molalla N. Santiam S. Santiam Calapooia McKenzie MF Willamette

8. Emphasis of Spring Chinook Actions • restore use of historic habitat • (reconnect upper subbasins) • below dams • temperature control • riparian/floodplain function • restoring/protecting instream flow

9. Current Status Desired Status Molalla N. Santiam S. Santiam Calapooia

10. Emphasis of Winter Steelhead Actions • habitat protection and restoration • especially water quality and instream flow • lower subbasin riparian reaches

11. Assessment also indicated Need improvements in most threat sectors Improve HABITAT conditions in freshwater and estuary Reduce impacts of • FLOOD CONTROL / HYDROPOWER • HATCHERY • COMPETITIONand PREDATION Improvements needed to maintain current status • Given limited resources  prioritize actions • Adopt a long-term perspective

12. Flood Control/Hydropower Actions Willamette Project BiOp actions, FERC agreements upstream and downstream passage temperature control and flow modification revetments and other physical habitat (mainstem projects) FCRPS BiOp actions for estuary impacts Freshwater Habitat Actions ODEQ TMDL Water Quality actions Best Management Practices, State/Federal guidelines Voluntary protective and restoration actions Estuarine Habitat Actions NMFS Estuary Recovery Plan Major Strategies and Actions

13. Hatchery Actions Reduce hatchery fish on spawning grounds Examine/reduce predation/competition on juveniles As conditions improve, re-introduce above barriers Manage as “wild fish emphasis areas” Harvest Actions Manage current regimes in existing Fishery plans Other Species Actions NMFS Estuary Recovery Plan Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation for predation impact in Willamette and subbasins Major Strategies and Actions(continued)

14. Schroeder et al. Willamette Juvenile Habitat Use

15. Mainstem Willamette RiverLimiting Factors and Threats Juveniles of both species • habitat complexity/diversity from land-use practices • stream cleaning • straightening and channelization • riparian area degradation, revetments • large wood recruitment • floodplain connectivity/access to off-channel habitat • occurrence of peak flows • channel complexity and habitat diversity Adult Steelhead • mainstem flows during spring reservoirfilling • water temperature  disease vulnerability

16. Mainstem Willamette RiverLimiting Factors and Threats Adults and juveniles of both species • Water Quality • Input of toxins • treatment of point and non-point sources • non-point sourcing of agricultural toxins • Water temperature • subbasin sourcing • hyporheic function

17. Mainstem Willamette RiverLand Use Management Strategy:Implement Willamette basin TMDL actions, rural and urban BMP’s, and other land-use actions to address multiple Limiting Factors Actions include: • Temperature TMDL WQMP actions: increase riparian vegetation/shade function • Strengthen/implement BMP’s: reduce inputs/runoff of non-point source of chemicals • Pesticide/nutrient TMDL WQMP actions: reduce sourcing of runoff from urban, industrial, rural, and agricultural practices • Promote incentives to private landowners: protect/restore riparian areas and high-quality off-channel habitats not covered by actions in other plans

18. Mainstem Willamette River Flood Control/Hydropower Management Strategy: Implement the suite of Willamette Project BiOp flow and habitat actions to address multiple Limiting Factors Actions include Willamette Project BiOp: • Revetment modification/reduction and restoration actions: • improve the amount, complexity, diversity, and connectivity of riparian, confluence, and off-channel habitats • Flow actions: • increase occurrence of peak flows to maintain and create habitat,  increased channel complexity and habitat diversity • meet salmon and steelhead rearing and migration flow targets

19. Habitat Principals and Priorities Protect/enhance viability of multiple listed populations Protect habitat with these traits • natural production areas (subbasins) (PRODUCTIVITY) • supports major life history strategies (DIVERSITY) • contributes to other viability traits (SPATIAL STRUCTURE) Enhance/restore habitat and natural processes • increase life-stage survival (ABUNDANCE), reproductive success, and connectivity Fix specific habitat limiting factors • large pay-off to closing viability gaps between current and desired future status

20. Mainstem Willamette Habitat Projects Considerations and Discussion A comprehensive and workable shared vision and strategy? What to protect and restore? • “Ecosystem Services” the conceptual umbrella for goals? • What level of functional ecosystem process does this imply? • Are we all on the same page for priorities and time scales? A structured framework to accomplish this? A metric to measure progress  accomplishment? • Can projects be scoped large enough to elicit a measurable response? Balance of willing opportunities (easements/ acquisitions) and regulations?

21. Questions/Comments