Mindy Simmons US Army Corps of Engineers Dorie Welch, Daniel Spear Bonneville Power Administration

1. PORTLAND DISTRICT Willamette Project Biological OpinionsPresentation to the NW Power CouncilDecember 2008 Mindy Simmons US Army Corps of Engineers Dorie Welch, Daniel Spear Bonneville Power Administration Stephanie Burchfield NOAA Fisheries Chris Allen US Fish and Wildlife Service

2. Operation of 13 multi-purpose dams and reservoirs Downstream habitat effects The Willamette Project Hatchery Mitigation Program 42 miles of bank protection/revetments

3. Area: 11,476 mi2 Rain-driven hydrology Population ~2.5M Most populated sub-basin in Columbia River Basin Willamette Basin

4. Willamette Basin

5. 1890 Willamette Flood Oregon State Archives, Marion Co Historical Society, MJON0209 1943 Willamette Flood Oregon State Archives, Oregon Water Resources Department, OWR0085

6. Detroit Dam 1952 North Santiam River Oregon State Archives, Oregon Water Resources Department, OWR0041 Willamette Project Dam Construction Lookout Point Dam 1950 Middle Fork Willamette River Oregon State Archives, Oregon Water Resources Department, OWR0072

7. Detroit Big Cliff Green Peter Foster Willamette Project: 13 Multi-purpose Dams and Reservoirs Dexter Cougar Blue River Fall Creek Lookout Point Hills Creek

8. 13 Multi-Purpose Dams and Reservoirs • Located in tributaries, not on mainstem Willamette River • Most are large, high-head dams

9. PORTLAND DISTRICT Authorized Purposes • Flood Damage Reduction • Hydropower • Navigation • Irrigation • Fish & Wildlife • Recreation • Water Quality • Municipal & Industrial

10. Willamette Project Hydropower Overview • Eight projects with generation • Projects produce 182.8 aMW • Annual market value of $90 million • Three projects with 300 MWs of capacity- scheduled for heavy load hours • Total of 400 MWs of capacity for all projects • Projects can deliver additional energy in a shortage • Projects are close to major west side load centers

11. PORTLAND DISTRICT Willamette Basin ProjectSystem Benefits • Hydropower • more than $90 million annually • Flood Damage Reduction • $18.6 billion to date • $920 million annual average damage reduction • Navigation • Flows support water quality • Irrigation • minor use but supports high value crops Corvallis 1996

12. PORTLAND DISTRICT Total = 1.6 Million Acre-feet 1.2 MAF total

13. Mainstem Columbia Dams • Operated primarily for hydropower, run-of-river; in series on mainstem • Willamette Basin Dams • Operated primarily for flood damage reduction (storage) • most are high-head • located in tributaries DIFFERENT EFFECTS ON FISH

14. Willamette Project Biological Opinions • Completed July 11, 2008 after 8 years of consultation • Proposed Action Includes: • Continued operation of 13-dam complex • Continued maintenance of 42 miles of revetments • Operation of hatchery program • View the Supplemental BA at: https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/pm/e/en _plan_ ba.asp • View the NMFS Biological Opinion at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Hydropower/Willamette-Basin/Willamette-BO.cfm • View the USFWS Biological Opinion at: https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/pm/e/willametteBO-final_071108.pdf

15. PORTLAND DISTRICT Willamette ESA ConsultationAction Agencies • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) • Owns and operates projects • Congressional appropriations • Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) • Markets power from the 8 power projects • Funds power share of USACE budgets • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) • Markets stored water through irrigation contracts

16. Upper Willamette River Spring Chinook salmon Upper Willamette River winter steelhead Anadromous Fish in the Upper Willamette Basin (NMFS BiOp) JEOPARDY

17. UWR Chinook Salmon Population Status High extinction risk Moderate extinction risk

18. Chinook Spawning habitat loss due to no passage at dams High extinction risk Moderate extinction risk All Chinook populations affected by Corps dams are populations important for long-term recovery

19. Listed Resident Fish in the Willamette Basin USFWS Opinion includes NMFS’ RPA in Proposed Action Oregon chub Columbia River bull trout NO JEOPARDY

20. Oregon Chub Current Distribution (35 Populations)

21. Columbia River Willamette Basin Bull Trout Distribution Probable Historic Current Clackamas R. (last observed 1963 – reintroduction being considered) Willamette River North Santiam R. (last observed 1945) South Santiam R. (last observed 1953) McKenzie R. (approx. 300 adults) Middle Fork Willamette R. (15 to 20 adults) rehabilitation program underway since 1998

22. IMPLEMENTATION Short term (FY08-15) Long term (FY16-23) Actions/ Construction Actions/ Construction Evaluations/ Config Op Plan Summary of Biological Opinions • Describe Effects on Fish • Highlight Major Actions from Opinions 15-year Implementation timeframe

23. Downstream Effects: Altered Seasonal Flow Pattern • Spring Reservoir Refill (Feb-May) • Inflow > outflow • Lower than natural spring flow • PROBLEM: reduced flows affect winter steelhead outmigration and adult spring Chinook migration; steelhead spawning/incubation flows • Summer Flow Augmentation (May-Aug) • Outflow > inflow • Higher than natural summer flow • Water quality benefits, rearing habitat

24. Spawning Egg Incubation Redd and eggs out of water PROBLEM: Providing adequate water downstream of dams for all life stages

25. Operational changes implemented in 2000 Minimum mainstem flows Tributary flows Spawning Incubation Rearing Process for adjusting targets based on water forecasts Coordination and in-season management team Down-Ramping rates (avoid sudden decreases in flow) Flow Management Actions

26. Downstream Effects: Altered Geomorphic Processes Winter Flood Damage Reduction (Dec/Jan/Feb) • Capture peaks of flood events, slow release • Decreases magnitude of floods PROBLEM: Fewer channel-forming flows + loss of floodplain connectivity + Loss of large wood and gravel from reservoirs

27. Chinook/Steelhead: Loss of winter rearing habitat; reduced spawning gravel Loss of floodplain refugia Oregon Chub: Loss of population connectivity Loss of habitat PROBLEM: Downstream Loss of Channel Complexity and Floodplain Connectivity Willamette River Planning Atlas (PNW Ecosystem Research Consortium)

28. Habitat Restoration Program • On-site actions for Oregon Chub, other species • Action Agencies will develop an off-site habitat restoration program • Recovery Plans, Willamette Subbasin Plan, and other habitat assessments will be synthesized to guide restoration work • Collaborative Habitat Team representing state, tribes, and federal agencies will recommend projects and assist in the prioritization of actions • Action agencies will work with other habitat programs in the Willamette to identify opportunities and leverage funding where possible • Complete 2 habitat projects per year starting in 2010

29. Downstream Effects: Temperature SUMMER PROBLEM: Water is too cold during the summer Warm Dam Too cold Cold Adult salmon stop migrating to spawning grounds

30. Downstream Effects: Temperature FALL/WINTER PROBLEM: Water is too warm during the fall and winter Reservoir drawn down for flood operations Dam Too warm Salmon eggs in gravel die or hatch too early Cold

31. Downstream Effects: Temperature Detroit Dam 2007 – 8 Detroit Dam 2009? SOLUTION: Temperature Control Operation “surface spill” Warm Dam Correct temperature Correct temp Cold MIX

32. Downstream Effects: Temperature Cougar Dam 2005 Detroit Dam 2018? New Intake Tower SOLUTION: Temperature Control Structure Warm Dam Correct temperature Correct temp Cold

33. Willamette Project Hatchery Mitigation Program

34. Hatchery Mitigation Program • Mitigation for lost production caused by blocked access to habitat upstream of dams • Current program produces: • Spring Chinook salmon (part of ESU; integrated) • Summer steelhead (non-native, segregated program) • Catchable trout • NO winter steelhead program (winter steelhead are ESA-listed)

35. 5 major hatcheries constructed by USACE operated by ODFW Funded by USACE and ODFW Willamette Basin Hatchery Facilities

36. Non-native Skamania stock summer steelhead Popular sport fishery Evaluate site-specific effects on ESA-listed winter steelhead Modify program in collaboration with ODFW Downstream Effects: Summer Steelhead Hatchery Program

37. Use hatchery fish to evaluate reintroduction of Chinook salmon back into their historic habitat above the impassable dams (e.g., NS, SS, McK, MFW) Implement new HGMPs for integrated programs supported by Hatchery Scientific Review Group Increase percentage of natural-origin fish in brood Minimize risks on stronghold wild populations (McKenzie) Manage hatchery-origin spawners Downstream Effects: Spring Chinook Hatchery Program

38. Action: Leaburg Fish Sorter • McKenzie Chinook is a stronghold wild population • Leaburg Dam is located on the McKenzie River and owned and operated by Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) • Action Agencies will construct a sorting facility at the dam to prevent hatchery fish from straying above the dam and into wild fish sanctuary above Leaburg • Action Agencies will work with EWEB, ODFW and NOAA to design, construct and operate the fish sorter • BPA lead for funding design and construction (USACE and ODFW fund operation and maintenance) • Complete by 2014

39. Dams blocked access to historical spawning habitat How do the Action Agencies move forward? Altered downstream habitat Can we JUST improve habitat downstream of projects? • Flows and operations • Improve temperatures • Habitat improvement and floodplain restoration • Hatchery improvements ESA Sec 7 Consultations Recovery Planning

40. Do we ALSO need access to habitat upstream of dams? Considerations: • Quality adult holding habitat • adequate quantities of spawning gravel • most is managed by USFS or BLM

41. PROBLEM: Inadequate or nonexistent upstream passage facilities • Upstream passage currently provided only at Foster and Fall Creek dams (trap-and-haul) • Fish ladders are likely infeasible • High-head dams • Variable forebay fluctuations • Existing hatchery facilities designed for broodstock collection

42. SOLUTION: Use Willamette Basin Hatchery Fish Facilities as “trap-and-haul” for adult fish DEXTER DAM Adult Collection Adult Sorting; load on to truck for transport SOLUTION: Use hatchery spring Chinook to evaluate potential for reintroduction in upstream habitat

43. Upstream Fish Passage Actions Cougar Fish Trap Plans • Continue adult “outplanting” program • Construct Trap at Cougar Dam (McK):2009 • Improve or replace adult fish traps: Minto (N. Santiam): 2012 Foster (S. Santiam): 2013 Dexter (Middle Fk Willamette): 2014 Fall Creek: 2015 • Develop 4 to 6 adult release sites above reservoirs by 2012 Outplanting adult spring Chinook also provides prey base for bull trout

44. Long reservoirs Predators Deep intakes to passage routes (very little surface spill) PROBLEM: Downstream Passage is Challenging Spill gates (rarely used) Regulating Outlets (“spill”) Power Turbines

45. Cougar Dam and Reservoir South Fork McKenzie River Regulating Outlet Powerhouse Photo Courtesy of Portland District USACE

46. Photograph of the instruments located in the RO channel Regulating Outlet Willamette Project “spill”

48. Measures to improve passage through reservoirs and dams until permanent facilities are built Fall Creek drawdown for Chinook outmigration Test other measures: reservoir drawdown, pulsing flows, spill, other outlets Implement feasible alternatives (“simple” by 2009; more “complex” by 2011) Head-of-Reservoir juvenile collection prototype Evaluate feasibility – complete by end of 2010 Construct prototype by 2014 Biological and physical evaluations 2015 & 2016 If effective, include in design alternatives for downstream passage at other Project dams Evaluate fish passage survival, injury, delay, timing and distribution at 8 Project dams and reservoirs, 2008 - 2015 Biological Opinion Actions: Step-wise Approach to Downstream Passage

49. Downstream fish passage facilities Construction complete by: Cougar - 2014 Lookout Point/Dexter - 2021 Detroit/Big Cliff - 2023 Evaluate for use at additional dams Analyze feasibility, alternatives, design through the COP study Biological Opinion Actions: Step-wise Approach to Downstream Passage

50. Configuration Operation Plan“COP” • Reconnaissance Phase Study due 2009 • Feasibility phase to assess alternatives • All major structural modifications will be evaluated for: • Biological benefit • Technical feasibility • Economic viability • Consistency with overall recovery strategies