Tribe develops wildlife assessment tool
|
|
February 7, 2014 |
The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, working with
federal, state and other tribal partners, has
developed what it feels is a reliable tool for
assessing impacts to wildlife habitat along the
Kootenai River caused by the operation of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Libby Dam in
northwest Montana and measure how well
particular restoration actions might help
ecosystem functions.
With that task for the most part complete and
vetted by independent scientific reviewers, the
Northwest Power and Conservation Council on
January 14 recommended that the project move
forward into a new phase – the development of a
mitigation implementation plan outlining
potential restoration of habitat used by
terrestrial creatures.
The recommended fiscal year 2014 expense budget
for the project is $735,462 with a performance
period of November 1, 2013 to October 31, 2014.
The Bonneville Power Administration makes the
final decisions and issues contracts for
projects recommended for funding through the
NPCC’s Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Program.
BPA, which markets power generated in the
Columbia River basin’s federal hydro system, is
charged by the Northwest Power Act with funding
mitigation for impact to fish and wildlife
caused by the dams.
Just under $600,000 was spent in FY 2013 for the
project, which was launched in 2002. The early
years of the project were used to collect data,
estimates of habitat conditions before northwest
Montana’s Libby Dam was completed in 1975, and
what conditions are today, creating an overall
“Index of Ecological Integrity” for the U.S.
portion of the Kootenai River floodplain and for
each of the three unique segments of the river
(canyon, braided and meander reaches).
The river flows south out of British Columbia,
fills the reservoir behind Libby Dam, and then
flows across a corner of Montana, into the Idaho
Panhandle and then north again into Canada
before joining the Columbia. Libby Dam is 222
miles from the Kootenay-Columbia confluence.
Operational impacts to wildlife were not
included under 1988 settlement agreement reached
between the state of Montana and BPA regarding
mitigation funding for impacts cause by the
construction of Libby and Hungry Horse dams and
the resulting inundation of existing habitat.
Libby Dam, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, manipulates downstream flows to meet
power demand and provide flood control, as well
as address other needs.
“In addition to the development of the
mitigation plan, the effectiveness of these
tools will be tested. Monitoring of reach and
project specific study sites will continue
during this period to test the toolsets ability
to detect changes at the project level and as
projects accumulate, the reach level,” according
to an NPCC staff memo prepared by program
implementation manager Mark Fritsch. The newly
developed toolset is being tested in the
neighboring Flathead River basin in Montana to
assess its transferability to other basins.
The Council in its 2009 decision on projects
assessed during a “Wildlife Category Review”
recommended that the project be given a 3-year
budget (FY2010-2012) “to cover the time
anticipated to complete the operational loss
assessment.
“Staff recommends an ISRP and Council review of
the competed operational loss assessment.
Out-year budgets for capital and expense to be
determined based on that review,” according to
the NPCC decision, which referenced the need for
Independent Scientific Review Panel concurrence.
An ISRP final review received in December found
that the project’s operational loss assessment
“Meets Scientific Review Criteria (Qualified).”
“The implementation of the mitigation plan
(i.e., Phase III) and the associated funds will
occur in conjunction with the KTOI ongoing
habitat projects and will be dependent on
favorable review by the ISRP,” the Council staff
memo said. “The submittal of the implementation
plan for ISRP review is expected in the first
quarter of 2015. In addition the 1-2 year update
and progress, as requested by the ISRP, will be
addressed during the review of the mitigation
implementation plan.”
The tribe’s Kootenai River Habitat Restoration
Program is large-scale ecosystem-based river
habitat restoration effort that will be
implemented over a period of 10 to 15 years
across a 55-mile reach of the Kootenai River in
north Idaho. For more information go to:
http://www.restoringthekootenai.org.
Dams such as Libby tend to alter water flows,
sediment, and nutrient flow dynamics of river
systems and so interrupt and change important
ecological processes in aquatic, riparian,
floodplain, and surrounding terrestrial
environments. Alteration of any component of
such highly integrated natural systems generally
results in cascading trophic (food chain)
effects throughout the ecosystem.
The new assessment tools are aimed primarily at
assessing dam operations’ effects on bird
communities – species richness, biodiversity,
ecological function and other variables.
“Birds are a real good indicator of habitat
quality,” said Norm Merz, project manager for
the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho.
The assessment tools will help evaluate the
effectiveness of what is an extensive habitat
restoration initiative undertaken by the tribe,
with much of the required funding provided by
the BPA.
“We are monitoring numerous projects,” Merz said
of efforts to both assess the accuracy of the
assessment tools, and the effectiveness of
habitat improvements designed to rebuild
ecosystems.
The overarching goal of this project is to
create an operational loss assessment tool to
assess ecological losses caused by the
operations of Libby Dam. The tribe hopes to use
the tool to help protect, restore and/or enhance
the floodplain ecosystem (e.g. riparian,
wetland, and related uplands and tributary
areas) in order to promote healthy
self-sustaining fish and wildlife populations,
the tribal web page says.
Specific objectives include: (1) reviewing,
analyzing and selecting research projects that
will best assess operational losses in the Lower
Kootenai River Watershed and are regionally
applicable; (2) assessing historic (early 1900s)
and current condition and status of floodplain
vegetation types, slough, pocket water and
associated watercourses within the Lower
Kootenai River Watershed; (3) producing
hydrologic models for the floodplain and each
natural analogue stream course; (4) developing a
framework for regional floodplain operational
loss assessments, with the use of Lower Kootenai
River floodplain operational assessment, EDT,
and normative analogue comparisons; and (5)
planning and establishing a trust fund or other
funding strategy for securing management rights,
and operations and maintenance to mitigate
priority floodplain habitat areas. |
|
Questions or comments about this
article?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
