Columbia River Basin Fish Restoration Activities ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE AND UPCOMING ISSUES Bonneville Legal Briefing October 2015 Moderator Lorri Bodi, BPA EF&W VP Panel Philip Key, BPA OGC Lydia Grimm, BPA Senior Policy Advisor Hub Adams, BPA OGC ACCOMPLISHMENTS The largest ecosystem recovery effort in the nation Uses an All-H lifecycle approach Focus on salmon & steelhead, but includes wildlife, lamprey, sturgeon, bull trout, and other resident fish BPA electric ratepayer funding of approximately $500M per year Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program FCRPS ESA Biological Opinion (BiOp) One of the most comprehensive BiOp consultations ever Analysis supports BiOp for federal dams as well as harvest agreement BiOp and Upper Snake BiOp BiOp and the All-H approach supported by 3 states and 6 tribes Litigated in federal court since 2000 Oral arguments on 2014 Supplemental BiOp held in June 2015; court ruling pending U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon Columbia Basin Fish Accords Historic ten year partnership between BPA, the Corps, Reclamation, and Northwest states and tribes supporting the BiOp Federal agencies and Tribes work together as partners "on the ground" to provide survival benefits for salmon recovery bringing fish back to the rivers Accord Partners include: the Colville, Kalispel, Shoshone-Bannock, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakama tribes; the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission; and the States of Washington, Idaho, and Montana Columbia Basin Columbia River Treaty Treaty between U.S. and Canada; entered into effect in 1964 Implemented by the U.S. Entity (BPA and the Corps) and the Canadian Entity (BC Hydro) Entities have used flexibility in Treaty to support fish operations on annual basis for past 20+ years Looking forward: Regional Recommendation for Treaty post-2024 submitted to Department of State in 2013 Contains suggestions for enhancing and building on existing ecosystem actions Mica Dam in Canada Results For The Fish Hydro Survival Dam improvements and smart spill provide the best fish passage in the nation, better water quality, and faster fish travel time Bonneville CORNER COLLECTOR INSTALLED % John Day SURFACE PASSAGE INSTALLED % McNary SURFACE PASSAGE INSTALLED % Little Goose SURFACE PASSAGE INSTALLED % The Dalles SPILL WALL INSTALLED % Ice Harbor SURFACE PASSAGE INSTALLED 2005 Lower Monumental SURFACE PASSAGE INST % Lower Granite SURFACE PASSAGE INSTALLED 2001 SURVIVAL DATA FOR YEARLING SPRING CHINOOK, NOV WASHINGTON OREGON IDAHO Results For The Fish Optimizing Fish Passage Dams are on track to meet performance standards of 96% average survival for spring and 93% for summer migrating fish Spillway survival 95% Turbine survival 87% Spillway passage 21% Turbine passage 4% Bypass passage 31% Surface weir passage 44% Surface weir survival 100% Bypass survival 99% 98 % OVERALL SURVIVAL Little Goose Dam Passage & Survival Chinook Salmon (2012) Results For The Fish Tributary Habitat From 2005 to 2014: Protected over 367,000 acre feet of water Opened access to over 2,860 miles of fish habitat Restored 314 miles of stream habitat complexity Results For The Fish Estuary Habitat From 2007 to 2014: Protected or restored over 6,440 acres of estuary floodplain by purchase or lease, including 1,182 acres in 2014 Restored or enhanced 40 miles of estuarine tidal channels as of 2014 Ruby Lake, Columbia River estuary Snake River sockeye: From Lonesome Larry to biggest returns in 40 years Snake River Wild Fall Chinook: From fewer than 100 fish in 1990 to nearly 15,000 in 2014, supporting fisheries from Alaska to Idaho Coho Salmon: Extinct runs restored in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, with a record-setting return of 645,000 adults to the mouth of the Columbia in 2014 Spring Chinook: Being restored in several basins, including the Umatilla, Okanogan, & Walla Walla Results For The Fish Increasing Abundance Record Returns: 2014 returns for Chinook, coho and sockeye were all the highest recorded for each species since counting began in 1938 Results For The Fish Other Actions Hatcheries Hatchery Genetic Management Plans (HGMPs) prepared for all hatcheries include reforms expected to benefit wild fish Support both conservation and harvest Predator Management Sea lions: harassment, lethal take and proposed legislation Birds: Caspian tern relocation and cormorant management plan Of the 49 Interior Columbia Basin wild adult fish populations where data is available, 47 have increased in abundance since listings in the 1990s. On average, wild chinook numbers have more than tripled. Wild steelhead numbers have doubled. Mid-Columbia River Steelhead* Snake River Steelhead Snake River Spring/ Summer Chinook Upper Columbia River Steelhead Upper Columbia Spring Chinook Snake River Fall Chinook Snake River Sockeye Trend How Are the Fish Doing? Abundance of Wild Salmon & Steelhead How Are the Fish Doing? Total Salmon and Steelhead Returns RETURN TOTALS INCLUDE: ALL LISTED AND NON-LISTED SALMON AND STEELHEAD, BOTH HATCHERY AND WILD UPCOMING ISSUES F&W Program where do we go next? Biological Opinion What do we do with the courts ruling on the current BiOp? What happens post 2018? Building on Our Success... Fish Accords what happens post 2018? Columbia River Treaty what is its future post 2024? QUESTIONS?