Project Title

A habitat recovery planning decision support system (DSS): integrating field data, models, and remotely sensed data to estimate effects of management actions on salmon in the Lewis River watershed

Description

The Lewis River case study was designed to provide an example of the technical analyses needed for recovery planning of listed salmon and steelhead populations in the Lower Columbia and Willamette regions as required by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Lewis River was identified as the case study watershed because it contains a mix of the issues confronting all of the watersheds in the Lower Columbia River. It is the only watershed in the Lower Columbia River to contain all races of listed salmon and steelhead. Population status in the watershed ranges from relatively healthy (bright fall Chinook) to extirpated (spring Chinook).

• Evaluation of potential restoration strategies in the Lewis watershed (an example of habitat recovery planning);
• Evaluation of the utility of and correlation between multiple habitat and fish response models and tools (guidance for habitat recovery planning).

1. We use process-based models to describe the current conditions of the watershed and estimate historical conditions. These include coarse and fine scale models of riparian condition (shade, large-woody debris recruitment, and recruitment of pool-forming conifers), hydrology (overland runoff and 2-yr flood magnitude), and sediment production (from roads, surface erosion, and mass-wasting). Sediment is routed downstream using a customized program resulting in predictions about deposition, scour, and transport.
2. Several strategies are used to generate potential restoration scenarios including the difference between historical and current conditions, expert opinion, results of the Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) model by Mobrand Biometrics, and published restoration strategy theories.
3. We model the effects of the above restoration strategies on habitat conditions and create a series of predicted restored landscapes.
4. We use several biological models (EDT, functional relationships based on published literature, and a broad-scale estimate of fish capacity), fish-centric habitat models, and models of the key habitat processes (riparian condition, hydrology, and sediment) to describe the predicted restored landscapes and estimate fish response.
5. We can compare results from different models for each of the restoration scenarios to provide guidance about model efficiency and inter-model correlation. We can also compare model results across multiple potential restored landscapes to provide estimates of the best restoration strategy in the Lewis River.

Investigators

Ashley Steel, Aimee Fullerton; Mindi Sheer, Yuko Caras, and Paul McElhany

Collaborators

Patricia Olson (Pacific Watershed Institute), David Jensen (Statistical Consultant), Dan Miller (Earth Ecosystems Inc.), Jennifer Burke (University of Washington), and Michael Maher (Steward and Associates Inc.)

Support

NOAA Fisheries

Status

Draft manuscript prepared and a draft report will be available online this spring (2006).

Relevant Publications

Steel, A., A. Fullerton, Y. Caras, M. Sheer, P. Olson, D. Jensen, J. Burke, M. Maher, D. Miller, and P. McElhany. May 2007. A decision-support tool for assessing watershed-scale habitat recovery strategies for ESA-listed salmonids. Lewis River Case Study Final Report. Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA. 190 pgs.

• Lewis River Case Study Report (full report including appendices)
• Lewis River Case Study Report (main report only)
• Appendix A: Decision Support System Base Data
• Appendix B: Historical Lewis River Watershed Conditions
• Appendix C: Selecting Actions within Strategies
• Appendix D: Restoration Action Models
• Appendix E: Surface Sediment, Erosion, and Runoff
• Appendix F: Sediment and Water Routing
• Appendix G: Bankfull Width Model
• Appendix H: Riparian Function Model
• Appendix I: Chinook Spawner Suitability and Potential Capacity Estimates
• Appendix J: FishEye: Spawning Habitat Suitability by Species
• Appendix K: Functional Relationships between Sediment and Egg-to-fry Survival
• Appendix L: Models used to coordinate with Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment Model (EDT)
• Appendix M: Historical Floodplain and Channel Reconstruction

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