Oregon Water Online
© Oregon Water CoalitionSea lion trapping winds down
Both California and Steller sea lions have exited their salmon smorgasbord below the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam as nature has, apparently, called them to their breeding grounds elsewhere.
Efforts by the states of Oregon and Washington to trap and remove California sea lions from below the dam ended last week because very few animals remained near the dam.
As of midweek only one straggler remained, a California sea lion that was sighted riding the stern of a tug boat upstream through Bonneville’s locks on May 16. He remained above the dam this week, according Robert Stansell of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He leads ongoing research at the dam aimed at assessing the impact of the predatory marine mammals on salmon and other fish species.
Sea lions were, for the most part, only occasional visitors to the dam up until the recent decade. Since then, male California sea lions in particular have made a habit of congregating below the dam in late winter and spring.
As many as 106 (in 2003) individual California sea lions have been observed at the dam feeding on spring chinook salmon, steelhead, lamprey, sturgeon and other fishes in springtime. The spring migrants include salmon and steelhead stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Concerned about impacts on salmon, fish and wildlife agencies in Washington, Oregon and Idaho sought and received federal authorization to remove California sea lions that prey on salmon and steelhead below dam. The authorization under provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act allows wildlife managers to use lethal measures to remove those animals, but the states’ first priority has been to relocate sea lions to zoos and aquariums.
During the 2009 trapping and removal operations that began in early March, 20 California sea lions have been trapped. Six of the trapped pinnipeds had not been identified as persistent predators and thus were not on the list of animals judged to be eligible for removal. They were branded, fitted with acoustic tags and released.
Four of the animals were relocated—two to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and two to Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.
Ten animals were found unacceptable for transfer to a zoo or aquarium due to health reasons and euthanized.
After receiving federal approval in March 2008, state biologists relocated six California sea lions to SeaWorld facilities in Florida and Texas. Relocation efforts were suspended in early May 2008 after four California sea lions and two Steller sea lions were inadvertently captured in two unattended traps and died of heat prostration. The states are not authorized to remove Steller sea lions, which are also protected under the ESA.
The predator dynamics below the dam changed a bit this spring. There were an estimated 53 different California sea lions that visited the dam this year. That would be the lowest number since the first year (2002) of the Corps research when only 30 were seen at the dam. The peak number observed on single day was 26, also the lowest total since 2002.
Steller sea lions on the other hand appear to be a growing force. Up until last year no more than 10 Stellers had been seen at the dam. That number grew to 17 last year and jumped to 26 this spring. Researchers stress that the numbers in their weekly update reports are preliminary.
“The number of Steller sea lions may rise for the final report as we began to identify individual Steller sea lions this year as we do with California sea lions, rather than just counting the highest number present at any given time.
However we have not yet had the time to review all the video and photos to finalize our figures,” according to the May 22 update report. The reports can be found online at: nwd-wc.usace.army.mil.
The Stellers have for the most part concentrated on white sturgeon so as their numbers have grown so has the observed catch of the big fish. Last year researchers saw 606 sturgeon taken in the area below the dam. This year the total was 758, with 721 taken by Stellers and 37 taken by California sea lions.
The cumulative salmonid catch to-date (2,960) by sea lions continues to be lower than it has been for the past two years. The observed catch last year was 4,243 and was 3,569 in 2007.
Obama administration reviews salmon plan
The Obama administration is reviewing a Bush administration plan for balancing the needs of people and salmon in the Columbia River Basin – a plan that has been criticized by a federal judge as doing too little to help salmon.
The Bush plan was sent to U.S. District Judge James Redden in Portland, Ore., last May. Redden had set a Friday deadline for the government to respond as it explores options in the case. In a letter Friday to Redden, the Justice Department said top officials in the Obama administration want a delay of up to two months to “more fully understand all aspects” of the plan. Redden heard arguments in March in a long-running dispute over how to balance Columbia Basin energy and utility needs with imperiled salmon and steelhead.
Environmentalists have argued that salmon populations cannot recover without removing some dams, especially the migration bottleneck to Idaho created by four dams on the Lower Snake River in Washington state.
Redden told the NOAA Fisheries Service at the March 6 hearing that their plan for balancing endangered salmon runs against electricity production on 14 federal Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams still needs work, particularly in the area of habitat improvement.
EPA accelerates Great Lakes restoration
The Great Lakes Basin is a national resource treasure that is home to 34 million people in the U.S. and Canada. It holds 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water, has 10,000 miles of coastline, and contains a diverse array of biological communities.
EPA’s FY 2010 budget requests $475 million for Great Lakes restoration programs and projects that strategically target the most significant problems in the region, such as aquatic invasive species, nonpoint source pollution, toxics in sediment, and habitat and species loss.
This restoration effort represents the federal government’s commitment to significantly advance Great Lakes protection.
The Great Lakes Initiative will use outcome-oriented performance goals and measures to target the most significant problems and track progress in addressing them.
EPA and its Federal partners will coordinate state, local, tribal, and industry actions to protect, maintain, and restore the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great Lakes.
Sea lions avoid traps in favor of dam’s concrete pad
There have been 11 California sea lions trapped and removed from the area below Bonneville Dam on the lower Columbia River so far this spring but in recent weeks state biologists’ trapping efficiency has dropped to zero.
The Oregon-Washington effort began March 10 and produced success in three of the first four weeks by capturing specific animals that were targeted for removal. But lately none of the big pinnipeds has lingered aboard any of the three floating cages long enough for the trap doors to be triggered.
The last animals captured, on April 16, were two California sea lions that were not eligible for removal. They were branded and released.
The California sea lions, and Steller sea lions, had often used the traps early in the season to “haul out” and rest between forays to prey on salmon and other fish below the dam. But nowadays they seldom frequent the cage platforms, and are instead plopping down on a concrete pad along the dam’s corner collector or “rafting”—forming their own multi-mammal flotation device—nearby.
“I think it’s a combination of things,” the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Charlie Corrarino said of the sea lions’ sudden lack of interest in the traps, and the lack of trapping success.
“We’ve got the trap-happy animals—the ones that said ‘hey, that’s a cool place,’” Corrarino said. In all 22 California sea lions have been removed from the area since the states received authority in March 2008 to lethally remove individually identifiable animals preying on salmon and steelhead stocks listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Last year seven sea lions were trapped intentionally and six were shipped off to zoos and aquariums. One died while under anesthesia during a post-trapping medical examination. Four others died of heat exhaustion when trap doors inadvertently, and inexplicably, were tripped and the animals were caged together overnight. The 22 animals represent roughly 20 percent of the California sea lions that are known to have made repeat visits.
Corrarino said that weather this spring may be causing the animals to seek shelter in the water instead of exposing themselves to the elements aboard the traps, which float along the north shore of Cascades Island. It juts straight downriver from the dam. The corner collector is a passage channel for juvenile fish migrating toward the ocean. Its long flume runs down the island.
Some of the animals also may have exited the area because the salmon run has been very late to arrive. The sea lion population’s peak at the dam coincides generally with the peak of chinook salmon passage. The pinnipeds prey on salmon that mill below the dam in search of its fish ladders.
Or they could have figured out boarding the rafts is not a wise decision. The sea lions are clever creatures, “but I think that’s probably giving them too much credit,” Corrarino said.
Despite the poor recent success, state crews will continue the trapping, probably until about the end of May. By then most of the animals will have begun their journey to the Channel Island breeding grounds off the coast of Southern California. The crews have been manning the traps two to three days per week. Little can be done this year, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is mulling options for preventing sea lion access to the concrete pads next year.
“Up to 13 of the California sea lions appear to be new visitors to Bonneville Dam, with the remainder repeats from previous years,” according to the May 1 update. That means that roughly one-third of the sea lions seen this year are making their first visit. That ratio is similar to that of past years, meaning fewer new and repeat visitors made the 146-mile trip from the ocean to the dam this year.
The take of chinook salmon is also down this year. The sea lions have been observed taking 1,875 through the end of April this year; last year the total through April 28 was 2,416.
Bureau expects to augment flow in upper Snake
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will likely be able to provide desired flow augmentation volumes for salmon this spring and summer, according to agency officials.
“We’re highly confident that we’ll be able to provide 487,000” acre feet of water, the Bureau’s Ted Day told the Technical Management Team Wednesday. The TMT’s federal, state and tribal membership consider federal Columbia-Snake hydro system operational strategies that aim to improve conditions for migrating salmon and steelhead.
NOAA Fisheries Service’s Upper Snake River biological opinion calls for the Bureau to provide up to 487 kaf from its storage reservoirs in the upper Snake. Most of those reservoirs are in Idaho.
“Flow augmentation” water is released from system storage at targeted times and places to increase streamflows to benefit migrating salmon and steelhead. There are 13 salmonid stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act, including four that originate in the Snake River basin. NOAA BiOps judge whether federal actions, such as the operation of dams, jeopardize the survival of listed species.
Day said that as of this week the Bureau had “firm” commitments for 449 kaf or roughly 95 percent of the target.
“We’re confident that we’ll find the sources” to hit the target, Day told the TMT. The Bureau distributes the water that fills its reservoirs to natural flow water rights holders. To provide the flow augmentation the agency acquires, or “rents,” water volumes from willing sellers. The Bureau can also contribute water rights it holds.
The Bureau has provided flow augmentation annually since 1991 in volumes ranging from 90 to 487 kaf. That was the year that the first of those 13 stocks, the Snake River sockeye salmon, gained ESA protections.
As much as 427 kaf has been provided provided annually from 1993 through 2000 but drought years followed. The 427 kaf target was missed from 2001 through 2004.
The goal was upped by 60 kaf in the 2005 Upper Snake BiOp but the Bureau only could provide 427 kaf that year and in 2007. The reservoirs have delivered 487 kaf in 2006 and last year.
The upper Snake River basin has enjoyed a strong water accumulation season. Snowpacks in the mountains that feed the upper Snake have, for the most part, are above average snow-water equivalent. The SWE represents the depth of water in the snowpack, if the snowpack were melted, expressed in inches.
The relative wealth in water has been rare in recent years. The upper Snake snowpack has been below average from 2000 through 2008 with the exception of 2006. Last year’s upper Snake water supply was just slightly below average.
SNO-TEL automatic measuring sites in the Snake basin above the Bureau’s Palisades reservoir had a SWE on May 6 that was 117 percent of the 1971-2000 average. The Henrys Fork, Teton, Willow, Blackfoot and Portneuf drainages were at 111 percent of average and the Raft, Goose, Salmon Falls and Bruneau SNO-TEL readings showed SWE at 106 percent of average.
Subpar are the Big and Little Lost basins (98 percent), the Big and Little Wood basins (90 percent) and the Weiser, Payette and Boise river drainages (94 percent).
New forecast has Columbia Basin dropping to 87%
With precipitation below average across much of the Columbia River basin in April, expectations for spring-summer water supply were dampened a bit.
The May “final forecast” issued Thursday by NOAA’s Northwest River Forecast Center predicts that 86.3 million acre feet of water will course past The Dalles Dam from April through September. That would be 87 percent of the 1971-2000 annual average – 93.65 maf. Last month’s April 7 final forecast estimated runoff would be 89 percent of normal.
The anticipated volume past The Dalles from January through July would be only the 34th best total in the past 48 years. The Dalles Dam on the lower Columbia River passes water from as far away as the river’s headwaters in British Columbia and the upper Snake River’s mountain origins in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.
The Snake River basin is expected to have one of its best outpourings in years – 23.2 maf from April through September past Lower Granite Dam on the lower Snake in southeast Washington. That would be 96 percent of average for the period and up from a 95 percent forecast a month ago.
The January-July forecast 26.9 maf—would be the 22nd highest total out of 48 years and second best in the decade. Except for 2006, the water volumes past Lower Granite have been below average throughout the new millennium.
The Lower Granite forecast is bolstered by expected flows from lower Snake tributaries. The Grande Ronde River flow as measured at Troy, Ore., is expected to be 105 percent of normal from April-September; as is the Clearwater at Spalding, Idaho. The Salmon River volume as measured at Whitebird, Idaho, is expected to be 100 percent of average for the April-January period.
The North Fork of the Clearwater, which fills Dworshak Reservoir, is expected to produce 99 percent of its normal volume, according to the NWRFC forecast. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ May 1 forecast is for North Fork runoff at 98 percent of normal for the April-July period.
The upper and middle Snake River forecasts range from 114 percent of normal for the Grey’s River above Palisades reservoir in Idaho to 51 percent of average for Oregon’s Malheur River.
On the upper Columbia, the forecast is for runoff at 90 percent of average from April-September at central Washington’s Grand Coulee Dam – 57.3 maf.
The Bureau of Reclamation predicts “slightly above normal water supply” in the Yakima River, which feeds into the Columbia in central Washington.
As of May 1, the Bureau’s system of reservoirs for water storage was 87 percent full and 118 percent of average, which means irrigators can expect a full share of water this summer.
“The reservoir system storage is above average and the snowpack has held up very nicely in April with near normal precipitation,” said Chuck Garner, Yakima Project River operations supervisor. “Spring temperatures have been below average so snowmelt runoff has been slow in coming. This leaves more runoff to meet late spring and summer needs.”
Further upriver the NWRFC predicts the Flathead River runoff volume, as measured at Columbia Falls, Mont., would be 80 percent of average. The Kootenai River runoff, as measured entering Libby Dam’s reservoir is expected to be 84 percent of average.
May 1 Columbia River “snow pillow” readings at sites above the border all register below average. According to British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment River Forecast Centre, the snow-water equivalent in snowpack in the province’s upper and lower Columbia regions were 79 and 93 percent of average respectively. The Kootenay, which becomes the Kootenai, was at 87 percent of average.
Further east, the Okanagan River snowpack was 92 percent of normal with the Similkameen was at 77 percent.
NOAA budget: increase salmon spending but end fund
President Barack Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the Department of Commerce, calls for the elimination of the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, which has ranged from $90 million to $100 million in recent years.
But a NOAA spokesman stressed that overall, the proposed budget increases spending for Pacific salmon recovery.
The proposed budget says the “Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund was established in FY 2000 to fund State, Tribal and local conservation initiatives to help recover threatened and endangered Pacific salmon populations in the states of California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. NOAA proposes to terminate this fund in FY 2010.”
However, “ in keeping with the Obama Administration’s commitment to protecting America’s natural resources, the 2010 budget funds $800 million for Pacific salmon, which is an overall increase of 11 percent above last year’s enacted level across Federal agencies,” David Miller, NOAA’s senior public affairs officer, said this morning. The budget was released Thursday afternoon.
Miller said that within the Commerce Department, funding is being provided through NOAA to implement the Pacific Salmon Treaty ($24.4 million—more than double last year’s enacted level), develop advanced tools for managing salmon ($7 million), and support a $61 million program that includes salmon recovery efforts.
“Secretary (Gary) Locke understands the importance of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, and it remains a top priority for the Department of Commerce. The secretary has directed NOAA Administrator Dr. (Jane) Lubchenco to work with congressional members and key staff to develop a plan to ensure adequate funding for the recovery and restoration of Pacific Salmon stocks,” Miller said.
Locke extends disaster declaration, releases $53M
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says he is extending the 2008 West Coast salmon disaster declaration for California and Oregon in response to expected poor salmon returns to the Sacramento River.
That poor chinook forecast has forced fishery managers to forego nearly all commercial salmon fishing this spring and summer off southern Oregon and California. Locke also announced that he would release $53.1 million in disaster funds to aid fishing communities.
“Salmon returns are expected to be near record lows again this year,” Locke said. “The extension of the disaster declaration will ensure that aid will be available to affected fisherman and their families to help offset the economic impact of the closure of the commercial fisheries. These funds can also aid fishing-related businesses, such as ice and bait suppliers, who may struggle with the financial effects of the closure.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will formally adopt the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s full fishing season recommendations, made on April 8. The management strategy includes little commercial salmon harvest off the West Coast south of Cape Falcon, Ore. A recreational coho fishery and a limited commercial fishery will be allowed off Oregon. The salmon season formally began May 1.
Locke declared a commercial fishery failure under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and a resource disaster under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act. The declaration came in response to a request from Kulongoski and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“The collapse of the Sacramento River fall chinook has once again required sweeping closures of Oregon’s ocean to commercial salmon fishing,” Kulongoski said. “The decision by the secretary of Commerce comes at an important time for Oregon’s fishing communities and I appreciate the quick response to this critical request.”
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service will work with the states and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to distribute the $53 million in remaining salmon aid from last year’s $170 million congressional appropriation to help fishing communities affected by the poor returns. Based on the economic impact, of the remaining $53 million, Locke has allocated approximately $46.4 million to California and another $6.7 million to Oregon.
Sacramento River fall-run chinook have long been the foundation of the West Coast’s commercial salmon fishery. In the past, returns averaged from 400,000 to 600,000 chinook salmon spawners. Under current federally approved rules for managing the ocean salmon fishery, a minimum of 122,000 Sacramento River fall chinook must be predicted to return to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system before any harvest can take place.
Last year, barely 66,000 returned to their spawning grounds in the system. This year, a greater number of chinook are expected, but only marginally more than the 122,000 needed to maintain the health of the fishery.
Ex-vessel values for the South of Cape Falcon fisheries are projected to experience an 83 percent decline this year compared with the 2004-2008 average, and a 99 percent decline from the 2003-2007 average,” according to a letter from Locke notifying the governors of the disaster declaration.
“Some of the communities supporting these fisheries will experience economic hardship even more severe than the losses they endured after restrictions were imposed in 2006 on west coast ocean salmon fisheries because of the low abundance of Klamath River fall chinook salmon, and again in 2008 in response to critically low abundance of SRFC,” the governors said in their request for a disaster declaration.
Agency biologists said the 2008 collapse was triggered primarily by climatic conditions that produced little food in the ocean, compounded by degraded habitat and by too much reliance on fish produced in hatcheries instead of in the wild.
“NOAA will continue to work with the states and our partners in the region on habitat and hatchery issues that may be contributing to the difficult fishery management problems that the Sacramento River system has been experiencing,” said Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
Kulongoski has issued Executive Order 09-08 declaring a state of emergency in Tillamook, Lincoln, Coos, Clatsop and Curry counties and coastal portions of Lane and Douglas counties in response to the decline in ocean fishing opportunity for commercial fishermen.
Making the most out of pumped storage
It’s been 20 years since a pumped storage plant was built in the US. However, the development of the North Eden project is set to change this. Rachel Wright from Symbiotics explains how the scheme will help to reshape Utah’s energy portfolio.
Pumped storage is poised to be a major player in the renewable energy field. Wind generation continues to develop, while renewable portfolio standard mandates loom like clouds over solar panels. It is time to expand green energy resources.
The last time a new pumped storage project was built in the US was over 20 years ago. It’s an old and proven technology but one that has fallen out of favour here. There have been some economic pitfalls, some environmental blunders, and some failures.
But today pumped storage is being recognised as a proven and environmentally feasible way to provide the benefits of energy storage, grid stabilisation, and the harnessing of intermittent renewable sources.
Symbiotics, a Utah-based company, is in the preliminary stages of the North Eden pumped storage hydroelectric project, which will provide energy shaping and grid stabilisation for Utah’s coal-reliant energy portfolio.
Yakima Basin water supply forecast released
The Bureau of Reclamation has just released the May 2009, forecast for irrigation water supply in the Yakima Basin. The forecast is based on flow data, the snowpack, and precipitation data.
“We are expecting a slightly above normal water supply at this time,” said Chuck Garner, Yakima Project River Operations supervisor. “The May 2009 forecast indicates a full water supply for all water users.”
As of May 1, system storage was 87 percent full and 118 percent of average.
“The reservoir system storage is above average and the snowpack has held up very nicely in April with near normal precipitation. Spring temperatures have been below average so snowmelt runoff has been slow in coming. This leaves more runoff to meet late spring and summer needs.” Garner said.
At this time both junior and senior water rights holders are expected to receive their full water supply. Specific water delivery levels will not be determined until later in the year.
The weather conditions that determine precipitation, the run-off timing, and demand for water are critical in determining whether the reservoirs fill, the amount of water available for irrigation, and possible rationing levels. If warm weather prompts an early snowmelt run-off and dry conditions prevail the situation could worsen.
Water demands requiring storage releases, even prior to storage control, may be charged to the users” total entitlement.
