temporary restoration of bull trout passage at albeni falls dam
TRANSCRIPT
Temporary Restoration of Bull Trout Passage at Albeni Falls Dam
Kalispel Tribe of IndiansProject # 2007-246-00
Jason Olson
Map of Study Area and Project Goals
• Provide temporary upstream passage
• Investigate a long term fish passage solution
• Address data gaps associated with Albeni Falls Dam and bull trout
• Create a westslope cutthroat trout genetic catalog allowing for the future passage of cutthroat trout at Albeni Falls Dam
History
• 2000 Biological Opinion – 2004 Feasibility Study for up/downstream passage
required– 2008 Action agencies to seek appropriation for
construction of fish passage facility• FERC licenses require fish passage at dams located
upstream and downstream of Albeni Falls• Permanent upstream passage structure at
Thompson Falls Dam.• Removal of Milltown Dam.
Importance to the Region• Project is related to all fish passage prescription on
mainstem Pend Oreille/Clark Fork Dams from western Montana to the Canadian Border.
• Allows bull trout that would have been lost from local populations to return to natal tributaries and contribute to overall recovery goals.
• All telemetry equipment is compatible throughout the basin to provide additional data for all entities working towards bull trout recovery.
• Box Canyon and Boundary dams are using this study as a model as they begin investigating fishway prescription.
Entities Involved and Related Projects
Entities• KNRD• WDFW• IDFG• USFWS• USFS• SCA• US Army Corps • BPA• SCL• PO PUD• PNNL• EWU
Related Projects• East River Juvenile Out
Migration Study• Bull Trout Telemetry below
Albeni Falls Dam• Westslope Cutthroat Trout
Telemetry Studies (2)• Lake Pend Oreille Lake Trout
Removal Project• Pend Oreille Nonnative Fish
Suppression Project
Accomplishments
• Handled a total of 35 bull trout
• Tagged 26 bull trout• 15 bull trout transported
above Albeni Falls Dam• In 2010, tagged and
monitored the movements of 14 westslope cutthroat trout below Albeni Falls Dam
Accomplishments Cont.
• Over half of the bull trout captured below Albeni Falls Dam to date were from depressed Lake Pend Oreille tributaries.
• Identified areas of cold water refuge below Albeni Falls Dam
• Identified potential upstream fish passage entrance locations
• Began understanding the magnitude of entrainment
Results Streams 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Average
Grouse Ck 38 31 51 27 100 49
Morris Ck 0 6 6 9 0 4
Lightening Ck 3 10 11 0 20 9
Rattle Ck 2 24 62 43 65 39
Granite Ck 104 52 106 75 129 93
EF Lightening Ck 34 38 85 26 64 49
MF East River 34 36 25 22 28 29
Grouse Morris Lightening Rattle Granite EF Lightening MF East River
2 3 3 1 3 2 1
53% of all bull trout captured below Albeni Falls Dam have been genetically assigned to depressed spawning tributaries.
Results Cont.
• Genetic assignments are accurate to primary and secondary streams of origin (67%).
• Once transported above Albeni Falls Dam bull trout waste little time getting back to the lake.
• Radio tagged fish have been observed spawning
• Hybridization may be a larger issue than once thought (11%).
Lessons Learned
• Entrainment at Albeni Falls Dam is a much larger issue than anticipated
• High number of westslope cutthroat trout appearing below Albeni Falls Dam in the early spring before freshet.
• Highest efficiency of bull trout captures are on the ascending and descending arms of the hydrograph.
• Difference in life histories between bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout (movement, water temperature).
Conclusion
• Bull trout that are transported above Albeni Falls Dam are contributing gene flow to depressed Lake Pend Oreille tributaries.
• Genetic assignments of bull trout are accurate to the primary and secondary natal tributaries.
• Critical data gaps have been and continue to be filled for bull trout passage throughout the mainstem Pend Oreille/Clark Fork Recovery Units.