Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan DRAFT May 25, 2004 Prepared by Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District and Fifteenmile Coordinating Group for The Northwest Power and Conservation Council Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan Table of Contents Section 1: Executive Summary Section 2: Introduction Section 3: Assessment Section 4: Inventory of Existing Activities Section 5: Management Plan Section 6: Appendices A through J Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan DRAFT May 25 2004 Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District, in cooperation with Fifteenmile Coordinating Group 1. Executive Summary The Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan has been developed as part of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. Subbasin plans will be reviewed and eventually adopted into the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program to help direct Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) funding of projects that protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife habitats adversely impacted by the development and operation of the Columbia River hydropower system. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) intend to use subbasin plans as building blocks in recovery planning to meet the some of their requirements of the 2000 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (BiOp). Subbasin planning through the Council’s program will also assist Bonneville with some of the requirements they have under the 2000 BiOp. The Fifteenmile Coordinating Group intends the Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan to serve multiple purposes. The Group intends the plan to meet the Council’s call for subbasin plans as part of its Columbia Basin wide program and to provide a resource for all entities involved with natural resource planning efforts. Equally important, this plan is a locally organized and implemented effort involving the major resource managers, local governments, and local citizens working together to develop the best possible approach to protecting, enhancing and restoring fish and wildlife in the Fifteenmile Subbasin. This plan is intended to provide resources necessary to develop activities forwarding the vision of the Fifteenmile Coordinating Group at both subbasin/programmatic scales and to provide the context and information for developing site specific projects. The overall purpose of the planning effort goes beyond the requirements of the NWPPC subbasin planning process. The FCG seeks to develop a watershed restoration plan that identifies and prioritizes actions needed to: ▪ Protect and enhance streamflows to meet water quality standards, existing water rights, instream water rights, and fish and wildlife habitat objectives; ▪ Maintain the productive natural resource base in the Basin, consistent with existing land use plans, conservation plans, and the economic viability of the resource-based economy in the Basin; ▪ Promote sustainability and conservation consistent with the custom, culture and quality of life in the Basin. The Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan is comprised of 3 main volumes that are interdependent, but each provides a unique way to understand the characteristics, management, and goals for the future of the Fifteenmile subbasin. The 3 volumes generally conform to the guidance set forth in the Council’s Technical Guide for Subbasin Planners (2001). 2. Introduction 2.1. Description of Planning Entity The Wasco County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) is a local government, a subdivision of the State of Oregon, organized under O.R.S.568. The district responsibilities include identifying and prioritizing natural resource conservation needs within the district, obtaining technical, financial, and educational resources, and focusing and coordinating those resources to meet local conservation needs. Wasco County SWCD provided project and fiscal management, along with contract administration for the development of the Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan. 2.2. List of Participants The Fifteenmile Coordinating Group (FCG) was formed to collaborate on the Fifteenmile Subbasin Plan. The FCG contracted with the Council on May 2003 for this purpose. Participating organizations in the Fifteenmile Coordinating Group include but are not limited to: ▪ Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation ▪ Natural Resources Conservation Service ▪ National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries ▪ Oregon Department of Agriculture ▪ Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife ▪ Oregon Department of Environmental Quality ▪ US Forest Service ▪ US Fish and Wildlife Service ▪ Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District ▪ Wy’East Resource Conservation and Development Board The FCG is chaired by Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District. Extensive public input has been provided by the Fifteenmile Watershed Council, The Dalles Area Watershed Council and the Mosier Watershed Council. 2.3. Stakeholder Involvement Process ▪ Website ▪ Flyer ▪ Newspaper Ad ▪ Mailing/Request for review ▪ Watershed Council meetings An extensive stakeholder listing was developed to aid in the outreach and public participation effort. Wy’East RC&D developed a flyer on the Fifteenmile Subbasin planning efforts that was distributed to that stakeholder listing. They also developed a website that encouraged public participation and comment. The website was established for use during the entire planning process and was publicized during the startup period. The FCG has utilized The Dalles, Fifteenmile and Mosier Watershed Council meetings as a means to reach a segment of the public. Those attendees have provided valuable input to the final document. 2.4. Overall Approach to the Planning Activity The Fifteenmile Subbasin planning effort was initiated with the development of watershed assessments and discussion meetings among key participants. The Fifteenmile Coordinating Group’s first move was to solicit participation from other qualified entities in the subbasin. Wy’East RC&D served as Outreach Coordinator and met with public officials and local boards throughout the Basin to make them aware of the planning process and to solicit their issues and concerns. The website was developed. The Project Manager submitted monthly written progress and financial reports to the Oregon Coordinating Group and BPA. The FCG prepared the subbasin plan using the NWPPC Technical Guide for Subbasin Planners and Oregon Specific Guidance. The basic approach was to prepare the document in three sections plus an overview. The overview was written first, followed by the assessment, inventory and then the management plan. Each step was distributed to the FCG, watershed councils and other stakeholders for input and comment. The assessment and management plan were portioned out to participating biologists with appropriate technical expertise. Final comments were submitted by May 20, 2004, with a final Plan submitted to the NWPPC Council by May 28, 2004. 2.5. Process and Schedule for Revising/Updating the Plan The plan is scheduled to be released in September-October 2004 for public comment. There is a short period for revisions before the plan is adopted in November-December 2004 by the NWPPC. The subbasin plan is meant to be a living document that will be revised periodically, approximately every three to five years. We intend to revise and update the Fifteenmile Creek subbasin plan to coordinate with the three-year rolling provincial reviews or the Council’s program amendment process. DRAFT Fifteenmile Subbasin Assessment 3. Fifteenmile Subbasin Assessment DRAFT May 25 2004 Compiled by Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District in cooperation with Fifteenmile Coordinating Group 3. Fifteenmile Subbasin Assessment 1 Assessment Overview 1 3.1. Subbasin Overview 2 3.1.1. General Description 2 3.1.2. Subbasin Existing Water Resources 5 3.1.3. Hydrologic and Ecologic Trends in the Subbasin 6 3.1.4. Regional Context 7 3.2. Aquatic Focal Species Characterization and Status 7 3.2.1. Fish of Ecological Importance 7 3.2.2. Focal Species Selection 9 3.2.3. Aquatic Focal Species Population Delineation and Characterization 12 3.3. Out of Subbasin Effects (OOSE) for Aquatic Species 36 3.3.1. Modifying Conditions 37 3.4. Limiting Environmental Factors and Populations of Aquatic Species 39 3.4.1. Winter Steelhead in Fifteenmile Watershed 39 3.4.2. The Dalles and Mosier Watersheds 64 3.4.3. Major Data Gaps 68 3.5. Terrestrial Focal Species and Habitats 69 3.5.1. Wildlife Focal Species Selection, Population Delineation and Characterization 69 3.5.2. Wildlife Focal Species and Associated Habitat Types 75 3.5.3. Out-of-Subbasin Effects on Terrestrial Species 90 3.5.4. Interspecies Relationships 90 3.6. Synthesis and Interpretation 91 3.6.1. Subbasin-wide Working Hypotheses for Aquatic Focal Species 91 3.6.2. Desired Future Conditions for Aquatic Focal Species 95 3.6.3. Opportunities 96 Literature Cited 97 Assessment Overview The Fifteenmile Subbasin Assessment focuses on four aquatic focal species and seven wildlife species. The majority of the assessment focuses on the aquatic focal species, and particularly on Mid-Columbia winter steelhead, which is listed as threatened on the Federal Endangered Species List. The discussion of fish is broken geographically into three regions: Fifteenmile Watershed, The Dalles and Mosier. Fifteenmile Watershed includes Fifteenmile Creek 1 DRAFT Fifteenmile Subbasin Assessment and its tributaries, Eightmile Creek, Fivemile Creek, Ramsey Creek, Dry Creek and Cedar Creek. The Dalles