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White Sturgeon Mitigation & Restoration in the Columbia Department of Energy Bonneville Power Administration P.O. Box 3621 Portland, Oregon 97208-3621 ENVIRONMENT, FISH AND WILDLIFE April 29, 2003 To: People Interested in the Project to Mitigate and Restore White Sturgeon Populations in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has prepared the Final Environmental Assessment (EA), which includes a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), for the White Sturgeon Mitigation and Restoration in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Upstream from Bonneville Dam Project. The document is enclosed for your information. Background: Since 1986, State, Federal, and Tribal fisheries agencies have been gathering data and studying habitats, movements, population dynamics, feeding, and distribution of white sturgeon in the Columbia River system. With the decline in anadromous salmonid runs there has been an increase in the importance of the white sturgeon fisheries. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has been working to determine the cause of white sturgeon declines in the reservoirs and to take actions that will restore abundance and productive fisheries. Over time, project goals have changed as new information clarified potential restoration actions. Action: The project will continue to carry out the following activities: research; artificial propagation; transplanting of white sturgeon; broodstock collection, spawning, rearing, and releasing; and hatchery rearing. Additionally, the experimental release of hatchery-reared juveniles is planned. Actions will take place in the following Columbia River mainstem reaches: Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary Reservoirs; Hanford Reach, as well as the Wanapum and Rock Island Reservoirs; and the following Snake River mainstem reaches: Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, and Little Goose Reservoirs. Additional Copies: If you would like more copies of the enclosed EA/FONSI, please call our toll-free document request line: 1-800-622-4520. Leave a request naming this project and giving your complete mailing address. For More Information: If you need more information or have any questions, please call me toll-free at 1-800-282-3713, or e-mail me at [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in our work. /s/ Colleen Spiering Colleen A. Spiering Environmental Project Manager Enclosure: EA/FONSI A P R I L 2 0 0 3 WHITE STURGEON MITIGATION & RESTORATION IN THE COLUMBIA & SNAKE RIVERS UPSTREAM FROM BONNEVILLE DAM Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact DOE/EA-1367 BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION White Sturgeon Mitigation and Restoration in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Upstream from Bonneville Dam April 2003 Environmental Assessment DOE/EA-1367 White Sturgeon Mitigation and Restoration in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Upstream from Bonneville Dam Environmental Assessment TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION....................................................................1 1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................1 1.2 Need for Action ................................................................................................................2 1.3 Purposes............................................................................................................................3 1.4 Related Documents ..........................................................................................................3 1.5 Decisions To Be Made......................................................................................................4 2. ALTERNATIVES.....................................................................................................5 2.1 Background ......................................................................................................................5 2.2 Proposed Action – White Sturgeon Mitigation and Restoration in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Upstream from Bonneville Dam .........................................................................6 2.2.1 Transplanting of Juveniles.........................................................................................7 2.2.2 Broodstock Collection, Spawning and Rearing and Releasing .................................7 2.2.3 Stock Status Updates ...............................................................................................12 2.2.4 Describe the Maturation Cycle for White Sturgeon ................................................12 2.2.5 Describe the Genetic Stock Structure of White Sturgeon........................................12 2.2.6 Annual Young-of-Year Indexing.............................................................................13 2.2.7 Other Activities Associated with the Project...........................................................13 2.3 No-Action Alternative....................................................................................................14 3. AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE ALTERNATIVES, AND PROPOSED MITIGATION.....................................................15 3.1 Proposed Action – white sturgeon mitigation and restoration project In The Columbia and Snake Rivers......................................................................................................15 3.1.1 Water Quality and Quantity.....................................................................................15 3.1.2 Floodplains and Wetlands........................................................................................15 3.1.3 Threatened and Endangered Species .......................................................................15 3.1.4 Land Use and Visual Impacts ..................................................................................17 3.1.5 Social and Economic Impacts..................................................................................17 3.1.6 Cultural Resources...................................................................................................17 3.1.7 Fisheries Impacts .....................................................................................................17 3.2 Impacts of No Action .....................................................................................................18 Bonneville Power Administration i White Sturgeon Mitigation and Restoration in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Upstream from Bonneville Dam Environmental Assessment 4. PERMITS REQUIRED ..........................................................................................20 4.1 Applicable Requirements ..............................................................................................20 National Environmental Policy Act.........................................................................................20 State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), State of Washington...............................................20 Threatened and Endangered Species and Critical Habitat.......................................................20 Fish and Wildlife Conservation ...............................................................................................20 Permits for Discharges into Waters of the United States.........................................................20 State of Oregon or State of Washington ..................................................................................20 Wetlands and Floodplains Protection ......................................................................................21 4.2 Requirements Not Applicable.......................................................................................21 Safe Drinking Water Act .........................................................................................................21 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ..............................................................................21 Farmland Protection Policy Act...............................................................................................21 Recreation Resources...............................................................................................................21 Heritage Conservation .............................................................................................................21 Executive Order on Environmental Justice .............................................................................21 Noise Control Act ....................................................................................................................21 5. CONSULTING AGENCIES...................................................................................22 6. GLOSSARY..........................................................................................................22 7. REFERENCES......................................................................................................23 ii White Sturgeon Mitigation and Restoration in the Columbia and Snake Rivers Upstream from Bonneville Dam Environmental Assessment 1. PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION Development of the hydropower system in the Columbia River Basin has had far-reaching effects on many species of fish and wildlife. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is responsible for protecting, mitigating, and enhancing fish and wildlife affected by the development, operation, and management of Federal hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River and its tributaries. (See Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act1 (Northwest Power Act), 16 U.S.C.
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