Columbia River Cold Water Refuges Plan
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EPA-910-R-21-001 January 2021 Columbia River Cold Water Refuges Plan Prepared by: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 www.epa.gov Columbia River Cold Water Refuges Plan Final January 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ XII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 1 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 3 Regulatory Background ............................................................................................. 3 Types of Cold Water Refuges .................................................................................... 4 Overview of Columbia River Cold Water Refuges Plan .............................................. 5 2 COLD WATER REFUGES IN THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER .............................. 7 Columbia River Temperatures ................................................................................... 7 Tributary Temperatures Compared to Columbia River Temperatures ...................... 10 Tributaries Providing Cold Water Refuge ................................................................. 13 Twelve Primary Cold Water Refuges ....................................................................... 18 3 SALMON AND STEELHEAD USE OF COLD WATER REFUGES ......................... 34 Salmon and Steelhead Migration Timing and Columbia River Temperatures ........... 34 Columbia River Temperatures that Trigger Cold Water Refuge Use ........................ 35 Examples of Salmon and Steelhead Use of Cold Water Refuges ............................ 37 Number of Steelhead in Cold Water Refuges .......................................................... 40 Number of Fall Chinook in Cold Water Refuges ....................................................... 45 Summary of the Number of Steelhead and Fall Chinook in Cold Water Refuges ..... 47 Historic Steelhead Use of Cold Water Refuges ........................................................ 47 Deschutes River Cold Water Refuge Use ................................................................ 49 Use of CWR by Specific Populations of Steelhead and Fall Chinook ....................... 51 4 TEMPERATURE AND FISH HARVEST IMPACTS ON MIGRATING SALMON AND STEELHEAD ........................................................................................................... 55 Adverse Temperature Effects to Migrating Adult Salmon and Steelhead ................. 55 Relationship Between Temperature and Migration Survival of Adult Steelhead and Fall Chinook Salmon ................................................................................................ 56 Fishing Harvest of Salmon and Steelhead in Cold water Refuges ........................... 58 Snake River Steelhead and Fall Chinook Migration Survival Rates in the Lower Columbia and Lower Snake Rivers .......................................................................... 59 Energy Loss and Pre-Spawning Mortality of Fall Chinook Salmon from Exposure to Warm Migration Temperatures ................................................................................ 62 Increased Mortality and Shift in Run Timing of Sockeye and Summer Chinook from Warm Migration Temperatures ................................................................................ 64 ii Columbia River Cold Water Refuges Plan Final January 2021 5 HISTORIC AND FUTURE TRENDS IN COLUMBIA RIVER TEMPERATURES...... 71 Historic Temperature Conditions of the Lower Columbia River ................................ 71 Future Temperature Conditions of the Lower Columbia River and its Tributaries ..... 73 6 SUFFICIENCY OF COLD WATER REFUGES IN THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER 77 CWR Sufficiency Assessment Framework ............................................................... 77 HexSim Model ......................................................................................................... 78 Assessment oF Sufficiently Distributed CWR ........................................................... 85 7 ACTIONS TO PROTECT & RESTORE COLD WATER REFUGES ........................ 89 ld WaterCo Refuge Watershed Snapshots ............................................................... 90 Characteristics of Primary Cold Water Refuge Tributaries ....................................... 90 Cowlitz River (River Mile 65) – Protect and Enhance ............................................... 93 Lewis River (River Mile 84) - Protect and Enhance .................................................. 99 Sandy River (River Mile 117) – Protect and Enhance ............................................ 104 Tanner Creek (River Mile 141) – Protect and Enhance .......................................... 110 Eagle Creek (River Mile 143) – Protect and Enhance ............................................ 115 Herman Creek (River Mile 147.5) – Protect and Enhance ...................................... 120 Wind River (River Mile 151) – Protect and Enhance .............................................. 125 Little White Salmon River (River Mile 158.7) – Protect and Enhance ..................... 130 White Salmon River (River Mile 165) – Protect and Enhance ................................ 136 Hood River (River Mile 166) – Protect and Enhance .............................................. 142 Klickitat River (River Mile 177) – Protect and Enhance .......................................... 148 Fifteenmile Creek (River Mile 188.9) – Restore ..................................................... 154 Deschutes River (River Mile 201) – Protect and Enhance ...................................... 159 Umatilla River (River Mile 284.7) - Restore ............................................................ 166 Summary of Actions to Protect and Restore Cold Water Refuges .......................... 172 Action to Address Fishing in Cold Water Refuges .................................................. 175 8 UNCERTAINTIES AND ADDITIONAL RESEARCH NEEDS ................................ 176 9 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................. 180 10 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 186 11 CHAPTER 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................. 191 Cowlitz River ..................................................................................................................... 191 Lewis River ....................................................................................................................... 192 iii Columbia River Cold Water Refuges Plan Final January 2021 Sandy River ...................................................................................................................... 192 Tanner Creek .................................................................................................................... 193 Eagle Creek ...................................................................................................................... 194 Herman Creek ................................................................................................................... 194 Wind River ........................................................................................................................ 194 Little White Salmon River .................................................................................................. 195 White Salmon River........................................................................................................... 196 Hood River ........................................................................................................................ 196 Klickitat River .................................................................................................................... 197 Fifteenmile Creek .............................................................................................................. 198 Deschutes River ................................................................................................................ 198 Umatilla River .................................................................................................................... 199 12 APPENDICES ....................................................................................................... 201 Lower Columbia River Temperature Variation ....................................................... 201 Evaluation of the Potential Cold Water Refugia Created by Tributaries within the Lower/Middle Columbia River based on NorWeST Temperature Model ................ 201 Screening Approach to Identify the 23 Tributaries that Currently Provide CWR in the Lower Columbia River ........................................................................................... 201 Location of Upstream Extent of 23 CWR Areas Used by Migrating Salmon and Steelhead .............................................................................................................. 201 Volume of Cold Water Refuge Associated with the 23 Tributaries Providing CWR in the Lower Columbia River and Selection of the 12 Primary CWR .......................... 201 Columbia River Cold Water Refuge Assessment Plume Modeling Report ............. 201 Estimating the Potential Cold Water REfugia Volume within