Technical Report 2018-3-FINAL _______________________________________________________________ EVALUATION OF ADULT CHINOOK SALMON BEHAVIOR AT THE FOSTER DAM ADULT FISH FACILITY AND IN FOSTER DAM RESERVOIR ON THE SOUTH SANTIAM RIVER, 2017 M.L. Keefer, T.S. Clabough, M.A. Jepson, T. Blubaugh, G. Brink, G.P. Naughton, C.T. Boggs, and C.C. Caudill Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844-1136 For U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District 2018 1 i Technical Report 2018-3-FINAL _______________________________________________________________ EVALUATION OF ADULT CHINOOK SALMON BEHAVIOR AT THE FOSTER DAM ADULT FISH FACILITY AND IN FOSTER DAM RESERVOIR ON THE SOUTH SANTIAM RIVER, 2017 M.L. Keefer, T.S. Clabough, M.A. Jepson, T. Blubaugh, G. Brink, G.P. Naughton, C.T. Boggs, and C.C. Caudill Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844-1136 For U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District 2018 ii Acknowledgements This research project was funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and we thank Fenton Khan, Rich Piakowski, Glenn Rhett, Deberay Charmichael, Sherry Whittaker, and Steve Schlenker for their support. We also thank Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff Bob Mapes, Brett Boyd, and Cameron Sharpe for project coordination and support. We are grateful to the University of Idaho’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for reviewing and approving the protocols used in this study. We thank Stephanie Burchfield and Diana Dishman (NOAA Fisheries) and Michele Weaver and Holly Huchko (ODFW) for their assistance securing study permits and Bonnie Johnson (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) for coordinating the use of AQUI-S 20E. We thank Brian Kuehn, Jeff Kinney, and Karen Kelly of City of Albany, Oregon for logistical support at Lebanon Dam. Special thanks to BJ Schenk, James Mader, Jordan McCutcheon, and James Kirk of the University of Idaho Machine Shop who designed and built the trap for Lebanon Dam. Stuart Hunter and Chuck Hatcher of (Forslund Crane Service, Inc., Albany, Oregon) operated the crane and coordinated the installation and removal of the trap. Cindy Shulte and Kami Forslund (Forslund Crane Service) provided logistical and administrative support. Linn County Parks and private landowners provide access to radiotelemetry sites. iii Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ v Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1. River and reservoir environment monitoring .................................................................................. 3 Water temperature ......................................................................................................................... 3 Water chemistry ............................................................................................................................ 9 Foster Dam operations .................................................................................................................. 11 Foster fishway entrance water velocity experiment ...................................................................... 11 Water temperature monitoring: Summary .................................................................................... 13 2. Lebanon Trap installation and operation ........................................................................................ 14 Trap design.................................................................................................................................... 14 Trap installation and operation ..................................................................................................... 14 Adult Chinook salmon collection and tagging.............................................................................. 17 3. Behaviors of Chinook salmon radio-tagged at Lebanon Trap ........................................................ 19 Methods......................................................................................................................................... 19 Salmon collection and tagging ................................................................................................ 19 Monitoring sites ...................................................................................................................... 20 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 21 Salmon migration from Lebanon Dam to Foster Dam ........................................................... 21 Final distribution of salmon radio-tagged at Lebanon trap ..................................................... 21 Salmon behaviors in Foster tailrace and at the Foster adult fish facility ................................ 21 Salmon entry into the AFF fishway in relation to velocity treatment..................................... 23 Salmon body temperatures in the Foster tailrace and fishway ............................................... 24 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 24 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 26 4. Video monitoring at the Foster Trap pre-sort pool weir ................................................................. 28 Methods......................................................................................................................................... 28 Video monitoring .................................................................................................................... 28 Video data processing and analyses ........................................................................................ 29 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 30 Seasonal and diel patterns ....................................................................................................... 31 Relationship with salmon collection ....................................................................................... 32 GLM model results ................................................................................................................. 33 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 36 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 38 5. Aerial photo and video surveys of salmon holding in the Foster tailrace ....................................... 39 Methods......................................................................................................................................... 39 Camera deployments ............................................................................................................... 39 Image review and processing .................................................................................................. 41 iv Results ........................................................................................................................................... 41 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 43 6. Chinook salmon radio-tagged at Foster Trap and released upstream ............................................. 45 Methods......................................................................................................................................... 45 Study area and fish collection ................................................................................................. 45 Telemetry monitoring ............................................................................................................. 45 Sample summary ..................................................................................................................... 45 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 46 Salmon recovery rates ............................................................................................................. 46 Salmon behaviors in Foster reservoir ..................................................................................... 46 Temperature and depth histories from archival transmitters .................................................. 48 Potential thermal benefits from reservoir release ................................................................... 49 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 51 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 52 References ........................................................................................................................................... 53 Appendix A. Technical drawings for Lebanon Trap ........................................................................