A native mussel with a cluster of attached zebra mussels found on Beconia Beach on the south basin of Lake Winnipeg. Photo credit: C. Parks, Province of Manitoba. Dreissenid Mussel Rapid Response in the Columbia River Basin: Recommended Practices to Facilitate Endangered Species Act Section 7 Compliance Prepared for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission by: Lisa DeBruyckere of Creative Resource Strategies, LLC October 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ............................................................................. 7 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................................................. 7 PURPOSE OF THIS MANUAL .......................................................................................................................... 9 SCOPE AND INTENT OF THIS MANUAL .......................................................................................................... 10 QUAGGA AND ZEBRA MUSSELS .................................................................................................................. 11 Environmental Effects ......................................................................................................................... 11 Economic Effects................................................................................................................................. 12 Cultural Effects .................................................................................................................................... 13 THE CONSEQUENCES OF NO ACTION .......................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER ONE REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER 2. THE EMERGENCY CONSULTATION PROCESS ........................................................... 18 PROCESS OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................. 18 ALIGNMENT WITH REGIONAL AND STATE PLANS .......................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 3. RESPONSE ACTIONS .................................................................................................... 27 DEFINING THE AFFECTED AREA ................................................................................................................. 27 DESCRIPTION OF POSSIBLE RESPONSE ACTIONS ........................................................................................ 28 TREATMENT STEPS.................................................................................................................................... 28 RAPID RESPONSE PROJECT ACTIVITIES ...................................................................................................... 29 1. Site Mobilization .............................................................................................................................. 29 2. Area Isolation .................................................................................................................................. 29 3. Rescue/Salvage .............................................................................................................................. 32 4. Response Method Options .............................................................................................................. 33 5. Summary of Application Rates and Contact Time for Dreissenid Treatment Methods ................... 45 PROJECT TIMELINE .................................................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 4. LISTED SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITAT IN THE FOUR CRB STATES ...................... 52 SPECIES EXCLUDED FROM FURTHER ANALYSIS........................................................................................... 57 POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL METHODS ON LISTED SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITATS ASSOCIATED WITH CRB WATER BODIES ................................................................................................................................. 59 EFFECTS OF NON-CHEMICAL METHODS ON LISTED SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITATS OF SPECIES ASSOCIATED WITH CRB WATER BODIES ........................................................................................................................ 78 OXYGEN DEPRIVATION............................................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 5. BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ................................................................................ 92 PRACTICES THAT AVOID OR MINIMIZE IMPACTS TO LISTED SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITATS ............................ 92 BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES TO AVOID THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES ........................................... 100 CHAPTER 6. POST-EMERGENCY CONSULTATION ......................................................................... 108 APPENDIX A. 50 CFR §17.21 - PROHIBITIONS ................................................................................. 109 APPENDIX B. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE REGIONAL OFFICE CONTACTS ....................... 110 Facilitating Rapid Response to Dreissenid Mussels in the Columbia River Basin 2 APPENDIX C. LISTED SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITAT EXCLUDED FROM FURTHER ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................................................ 111 APPENDIX D. LIFE HISTORY INFORMATION FOR SPECIES AND CRITICAL HABITATS ASSOCIATED WITH COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN WATER BODIES ............................................................................. 121 REFERENCES (ALL APPENDICES) ............................................................................................................. 148 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared with funding from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, which contracted with Creative Resource Strategies, LLC to produce this manual. Special appreciation is extended to the many people who directly participated in the development and review of this product. In support of the Department of the Interior Safeguarding the West from Invasive Species initiative (DOI 2017), this manual contributes to the commitment to increase capacity for aquatic invasive species response. This manual identifies steps to expedite the Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7 consultation process through emergency consultation procedures that facilitate rapid response activities for mussel introductions in the Columbia River Basin. This manual also provides information to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to listed species and critical habitat caused by response actions. This manual strives to make the ESA regulatory process as efficient and effective as possible for action agencies. Facilitating Rapid Response to Dreissenid Mussels in the Columbia River Basin 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Summary of application rates and contact time for dreissenid chemical treatments. Table 2. Number of federally listed threatened and endangered species by CRB state. Table 3. Listed species and critical habitat in the CRB states. Table 4. Potential estimated effects of chemical treatments on important life history needs and critical habitat (https://ecos.fws.gov) for listed species whose life history needs are partially, or entirely, met by CRB water bodies. Table 5. Potential estimated effects of non-chemical treatments on listed species and critical habitats of species associated with CRB water bodies. This table also includes species-specific best management practices to avoid or lessen impacts from chemical treatment activities. Table 6. Examples of results of sediment dose-response experiments for fish and macroinvertebrates. Table 7. Land ownership within unit boundaries for critical piping plover habitat in Montana. Source: USFWS (2002). Table 8. Acres and miles of Bull trout critical habitat in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Table 9. Stream/shoreline distance (miles/kilometers) designated as bull trout critical habitat by critical habitat unit. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Emergency Consultation Process (excerpted from Figure 8-1 of the USFWS Endangered Species Consultation Handbook 1998). Figure 2. Emergency consultation process for an introduction of dreissenids in the Columbia River Basin. Figure 3. Example of a deployed turbidity curtain. Figure 4. Example of a deployed inflatable bladder dam. Source: hydroloicalsolutions.com. Figure 5. Summer range (green) and migratory range (yellow) of piping plovers in Montana. Source. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Figure 6. Pallid sturgeon use of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Facilitating Rapid Response to Dreissenid Mussels in the Columbia River Basin 4 LIST OF ACRONYMS AIS Aquatic Invasive Species