2020 Resident Fish and Sturgeon Project Review

October 2020: Council decision on Resident Fish and Sturgeon project review. See list of projects at CBFish.

• March 2021 Bonneville's written response to the Council's Resident Fish and Sturgeon project review recommendations.

September 2020: Fish and Wildlife Committee Resident Fish and Sturgeon project review recommendations.

• Background: The Northwest Power Act directs the Council to review projects proposed to be funded by Bonneville to implement the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program (Program). The Council undertakes this review with the assistance of the Independent Science Review Panel (ISRP). The Resident Fish and Sturgeon Project Review is the third of four sets of reviews of Program funded projects over four years. There are 44 projects that are part of this review, which is focused largely on activities within the non-anadromous fish portions of the basin known as the “blocked areas.” Nine of the projects address sturgeon, and of these nine projects, three projects are implemented in the anadromous zone of the basin.
• The resident fish and sturgeon projects included in this review are ongoing projects that implement measures in the Council’s program. The project specific and programmatic recommendations included here represent the Council’s views as to what it means to implement these measures consistent with the program through at least the next review cycle. Note, however, as detailed in Part II of the 2020 Addendum to the 2014 Fish and Wildlife Program (adopted by the Council in January 2020) a broad suite of additional actions need to be implemented in the Lake Roosevelt and Spokane River areas above Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams to mitigate for the complete loss of anadromous fish and the losses to other fish and wildlife species in this part of the basin, which have been severely under-addressed through the Northwest Power Act. Therefore, the Council anticipates a future review of new or extended projects or actions proposed to be funded to mitigate for these losses consistent with the Program. Any future projects proposed to be funded must be implemented without compromising the current, ongoing projects that continue to provide substantive protection and mitigation under the Program.
• Public comment received on ISRP 2020-08.

August 2020: ISRP Final Report: Category Review of Resident Fish and Sturgeon Projects (ISRP 2020-8)

• Open for public comment, see schedule below.

April 2020: ISRP preliminary report - 2020-4 and public comment begins.

• Review process: "The COVID-19 situation has disrupted regular work activities (i.e., office and field activities) and as many are adjusting to the effects of closures and public health directives, an extension to the Resident Fish and Sturgeon Project Review process for approximately 60 days has been provided".
• Response instructions: For the projects that the ISRP requests a response, the project proponents should develop a point-by-point response to the ISRP’s concerns in a standalone document (Word or PDF). For some projects, the ISRP requests modifications to objectives and methods that would be best documented in a revised proposal to ensure efficient tracking of the proposal as it is implemented. Addressing some of the ISRP’s concerns may take more than the time available in the response loop. If an ISRP concern cannot be fully addressed in the response time frame, the proponents should describe how the concern will be addressed through future efforts. Proponents should submit their point-by-point response document and, if applicable, revised proposal to the Council by Tuesday, June 23, 2020, unless notified by the Council of an updated schedule. Earlier response submittals are welcome:

1. If you are revising your proposal, please download the Word version posted on the Council’s review webpage, which was edited by Council staff to remove extraneous review instructions. Using this version will allow an efficient comparison of changes made in the revision process.
2. Once your response is complete and ready to submit, name your response in this format: Response_Project Number_Project Title. If you are also submitting a revised proposal, name it using this format: Revised_Project Number_Project Title. No hyphens are necessary for the project number, and you may abbreviate a long project title.
3. Email your response, revised proposal, and other important supporting files to both eschrepel@nwcouncil.org and kcoles@nwcouncil.org. If you do send additional supporting files, please ensure they are referenced in your response.
4. For questions about the Council’s review process or scheduling issues please contact Mark Fritsch (mfritsch@nwcouncil.org). If you have questions about the ISRP’s response requests, please contact Erik Merrill (emerrill@nwcouncil.org).

March 2020: See the proposals that were submitted and are undergoing ISRP review.

November 2019: The Council and Bonneville Power Administration announce the start of the review process for Resident Fish and Sturgeon projects funded under the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The 47 projects in this review include all resident fish projects located within the non-anadromous areas of the basin and all sturgeon projects currently funded in the program.

For more information, see the packet/instructions (PDF) and background information from October 2019 Council meeting

Timeline