FY 2002 Columbia Plateau proposal 25011

Section 1. Administrative

Proposal titleAssess Riparian Condition Through Spectrometric Imaging Of Riparian Vegetation
Proposal ID25011
OrganizationOregon Department of Environmental Quality (OR DEQ)
Proposal contact person or principal investigator
NameBrian Kasper
Mailing address811 SW Sixth Avenue Portland, OR 97204
Phone / email5032295074 / [email protected]
Manager authorizing this projectDick Pedersen, 503-229-6345
Review cycleColumbia Plateau
Province / SubbasinColumbia Plateau / Mainstem Columbia
Short descriptionRemote multispectral imaging will be used to document riparian vegetation for all Columbia Plateau Province lands within Oregon. DEQ will use the data to establish TMDLs to improve water quality for fish and aquatic life, including ESA-listed species.
Target speciesAll aquatic species, with particular emphasis on salmonids and other cold water fish
Project location
LatitudeLongitudeDescription
44.78 -119.59 John Day subbasin
Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs)

Sponsor-reported:

RPA

Relevant RPAs based on NMFS/BPA review:

Reviewing agencyAction #BiOp AgencyDescription
NMFS Action 155 NMFS BPA, working with BOR, the Corps, EPA, and USGS, shall develop a program to 1) identify mainstem habitat sampling reaches, survey conditions, describe cause-and- effect relationships, and identify research needs; 2) develop improvement plans for all mainstem reaches; and 3) initiate improvements in three mainstem reaches. Results shall be reported annually.

Section 2. Past accomplishments

YearAccomplishment
2001 Tualatin River Sub-basin TMDL (submitted to EPA)
2001 Umatilla River Sub-basin TMDL (submitted to EPA)
2000 Tillamook River Sub-basin TMDL (draft in public review period)
1999 Upper Grande Ronde River Sub-basin TMDL (approved by EPA)

Section 3. Relationships to other projects

Project IDTitleDescription

Section 4. Budget for Planning and Design phase

Task-based budget
ObjectiveTaskDuration in FYsEstimated 2002 costSubcontractor
Outyear objectives-based budget
ObjectiveStarting FYEnding FYEstimated cost
Expand riparian vegetation assessment to smaller order streams. 2003 2004 $100,000
Expand riparian vegetation assessment to smaller order streams. 2004 2005 $85,000
Outyear budgets for Planning and Design phase
FY 2003FY 2004
$100,000$85,000

Section 5. Budget for Construction and Implementation phase

Task-based budget
ObjectiveTaskDuration in FYsEstimated 2002 costSubcontractor
Outyear objectives-based budget
ObjectiveStarting FYEnding FYEstimated cost
Outyear budgets for Construction and Implementation phase

Section 6. Budget for Operations and Maintenance phase

Task-based budget
ObjectiveTaskDuration in FYsEstimated 2002 costSubcontractor
Outyear objectives-based budget
ObjectiveStarting FYEnding FYEstimated cost
Outyear budgets for Operations and Maintenance phase

Section 7. Budget for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

Task-based budget
ObjectiveTaskDuration in FYsEstimated 2002 costSubcontractor
1. Develop high resolution riparian vegetation data. a. Obtain most recent multispectral imagery. b. Digitize stream thalwags and banks at 1:5000 scale. c. Digitize/derive riparian vegetation polygon layer. d. Collect ground-level riparian vegetation data. 0.8 $140,000
e. Assign appropriate species composition, stand height, and stand density to polygon layer. f. Convert riparian vegetation layer to Grid format. $0
2. Sample developed data to assess riparian conditions. a. Use TTools within ArcView to sample riparian vegetation. b. Graph and statistically analyze riparian vegetation data to assess current conditions. 0.2 $35,000
3. Meet Clean Water Act, Section 303(d) obligations. a. Complete TMDLs per Oregon's schedule. $0
Outyear objectives-based budget
ObjectiveStarting FYEnding FYEstimated cost
Outyear budgets for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

Section 8. Estimated budget summary

Itemized budget
ItemNoteFY 2002 cost
Personnel $87,192
Supplies Multispectral imagery Software Ground-level data $87,808
$175,000
Total estimated budget
Total FY 2002 cost$175,000
Amount anticipated from previously committed BPA funds$0
Total FY 2002 budget request$175,000
FY 2002 forecast from 2001$0
% change from forecast0.0%
Cost sharing
OrganizationItem or service providedAmountCash or in-kind

Reviews and recommendations

This information was not provided on the original proposals, but was generated during the review process.

Recommendation:
Fundable only if response is adequate
Date:
Jun 15, 2001

Comment:

Fundable if adequate responses are given to ISRP concerns. Establishment of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) is planned for all subbasins. The necessity of using multispectral imaging to establish scientifically defensible TMDLs is unclear. More details should be provided concerning how the data will be used in the model that relates riparian conditions to water quality and to anadromous fish. Other questions that should be addressed in a response are: Why is the proposed scale the most appropriate for establishing TMDLs? What information transfer is planned? What is the sensitivity of TMDLs to the margin of error expected with multispectral imaging compared to the actual vegetative data? What are the implications of this uncertainty in TMDLs for anadromous fish?


Recommendation:
High Priority
Date:
Aug 3, 2001

Comment:

CBFWA supports applying this project in the John Day subbasin as High Priority and as a Recommended Action in the other subbasins. Once the technique has been proven, a presentation should be made to CBFWA to demonstrate it's application. It is important that the project sponsors coordinate with others that are applying these types of analysis techniques (i.e.. LCREP). Also, all assessment information generated from this project needs to be provided to Streamnet and other data repositories for regional use.
Recommendation:
Fund
Date:
Aug 10, 2001

Comment:

Fundable. This project will use remote multispectral imaging to collect data on riparian vegetative attributes. The data will be used to establish TMDLs for all Columbia Plateau Province lands within Oregon.

The response addressed most concerns of the ISRP. Additional details in the response would have been useful in justifying this project. Some examples where details are missing follow:


Recommendation:
Date:
Oct 1, 2001

Comment:

Statement of Potential Biological Benefit to ESU
Indirect effect since the project is high resolution digitizing of existing riparian vegetation and stream morphometrics at 1:5000.

Comments
Mainstem project aggregates existing data and generates sample estimates based on that data.

Already ESA Req? no

Biop? yes


Recommendation:
Rank C
Date:
Oct 16, 2001

Comment:

This proposal does not provide for cost-share. It would use a different method to collect some of the same riparian data in the same subbasins as another ODEQ proposal (#25010), as an EPA-funded ODEQ project in the John Day, as an ODFW proposal (#25088), and as ongoing BPA-funded M&E projects, yet none of these efforts are mentioned in the proposal. This proposal applies to all Oregon streams in the Columbia Plateau, but the proposal is very unclear about which streams and how much of the stream systems will be covered. The proposal also justifies its work largely for developing TMDLs, but TMDLs have already been completed for two of the four subbasins within the geographic scope of this proposal (the Walla Walla in 2001 and the Umatilla in 2000). This proposal is presently justified only for the John Day subbasin, where it could be tested (e.g., for data quality or cost efficiency) against on-the-ground M&E projects that will be conducted there. Although the ISRP says “Fundable,” BPA believes it is a low priority and, if funded, we would recommend limiting its application to the John Day Basin and require close cooperation with other projects. The proposal is inadequate and should not be funded as is.
Recommendation:
Fund
Date:
Jan 3, 2002

Comment:


Recommendation:
Do Not Fund
Date:
Sep 20, 2003

Comment:


Recommendation:
Date:
Sep 20, 2003

Comment: