FY 2000 proposal 20547

Section 1. Administrative

Project location

Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs)

Section 2. Past accomplishments

Section 3. Relationships to other projects

Section 4. Budget for Planning and Design phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Planning and Design phase

Section 5. Budget for Construction and Implementation phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Construction and Implementation phase

Section 6. Budget for Operations and Maintenance phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Operations and Maintenance phase

Section 7. Budget for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

Task-based budget

Outyear objectives-based budget

Outyear budgets for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

Section 8. Estimated budget summary

Itemized budget

Total estimated budget

Cost sharing

Reviews and recommendations

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

Comment:

Comments: This umbrella described the relationship of this work to the Fish and Wildlife Program. However, it is unclear how the habitat projects under this umbrella relate to other habitat work described in other restoration proposals in the basin (e.g., see #20526) or to alternative restorative actions that could have been but were not chosen here. The proposal provides a brief overview of the individual projects included in this umbrella, but does not provide adequate background to understand why these particular projects were chosen or how they collectively will achieve some overall goal for the Yakima subbasin. Perhaps most significant is the fact that the umbrella provides no description of its goal or objectives other than listing the separate objectives or activities of each individual project.

No technical background is given for the projects chosen under this umbrella. Occasional statements about limiting factors within the individual project descriptions are not backed by data or references and appear as a general listing of problem areas rather than technical conclusions establishing the priorities for action. The proposed Yakima Subbasin assessment for this umbrella would seem to be a necessary prerequisite for defining limiting factors and identifying the highest priority restoration projects. In the case of the Satus watershed, an assessment was apparently completed in 1998, yet because the results are not discussed, it provides no technical support for the particular restoration activities proposed or previously completed. This raises doubts about whether the proposed subbasin assessment would in fact be used to support restoration planning.

The umbrella proposal should clearly state the long-term goal for the basin's salmonid resources using measurable performance criteria, what is preventing achievement of that goal, and the specific role of this set of projects in removing those obstacles. The umbrella proposal should explicitly show how the proposed habitat improvements will support the supplementation projects, that they address the high priority limiting factors identified in previous work, the relationship between those limiting factors and the distribution of naturally reproducing salmon and steelhead and the positive cumulative benefits expected when all the projects are completed. Habitat restoration projects appear to focus on steelhead, but supplementation is focusing on spring chinook. Does that mean habitat is not limiting natural production of spring chinook?

The hypothesis that "suitable but underutilized habitat will be available to supplementation fish returning to the Yakima Subbasin (p. 4438)" suggests that the number of returning spawners rather than the quality of juvenile rearing habitats currently limit fish production. What evidence supports this?

Project #9705100 listed as "Yakima Basin Side Channels" is the same number listed for a project on p. 4264 (Section 3) entitled "Improve adult spawning habitat and juvenile rearing/overwintering survival."

Comment:

Comment: