Colville Confederated Tribes

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Colville Confederated Tribes

• Fish and Wildlife Department
• Sheri Sears, Biologist, Resident Fish Manager
• Monte Miller, Fisheries Biologist
• Preliminary Review of Data Collected for the
• Columbia River Water Management Plan (CRWMP)
• Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
• For Impacts to Fisheries on the
• Colville Reservation

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• The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology)
• and the
• Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) are studying a
  proposed drawdown that would divert stored water
  from Lake Roosevelt for downstream agricultural,
  municipal, industrial, and domestic uses under
  the
• Columbia River Water Management Plan (CRWMP)

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The State of Washington's Department of Ecology
provided financial support for two projects
that the Colville Confederated Tribes Fish and
Wildlife proposed to assess the impacts to the
Tribes fisheries in Lake Roosevelt from the
actions proposed under the CRWMP

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Studies Completed

• Aerial photographs of the Lake from the Canadian
  Border to Grand Coulee Dam including the Spokane
  and Sanpoil Arms
• Photos were converted to tiff and MrSid files for
  use with GIS
• Projected in UTM Zone 11N, datum NAD83, meter
  units
• A population assessment was conducted using
  hydro-acoustic technology to determine fish
  (biomass) utilization of targeted areas, of
  various substrates
• Each area was then electro-fished or netted to
  determine species composition and the size of the
  fish

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Third Study a Geophysical Survey of Lake
Roosevelt

• Colville Tribes
• Environmental Trust Departments Consultant
• Environmental International Inc.
• contracted
• EHIS International Inc.
• to conduct a Geophysical Survey
• data was collected during July August 2007 by
• Terra Remote Sensing Inc.
• GIS files were created for
• Bathymetry of Littoral Areas of
• Lake Roosevelt

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Aerial Photos

• Photos were taken from Grand Coulee Dam to
  Canadian Border by AeroMetrics
• Sanpoil and Spokane Arms included
• Photos in true color at 1-foot resolution
• 160 GB file with 600 Tiff files and 3 large (1.5
  GB) zonal MrSid files
• Photos were taken in the May of 2007 during the
  annual spring flood control drawdown (1248.5-feet
  elevation)

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Definiens

• Photos were clipped to drawdown area
• Running through a photo recognition program
  Definiens Professional 5.0
• Developing GIS polygons of habitat types
• Mud/silt Mixed Cobble
• Sand Gravel
• Bedrock
• Calculate area of each habitat type impacted

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Lake Roosevelt Side Looking Hydro-acoustics

• Objective
• To enumerate fish in littoral areas impacted by
  the proposed withdrawals of water from
• Lake Roosevelt under the
• CRWMP

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Equipment and Methods

• Biosonics DT-X Series Digital Scientific
  Echosounder and Visual Acquisition 5.0 Software
• Global Positioning Integrated
• Dual Frequency Split Beam Multiplex system
• Transducers 200kHz 6 degree and 420kHz 10 degree
• Hardened Control Computer
• Multiplex Cables

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Equipment and Methods

• Transducer attached to support bracket and
  lowered to a depth of about ½ meter.
• The transducer is angled slightly down from
  horizontal to prevent surface echoes and noise.
• The 6 degree conical field is 1 meter high at 10
  meters from the boat and 2 meters at 20 meters
  from the boat.

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Settings
Temperature (affects speed of sound in water)
Threshold (Set at -70 dB)
-45dB will see a 10 cm fish -55 dB will see a 5
cm fish (but if fish is facing toward or away
the cross section it is less) -70dB is
recommended to reduce missed targets
Pulse Rate and Ping Duration (5
pings/second) Range (1.5-50m from boat)
GPS Position for Every Ping
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Lake Roosevelt Hydro-Acoustic Studies

• Hydro-acoustic Surveys Conducted August-October
  2007
• Data Collected At 40 Transects
• Electro-fishing Over Same Transects Immediately
  Followed
• Areas Sampled Included Nine Previously Studied
  CCTFW Fisheries Evaluation Sites within
  Lacustrine, Transitional, and Riverine Areas
• Included Embayment, Steep Bank, and Shoal
  Ecotypes of
• Common Substrate Composition (Mud/Silt, Sand,
  Gravel, Cobble, Bedrock, etc.)
• Additional Areas of Interest Were Included.

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Lake Roosevelt Side Looking Hydro-acousticsSpring
er Bay (North of Kettle Falls)Surface
Elev.1287.50
Boat
30 Min.
Range
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Lake Roosevelt Side Looking Hydro-acousticsSpring
er Bay (North of Kettle Falls)
Target Echoes Highlighted in Red
Boat
30 Min.
Range
Bottom Acquisition(Shoreline) On
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First 1000 Pings
Lake Roosevelt Side Looking Hydro-acoustics
Boat
Range
Shoreline
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Lake Roosevelt Side Looking Hydro-acoustics
Pings 51-100 Showing Approximately 149 Targets
98 Larger than 100mm Length 51 Less than 100mm
Length (Based on Strength of Echo)
Boat
Range
Shoreline
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Electro-fishing Near Shore Area

• Species Composition and Length Distribution
  Identified During Electro-fishing Will Be Used to
  Fill in Data from Hydro-acoustic Surveys.
• Some Multi-Panel Experimental Gill Nets Were
  Deployed at the Ends of Transects for Comparison

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Data Evaluation

• Hydro-acoustic Data Currently Being Processed
  with Special Software
• Electro-fishing and Gill Net Data Being Processed
• Global Positioning Data for Each Hydro-acoustic
  Transect being Processed and Converted to GIS
  Files.
• Verification of Substrate Type Indicated in
  Aerial Photos
• Fish Habitat Use Estimation Based on Surveys to
  be Expanded to Other Areas of Geomorphic, Ecotype
  and Substrate Commonalities Within Lake Roosevelt.

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Preliminary Indications

• Young of the year (YOY) fish were seen in the
  near shore littoral zone that would be impacted
  by the proposed drawdown
• The yellow perch (Perca flavescens) a non-native
  fish were found in large numbers in areas of
  aquatic or submerged terrestrial plants
• Vegetation is minimal and will decrease under the
  proposed action
• Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolmiew) are located
  in areas of gravel or cobble

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• Burbot (Lota Lota) were seen in moderate and
  large cobble using the interstitial spaces as
  effective cover
• The YOY walleye (Sander vitreus) are located in
  areas of sand substrate with
• Larger walleye found in areas adjacent to
  vegetation or in deeper water just off the
  shallow shore waters
• Most of the walleye sampled were between 220 to
  289 millimeters in length
• Walleye over 250 millimeters in length were
  feeding heavily on yellow perch and black crappie
  (Pomoxis nigromaculatus).

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Proposed Mitigation

• The proposed drawdown will result in a five
  percent decrease in the area of aquatic habitat
  (this 5 loss may have a greater than 5 impact)
• Loss of hiding cover
• Increased predation
• Block access to tributary spawning habitat
• Pilot Research Project to provide hiding cover
  for small fish forced into deeper waters.
  Structures and artificial macrophytes will be
  installed and monitored for two years 2008-2009.
• Pilot Research Project to construct floating
  spawning beds to reduce drawdown impacts to
  littoral spawning native forage species will be
  installed and monitored for two years 2008-2009
• Cost share on the construction of a passage
  facility at Barnaby Creek to benefit native
  natural spawning kokanee

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Contact Information

• Sheri Sears, Resident Fish Manager
• Colville Confederated Tribes
• Fish and Wildlife Department
• PO Box 150 Nespelem, WA 99155
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail sheri.sears_at_colvilletribes.com