BPA Fish and Wildlife FY 1997 Proposal

Section 1. Administrative
Section 2. Narrative
Section 3. Budget

see CBFWA and BPA funding recommendations

Section 1. Administrative

Title of project
Economic Incentives for Stream-Side Habitat Improvements on Agricultural Lands Test Program

BPA project number   5502300

Business name of agency, institution or organization requesting funding
Northwest Economic Associates

Sponsor type   WA-Consultant

Proposal contact person or principal investigator

BPA technical contact   , EWP

Biological opinion ID   

NWPPC Program number   7.6B.1, 7.6B.4, 7.6B.5

Short description
Development of an economic incentives program to support cooperative improvements in water quality and riparian habitat for streams and waterways on and adjacent to private and public lands used for agricultural production.

Project start year   1997    End year   1999

Start of operation and/or maintenance   0

Project development phase   Planning

Section 2. Narrative

Related projects

Project history

Biological results achieved

Annual reports and technical papers

Management implications

Specific measureable objectives
To improve water quality and salmon spawning/juvenile habitat areas.

Testable hypothesis
Positive economic incentives can encourage agricultural producers to protect and improve habitat on and adjacent to private and public agricultural lands.

Underlying assumptions or critical constraints
First, several of the alternative economic incentives that will be evaluated include some form of financial compensation or cost-sharing reimbursement. It is assumed that a funding source for these monies can be identified and utilized. Second, it is assumed that the economic incentives program can be integrated into concurrent watershed management and subbasin planning activities.

Methods
The incentives program will be developed by coordinating economic design efforts with agricultural production characteristics and overall watershed planning objectives. The design and structure of the economic incentives will be developed using current economic literature and studies of targeted incentive programs (applications may include soil, air quality, and water quality). Agricultural production characteristics and potential habitat improvement activities will be developed using surveys, focus groups of key agricultural leaders, agricultural field days, and development of pilot programs.

Brief schedule of activities
1997: Design of economic incentives program with linkages to habitat objectives and improvement actions; coordination with other ongoing activities.
1998: Pilot test program in selected watershed and agricultural production area; evaluation.
1999: Make program widely available to agricultural producers in target areas.
2000 and beyond: Monitoring and evaluation; continued implementation.

Biological need
Degraded freshwater habitat for salmon and steelhead stocks results in diminished survival rates at all stages of the freshwater portion of the life cycle: juvenile development, out-migration, in-migration, and spawning. Improvements to habitat requires the coordinated actions by all land and water managers, public and private, within a watershed.

Critical uncertainties
Project is designed to provide information on effective methods to further encourage private land owners to participate in habitat improvement activities; questions regarding the biological linkages between habitat improvements and salmon survival will not be examined directly in this project.

Summary of expected outcome
Development of an economic incentives program to encourage voluntary participation by agricultural producers in stream-side habitat improvements. The program will be developed for wide-spread implementation in agricultural production regions throughout the Columbia Basin. Relationships between habitat objectives, improvement activities, and incentive levels will be clearly defined. The economic incentives test project will provide information back to the habitat program regarding a possible set of methods to acquire habitat improvements on privately and publicly owned lands utilized for agricultural production. The project will also provide information on how to extend these methods to agricultural producers not included in the test program.

Dependencies/opportunities for cooperation
The incentives program will be most effective if integrated with ongoing and anticipated future stream-side improvement initiatives conducted by public and private regional organizations.

Risks
None. The incentives program seeks to provide positive economic solutions to encourage voluntary participation by agricultural land managers operating on private and public lands to participate in stream-side habitat improvement activities.

Monitoring activity
Program design and implementation will be coordinated with other regional habitat improvement program elements to ensure that habitat objectives are met and activities are coordinated with relevant watershed management plans.

Section 3. Budget

* For most projects, Authorized is the amount recommended by CBFWA and the Council. Planned is amount currently allocated. Contracted is the amount obligated to date of printout.

Funding recommendations

CBFWA funding review group   System Policy

Recommendation    Tier 3 - do not fund