FY 2002 Columbia Plateau proposal 25066

Section 1. General administrative information
Section 2. Past accomplishments
Section 3. Relationships to other projects
Section 4. Budgets for planning/design phase
Section 5. Budgets for construction/implementation phase
Section 6. Budgets for operations/maintenance phase
Section 7. Budgets for monitoring/evaluation phase
Section 8. Budget summary

Reviews and Recommendations

Additional documents

Title	Type
25066 Narrative	Narrative
25066 Sponsor Response to the ISRP	Response
Columbia Plateau: Walla Walla Subbasin Map with BPA Fish & Wildlife Projects	Subbasin Map
Columbia Plateau: Walla Walla Subbasin Map with BPA Fish & Wildlife Projects	Subbasin Map

Section 1. Administrative

Proposal title	Manage Water Distribution in the Walla Walla River Basin
Proposal ID	25066
Organization	Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD)
Proposal contact person or principal investigator
Name	Douglas M. Parrow
Mailing address	158 - 12th Street NE Salem, OR 97301-4172
Phone / email	5033788455 / Douglas.M.Parrow@state.or.us
Manager authorizing this project	Tom Paul, Administrator, Field Services Division
Review cycle	Columbia Plateau
Province / Subbasin	Columbia Plateau / Walla Walla
Short description	Implement needed water measurement and monitoring improvements and increase water management as flow restoration projects and actions are implemented in the Walla Walla Basin.
Target species	Summer steelhead, bull trout

Project location

Latitude	Longitude	Description
44.78	-119.59	John Day subbasin
46.14	-118.28	Walla Walla subbasin

Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPAs)

Sponsor-reported:

RPA

Relevant RPAs based on NMFS/BPA review:

Reviewing agency	Action #	BiOp Agency	Description
NMFS	Action 153	NMFS	BPA shall, working with agricultural incentive programs such as the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, negotiate and fund long-term protection for 100 miles of riparian buffers per year in accordance with criteria BPA and NMFS will develop by June 1, 2001.

Section 2. Past accomplishments

Year	Accomplishment
2000	In cooperation with water users, installed approximately 20 headgates and 25 measuring devices on Walla Walla River diversions upstream of the Little Walla Walla River and in the Little Walla Walla River system.
2000	Approved an instream allocation of conserved water of 0.0349 cfs.
2001	Received two additional applications for allocation of conserved water which will, if approved provide for additional flow in the Walla Walla River.
2000	Assisted the Walla Walla and Hudson Bay Irrigation Districts in monitoring streamflows in the Walla Walla River consistent with the district's agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Section 3. Relationships to other projects

Project ID	Title	Description
199604601	Walla Walla River Basin Fish Habitat Enhancement	The project would support habitat improvement efforts by aiding the the improvement of streamflows in the Walla Walla River downstream of the Little Walla Walla River diversion.
199601200	Anadromous Fish Passage at Walla Walla	The project would aid in efforts to provide adult passage diversion dams by protecting flows instream past the dams.
20524	Multi-Year Plan Walla Walla Anadromous Fish Plan	The project would support instream flow augmentation tasks by ensuring that water acquired would be protected instream.

Section 4. Budget for Planning and Design phase

Task-based budget

Objective	Task	Duration in FYs	Estimated 2002 cost
1. Install headgates and measuring devices in the Little Walla Walla River system.	a. Identify diversions at which headgates and measuring devices are needed for water management purposes.	1	$39,378
	b. Develop cost-share agreements with water users with diversions at which headgates and measuring devices are needed.	2	$94,508
2. Install streamflow gaging stations in the Walla Walla and Little Walla Walla River systems.	a. Identify locations on the Walla Walla and Little Walla Walla River where gaging stations are needed for water management purposes.	1	$23,627

Outyear objectives-based budget

Objective	Starting FY	Ending FY	Estimated cost
1. Install headgates and measuring devices in the Little Walla Walla River system.	2003	2003	$82,512

Outyear budgets for Planning and Design phase

FY 2003
$82,512

Section 5. Budget for Construction and Implementation phase

Task-based budget

Objective	Task	Duration in FYs	Estimated 2002 cost	Subcontractor
1. Install headgates and measuring devices in the Little Walla Walla River system.	c. Install headgates and measuring devices at identified locations.	2	$313,510
2. Install streamflow gaging stations in the Walla Walla and Little Walla Walla River systems	b. Install streamflow gaging stations at identified locations	1	$81,502

Outyear objectives-based budget

Objective	Starting FY	Ending FY	Estimated cost
1. Install headgates and measuring devices in the Little Walla Walla River system.	2003	2003	$333,775

Outyear budgets for Construction and Implementation phase

FY 2003
$333,775

Section 6. Budget for Operations and Maintenance phase

Task-based budget

Objective	Task	Duration in FYs	Estimated 2002 cost	Subcontractor

Outyear objectives-based budget

Objective	Starting FY	Ending FY	Estimated cost
3. Manage water use in the Walla Walla River basin to protect water allocated instream.	2003		$858,446

Outyear budgets for Operations and Maintenance phase

FY 2005	FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2006
$272,143	$41,256	$259,482	$285,564

Section 7. Budget for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

Task-based budget

Objective	Task	Duration in FYs	Estimated 2002 cost	Subcontractor

Outyear objectives-based budget

Objective	Starting FY	Ending FY	Estimated cost
4. Operate streamflow gages and maintain discharge records for the Walla Walla and Little Walla Walla Rivers.	2003		$313,652

Outyear budgets for Monitoring and Evaluation phase

FY 2003	FY 2004	FY 2005	FY 2006
$41,256	$86,494	$90,714	$95,188

Section 8. Estimated budget summary

Itemized budget

Item	Note	FY 2002 cost
Personnel	FTE: 4	$133,680
Fringe	@ 41 percent of personnel cost	$54,809
Supplies	@ 26 percent of personnel cost	$34,757
Travel		$57,600
Indirect	@12.17 percent	$34,179
Capital	Purchase of headgates, measuring devices and gaging stations and related materials and equipment.	$237,500
		$552,525

Total estimated budget

Total FY 2002 cost	$552,525
Amount anticipated from previously committed BPA funds	$0
Total FY 2002 budget request	$552,525
FY 2002 forecast from 2001	$0
% change from forecast	0.0%

Cost sharing

Organization	Item or service provided	Amount	Cash or in-kind
Walla Walla and Hudson Bay Irrigation Districts and district patrons	25 percent cost-share on installation costs for headgates and measuring devices.	$118,800	in-kind

Reviews and recommendations

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

REVIEW:
ISRP Preliminary Review (ISRP 2001-6)

Recommendation:
Fundable only if response is adequate

Date:
Jun 15, 2001

Comment:

Fundable if adequate responses are given to ISRP concerns. The proposal is to provide resources needed by Oregon Water Resources Department to ensure that water acquired to enhance stream flows for fish are in fact restored to streams. There is a need for a coordinated effort to restore flows in the Walla Walla River at levels sufficient for fish passage. This project is a critical component in that effort. It will provide a means for the water master to ensure that quantities of water set aside for fish flows will actually be left in the river. Monitoring to ensure that these transfers happen and that the water persists is surely in BPA/ratepayer interest.

Although this is a very important water monitoring and management project for the Walla Walla River basin in Oregon, the proposal is not clear about what is being done now (and by whom and where) that makes a case adequate for funding new work . The proposal mentions other organizations with an interest in water rights, but does not say who is doing monitoring of the sort proposed here (if nobody, then that should be made clear in the written proposal). The oral presentation was good, but the deficiencies in the proposal remain. A response is needed to provide additional information.

The proposal is persuasive that this sort of water monitoring and management is needed. Background accomplishments in this river are listed in Part 1, but could have been discussed further in Part 2 to give more background on what has already been done. Costs are laid out well in Part 1. There is a reasonable cost share (25% of installation costs by irrigation districts and others). The narrative has a good abstract and background. The proposal would be better if it went into more detail about how the ODWR handles water allocations now and the work accomplished to date in this river. The proposal adequately references the FWP, BiOp and Subbasin Summary. There is not an adequate demonstration that the proposers understand the extent of other fishery-related projects in the river basin (that require water), although it mentions other organizations with interests in water monitoring and water rights, and there is a general appreciation shown for the needs. Data management is not adequately described or may actually be inadequate for BPA needs. The response should include a discussion of data storage and access with emphasis on BPA's needs. The BPA-supported data centers are apparently not going to be used, rather the data would go up on the ODWR web site (the address for which is not given). If distributed access approaches through the ODWR data repository are intended, they might be discussed. Further consideration of integrating the data with the BPA system would be appropriate, and might be proposed as a special task in the project. References are minimal, consisting of just the basin plans. No ODWR references are given for their water measurement system or their water management background (general or specific to the Walla Walla River). The ODWR's current water tracking system should be described and referenced with document citations. Staff resumes look good. The ISRP certainly doesn't question the need for this work. A response is still needed to augment the proposal.

REVIEW:
CBFWA Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
High Priority

Date:
Aug 3, 2001

Comment:

This proposal would provide the monitoring component that allows for the detection of noncompliance water withdrawal activities. The reviewers suggest that it appears that the financial responsibility for this work is that of the Oregon Water Resource Department and question the appropriateness of funding these activities.

REVIEW:
ISRP Final Review (ISRP 2001-8)

Recommendation:
Fund

Date:
Aug 10, 2001

Comment:

Fundable.

The proposal is to provide resources needed by Oregon Water Resources Department to ensure that water acquired to enhance stream flows for fish is in fact restored to streams. There is a need for a coordinated effort to restore flows in the Walla Walla River at levels sufficient for fish passage. This project is a critical component in that effort. It will provide a means for the water master to ensure that quantities of water set aside for fish flows will actually be left in the river. Monitoring to ensure that these transfers happen and that the water persists is surely in BPA/ratepayer interest. The proposal combined with the responses to initial ISRP's comments provides a good technical basis for funding.

The proposal was persuasive that this sort of water monitoring and management is needed. Background accomplishments in this river are listed in Part 1, but could have been discussed further in Part 2 to give more background on what has already been done. This was remedied in the response. Costs are laid out well in Part 1. There is a reasonable cost share (25% of installation costs by irrigation districts and others). The narrative has a good abstract and background. The proposal would have been better if it went into more detail about how the ODWR handles water allocations now and the work accomplished to date in this river (again, remedied in the response). The proposal adequately references the FWP, BiOp and Subbasin Summary. There was not an adequate demonstration that the proposers understand the extent of other fishery-related projects in the river basin (that require water), although the proposal mentions other organizations with interests in water monitoring and water rights, and there is a general appreciation shown for the needs. Data management was not adequately described, and reviewers feared it might actually be inadequate for BPA needs. References were minimal, consisting of just the basin plans. No ODWR references were given for their water measurement system or their water management background (general or specific to the Walla Walla River). The reviewers felt that ODWR's current water tracking system should be described and referenced with document citations.

The response provided background on what the Oregon Department of Water Resources does now, both as its overall mission and in the Walla Walla basin. They gave web links to further information. They do not see any hope that state funds will become available for what appears to be a state responsibility. It is in the interest of BPA to ensure that water obtained for fish is made available for fish. The response included a listing of related fishery projects (not just BPA-funded) in the basin, which relate to water monitoring and regulation. They discussed their data management (data go into the USGS system) and willingness to accommodate BPA needs and databases by transfer of data or other means.

This is a very important water monitoring and management project for the Walla Walla River basin in Oregon. Although it might normally be accomplished under the agency's state mandate and funding, the realistic view is that such funds will not be available. Our only caution is that BPA should consider "in lieu" implications.

REVIEW:
NMFS Review

Recommendation:

Date:
Oct 1, 2001

Comment:

Statement of Potential Biological Benefit to ESU
Direct in-stream flow benefits are dubious given that the proposed project is to provide enhanced water measurement and management capabilities in the Walla Walla River at Milton-Freewater and would be dependent upon appropriate acquisition of water rights and transfer or lease of the rights instream. No water right acquisition/lease is proposed, nor does the proposal refer to any specific water right acquisition/leases proposed for the area (no reference to e.g., Proposal # 25082, although #25082 references #25066). If flows could be improved by project, benefits to fish would be proportional to flow improvement.

Comments
The project is to provide resources needed by the Oregon Water Resources Department to ensure that water acquired to enhance streamflows is actually returned to streams. Proposal was persuasive that this sort of water monitoring and management is needed. However, the proposed might normally be accomplished under the agency's state mandate and funding.

Already ESA Req? no

Biop? yes

REVIEW:
BPA Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
Rank C

Date:
Oct 16, 2001

Comment:

This proposal would implement needed water measurement and monitoring improvements and increase water management as flow enhancement projects and actions are implemented in the Walla Walla Basin. However, the extent to which BPA should support local and state infrastructure needs to be explored further; therefore, this proposal should be deferred.

REVIEW:
NWPPC Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
Fund

Date:
Jan 3, 2002

Comment:

REVIEW:
NWPPC Funding Recommendation

Recommendation:
Do Not Fund

Date:
Sep 20, 2003

Comment:

REVIEW:
Project Sponsor Request for FY04-05

Recommendation:

Date:
Sep 20, 2003

Comment: