Temporary Restoration of Bull Trout Passage at Albeni Falls Dam

Kalispel Tribe of IndiansProject # 2007-246-00

Jason Olson

Map of Study Area and Project Goals

• Provide temporary upstream passage

• Investigate a long term fish passage solution

• Address data gaps associated with Albeni Falls Dam and bull trout

• Create a westslope cutthroat trout genetic catalog allowing for the future passage of cutthroat trout at Albeni Falls Dam

History

• 2000 Biological Opinion – 2004 Feasibility Study for up/downstream passage

required– 2008 Action agencies to seek appropriation for

construction of fish passage facility• FERC licenses require fish passage at dams located

upstream and downstream of Albeni Falls• Permanent upstream passage structure at Thompson

Falls Dam.• Removal of Milltown Dam.

Importance to the Region• Project is related to all fish passage prescription on

mainstem Pend Oreille/Clark Fork Dams from western Montana to the Canadian Border.

• Allows bull trout that would have been lost from local populations to return to natal tributaries and contribute to overall recovery goals.

• All telemetry equipment is compatible throughout the basin to provide additional data for all entities working towards bull trout recovery.

• Box Canyon and Boundary dams are using this study as a model as they begin investigating fishway prescription.

Entities Involved and Related Projects

Entities• KNRD• WDFW• IDFG• USFWS• USFS• SCA• US Army Corps • BPA• SCL• PO PUD• PNNL• EWU

Related Projects• East River Juvenile Out

Migration Study• Bull Trout Telemetry below

Albeni Falls Dam• Westslope Cutthroat Trout

Telemetry Studies (2)• Lake Pend Oreille Lake Trout

Removal Project• Pend Oreille Nonnative Fish

Suppression Project

Accomplishments

• Handled a total of 35 bull trout

• Tagged 26 bull trout• 15 bull trout transported

above Albeni Falls Dam• In 2010, tagged and

monitored the movements of 14 westslope cutthroat trout below Albeni Falls Dam

Accomplishments Cont.

• Over half of the bull trout captured below Albeni Falls Dam to date were from depressed Lake Pend Oreille tributaries.

• Identified areas of cold water refuge below Albeni Falls Dam

• Identified potential upstream fish passage entrance locations

• Began understanding the magnitude of entrainment

Results Streams 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Average

Grouse Ck 38 31 51 27 100 49

Morris Ck 0 6 6 9 0 4

Lightening Ck 3 10 11 0 20 9

Rattle Ck 2 24 62 43 65 39

Granite Ck 104 52 106 75 129 93

EF Lightening Ck 34 38 85 26 64 49

MF East River 34 36 25 22 28 29

Grouse Morris Lightening Rattle Granite EF Lightening MF East River

2 3 3 1 3 2 1

53% of all bull trout captured below Albeni Falls Dam have been genetically assigned to depressed spawning tributaries.

Results Cont.

• Genetic assignments are accurate to primary and secondary streams of origin (67%).

• Once transported above Albeni Falls Dam bull trout waste little time getting back to the lake.

• Radio tagged fish have been observed spawning

• Hybridization may be a larger issue than once thought (11%).

Lessons Learned

• Entrainment at Albeni Falls Dam is a much larger issue than anticipated

• High number of westslope cutthroat trout appearing below Albeni Falls Dam in the early spring before freshet.

• Highest efficiency of bull trout captures are on the ascending and descending arms of the hydrograph.

• Difference in life histories between bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout (movement, water temperature).

Conclusion

• Bull trout that are transported above Albeni Falls Dam are contributing gene flow to depressed Lake Pend Oreille tributaries.

• Genetic assignments of bull trout are accurate to the primary and secondary natal tributaries.

• Critical data gaps have been and continue to be filled for bull trout passage throughout the mainstem Pend Oreille/Clark Fork Recovery Units.