Twenty Years Of Salmon Habitat Improvements In Columbia River Estuary Detailed, No Net Loss Since 2009

Twenty years of habitat improvements in the Columbia River estuary have yielded 80 projects and 11,100 acres of reconnected tidally influenced flood plain habitat, according to two presentations by estuary scientists at a recent Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting.

Jason Karnezis, Estuary Lead with the Bonneville Power Administration, provided the Council with an overview of the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program.

“The estuary is an important part of the river because that is where fish (migrating salmon and steelhead, some listed under the federal Endangered Species Act) transition to salt water,” Karnezis said told the Council at its Sept. 11 meeting in Astoria.

He said “estuary” is defined as the lower 146 miles of the Columbia River where there is tidal influence. That includes the mainstem river to Bonneville Dam and the Willamette River to Willamette Falls just south of Portland, as well as all tributaries in that section of river with tidal influence.

“Twice a day the flow of the river goes in and out and with that is considerable nutrient movement,” he said. Of the habitat projects he said that “if you get it wet, we see more active and normalized flood plains.” To do that includes removing, lowering or notching levees, he added.

Additional research is looking at climate change and resiliency, monitoring fish use of transitional habitats, and investigating the restoration potential of different types of shoreline habitat, particularly shoreline that has been armored or riprapped.

The CEERP is a part of the Council’s estuary strategy of its 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, which calls for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of habitat actions in the Columbia estuary. The work was developed and is funded by BPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, in order to “understand, conserve, and restore ecosystems in the lower Columbia River and estuary,” a Council Sept. 4, 2024 memorandum says (https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/18908/2024_09_12.pdf).

“The estuary program is an example of true scientific adaptive management,” said Fish and Wildlife Division Director Patty O’Tool, as quoted in a Council blog. “It is more than just learning by doing. In true adaptive management, we test hypotheses, and document findings in peer-reviewed research. Then it is important to have strong coordinated communication so that others can learn from this work, and then move on with restoration based on that research. And this is a program that has really done that to an incredible degree.”

While program goals are focused on habitat restoration that benefits juvenile fish, the use of an ecosystem-based approach allows for the monitoring of additional benefits such as nutrient flow, the Council blog said. The Expert Regional Technical Group made up of estuary scientists, help evaluate the benefits of restoration, prioritize scientific uncertainties, and publish scientific papers as well as other regional resources. This is part of the adaptive management framework that guides CEERP’s work.

Karnezis identified CEERP’s priority uncertainties as:

How will climate change affect the lower river ecosystem and restoration strategy and what actions could be taken to mitigate for adverse effects?
How does reconnecting fragmented estuarine landscapes improve life history variation and adult survival in naturally produced populations?
How do transitional habitats in the designated priority areas (e.g., priority reaches, tributary junctions) compare in importance to other salmonid rearing habitats in the estuary?
How does patch size and travel distance between habitats influence salmon use, access, and performance?
What are the functions of shoreline matrix habitats for juvenile salmon along channel margins of the mainstem river and tributaries and what is the restoration potential?

Also presenting to the Council in Astoria were Catherine Corbett, Chief Scientist for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, Ian Sinks, Stewardship Director for the Columbia Land Trust, and Jason Smith, Habitat Restoration Program Manager for the Columbia River Estuary Taskforce.

Corbett said the Columbia is one of 28 Estuaries of National Significance and that her organization is taking an ecosystem-based management approach to restoring the river.

So far, she said, they have achieved no net loss of estuary habitat since 2009 (represents 50 percent loss since 1870s), and in the plans are to recover 30 percent (10,382 acres) of priority habitats by 2030 and recover 40 percent (22,480 acres) of priority habitats by 2050. A priority habitat is one that is most severely affected by loss or conversion. That would result in a recovery of 60 percent of lost habitat. The Partnership has identified as many as 200 more projects that when completed will complete their goals.

An example of a recent project completed in the estuary is the Steigerwald Floodplain Reconnection, located upstream of Washougal, WA. In that project some 965 acres of mainstem floodplain was reconnected by removing 2.2 miles of existing levee and 0.5 miles of riprap. They removed two water control structures, elevated canal, fish ladder and moved a parking lot and constructed or relocated 3.3 mi of recreation trails. The project cost $32 million and took over 10 years to complete.

In progress are the Multnomah Channel Marsh Natural Area, a project that will reconnect a 278-acre site by removing two water control structures, replacing a culvert under Hwy 30 and a railroad to improve wildlife and fish passage to about 5 miles of stream in Crabapple and adjoining creeks.

Also in progress are a partnership with Metro (tri-county area of Portland), at the Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge. An area that has documented use by salmonids, the project will improve hydrologic connection, water quality and habitat conditions to 695 acres.

Mirror Lake at Rooster Rock State Park in the Columbia River Gorge will install a new culvert at the upstream end of the site, remove an existing culvert (reconnecting 12.7 acres of wetland) and restore the boat basin to a combo of emergent and riparian habitats. The project will result in the reconnection of 3.14 miles of floodplain spanning 400 acres.

Sinks said the Columbia Land Trust has conserved over 65,000 acres with over 40,000 acres under its management. Projects include Baker Bay, an 80-acre restoration project, completed in 2016; Grays Bay, 203 acres, completed in 2011; Kerry Island, 109 acres, completed in 2016; and Raistakka Floodplain, 109 acres, to be completed in 2026

“With the support of our partners, CREST has successfully completed 37 projects since 2010 and currently have over 20 more in the pipeline,” Smith told the Council.

Also see Sept. 4 Council memo regarding update on projects at: https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/18906/2024_09_13.pdf

For background, see:

— CBB, August 31, 2024, COLUMBIA RIVER INTER-TRIBAL FISH COMMISSION TO RECEIVE $794,000 FROM NOAA FOR SALMON RECOVERY IN COLUMBIA RIVER ESTUARY, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/COLUMBIA-RIVER-INTER-TRIBAL-FISH-COMMISSION-TO-RECEIVE-794000-FROM-NOAA-FOR-SALMON-RECOVERY-IN-COLUMBIA-RIVER-ESTUARY/

— CBB, November 16, 2023, DÉJÀ VU: OREGON STUDY SAYS ONCE AGAIN SALMON-EATING CORMORANTS NEED TO SOMEHOW BE RELOCATED FROM ASTORIA BRIDGE BACK TO ESTUARY ISLAND, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/DEJA-VU-OREGON-STUDY-SAYS-ONCE-AGAIN-SALMON-EATING-CORMORANTS-NEED-TO-SOMEHOW-BE-RELOCATED-FROM-ASTORIA-BRIDGE-BACK-TO-ESTUARY-ISLAND/

— CBB, January 26, 2023, COUNCIL REACHES OUT TO STATE AGENCIES TO DISCUSS ‘ALARMING CONCLUSIONS’ OF STUDY DETAILING IMPACTS TO SALMON FROM CORMORANTS ON ASTORIA BRIDGE, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/COUNCIL-REACHES-OUT-TO-STATE-AGENCIES-TO-DISCUSS-ALARMING-CONCLUSIONS-OF-STUDY-DETAILING-IMPACTS-TO-SALMON-FROM-CORMORANTS-ON-ASTORIA-BRIDGE/

— CBB, November 16, 2022, WHERE TO PUT THE BIRDS? RESEARCH SAYS CORMORANTS CHASED OFF COLUMBIA RIVER ESTUARY ISLAND EAT FAR MORE SALMON, STEELHEAD UPSTREAM, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/where-to-put-the-birds-research-says-cormorants-chased-off-columbia-river-estuary-island-eat-far-more-salmon-steelhead-upstream/

— CBB, March 31, 2022, LARGEST HABITAT RESTORATION PROJECT EVER IN LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER COMPLETED ($31 MILLION), INCREASES ESTUARY FLOODPLAIN HABITAT FOR SALMON BY 19 PERCENT, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/LARGEST-HABITAT-RESTORATION-PROJECT-EVER-IN-LOWER-COLUMBIA-RIVER-COMPLETED-31-MILLION-INCREASES-ESTUARY-FLOODPLAIN-HABITAT-FOR-SALMON-BY-19-PERCENT/

— CBB, March 10, 2022, WHACK-A-MOLE: AGENCY THAT CHASED SALMON-EATING CORMORANTS OFF ESTUARY ISLAND NOW HAZING RE-LOCATED BIRDS ON ASTORIA BRIDGE OVER COLUMBIA RIVER, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/whack-a-mole-agency-that-chased-salmon-eating-cormorants-off-estuary-island-now-hazing-re-located-birds-on-astoria-bridge-over-columbia-river/

— CBB, May 14, 2020, CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN ON LARGEST LOWER COLUMBIA HABITAT PROJECT, CONNECTS FLOODPLAIN TO RIVER, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/construction-to-begin-on-largest-lower-columbia-habitat-project-connects-floodplain-to-river/

— CBB, July 20, 2018, “Fewer Cormorants Nest At East Sand Island, Observers Document Bald Eagle Predation On Eggs,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/fewer-cormorants-nest-at-east-sand-island-observers-document-bald-eagle-predation-on-eggs/

— CBB, May 4, 2018, “Cormorants Return To East Sand Island But No Lethal Removal This Year; Hazing, Egg Take,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/cormorants-return-to-east-sand-island-but-no-lethal-removal-this-year-hazing-egg-take/

–CBB, March 16, 2018, “Corps Decides Not to Cull Estuary Cormorants In 2018, Will Continue Hazing, Egg Removal,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/corps-decides-not-to-cull-estuary-cormorants-in-2018-will-continue-hazing-egg-removal/

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Twenty Years Of Salmon Habitat Improvements In Columbia River Estuary Detailed, No Net Loss Since 2009

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