Building an Integrated Data Harvester and Analysis Software for the Methow Basin

Project ID: R11AC17061

Federal Agency: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Partner Institution: University of Idaho

Fiscal Year: 2011

Initial Funding: $139,918

Total Funding: $412,192

Project Type: Technical Assistance

Project Disciplines: Physical

Principal Investigator: Fremier, Alex

Abstract: In May 2010 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA) issued a Supplemental Biological Opinion (BiOp) to the 2008 NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinion (2008 FCRPS BiOp) on the operation of the dams that make up the Federal Columbia River Power System.1 The BiOp considered a suite of actions proposed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the U.S. Corps of Engineers (ACE), and the Bureau of Reclamation to protect salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These BiOp documents identify Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) actions to help meet fish survival performance standards. Temperature modeling is one of several water quality items specified in these governing documents. The RPA 15 of the 2008/2010 Supplemental FCRPS BiOp, in part, states: “Expand water temperature modeling capabilities to include the Columbia River from Grand Coulee to Bonneville dams to better assess the effect of operations or flow depletions on summer temperatures.” The purpose of this project is to develop a temperature model of Lake Roosevelt, created by the Grand Coulee dam project.