The FCRPS Branch provides biological, hydrologic and engineering expertise for review and approval of fish passage facility designs and operations at the dams and reservoirs that comprise the federal mainstem dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers and reservoirs associated with operation of the System.
- Develop new fish passage technologies and implementation of state-of-the-art passage technologies at Corps of Engineers dams on the mainstem Columbia and lower Snake rivers;
- Appraise the Corps juvenile fish transportation program
- Recommend project and system operations for salmon including reservoir management, flow augmentation, fish passage spill, and project-specific operations for fish passage
- Review the salmon predator control program
- Recommend system-wide gas abatement measures and temperature control operations
- Review and approve hydro related scientific research, monitoring and evaluation
- Coordinate with related Canadian and non-federal projects.
Branch staff provide technical advice and guidance to the federal action agencies (Bonneville Power Administration, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation) on measures to reduce take of ESA-listed and unlisted salmon. Staff conduct on-site inspections of fish passage structures and monitoring facilities. Recommendations are made both directly to these agencies and through the Regional Implementation Forum and other groups that consider regional hydro related fish and wildlife issues on a collaborative basis.
FCRPS Branch staff chair and administer the Implementation Team (IT). The IT invites senior policy representatives of the regional fish and wildlife agencies, federal action agencies, Environmental Protection Agency, tribes, and non-federal project operators to participate in making FCRPS operating and system configuration recommendations that benefit salmon and steelhead. Staff also represent NOAA Fisheries Service on the in-season Technical Management Team process that provides for nearly year-round system-wide operations. Staff chair the inter-agency System Configuration Team (SCT) charged with overseeing the Corps’ approximately $80 million annual Columbia River Fish Mitigation Program. This program focuses on the study and implementation of structural fish passage and water quality improvements to most federal mainstem dams. Staff co-chair the Water Quality Team (WQT), which provides scientific and technical recommendations, advice and guidance on water quality issues to the various technical committees advising the Regional Forum related to the FCRPS Biological Opinion, and other regional Columbia River entities for decisions that impact aquatic resources.
FCRPS Branch staff represent NOAA Fisheries Service at the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority
(CBFWA) and before the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NC). Branch members represent NOAA Fisheries Service before the Mid-Columbia Coordinating Committee, particularly on operations to implement the Vernita Bar Agreement. Branch staff review the effects of Hells Canyon and other Idaho Power Company projects on the middle and upper Snake River, and operation of Bureau of Reclamation irrigation projects on the upper Snake River.
Hydropower Division Directory
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