RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A PROGRAM TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE 



THE FISH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM 



OF THE NORTHWEST POWER PLANNING COUNCIL 



from 

 The Monitoring and Evaluation Group 



September 23, 1988 



I. INTRODUCTION 



In 1987, the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) amended its fish and wildlife program 

 (program). The program was developed in response to the Northwest Power Planning and 

 Conservation Act of 1980 (the Act or Power Act), which called on the Council to develop a program to 

 "protect, mitigate, and enhance" the fish and wildlife resource of the Columbia River Basin as affected 

 by hydroelectric development and operation. 



A significant feature of the 1987 program was the inclusion of a System Monitoring and 

 Evaluation Program (SMEP) to track the progress of the program in achieving the Council's goals. To 

 develop SMEP, the Council formed the Monitoring and Evaluation Group (MEG) in April 1987 

 composed of technical experts from the region. 



One of the first charges of the group was to develop a set of alternative methods that could be 

 used to measure the progress of the fish and wildlife program. This report summarizes MEG's findings. 

 It also includes a recommendation for a measure of progress and provides a discussion of the 

 elements that the group feels would be required to implement a system monitoring and evaluation 

 program. Considerable work remains before a full scale monitoring program could be realized; the 

 intent of the present effort is to further the discussion of a measure of progress and to initiate the 

 development of the required elements of a monitoring program. Several important elements of the 

 monitoring program specified in the 1987 Fish and Wildlife Program are now being implemented as 

 part of the System Planning process. 



Background 



The Act called on the Council not only to develop a program to address the fish and wildlife losses 

 in the basin, but to develop a program that would take significant, positive action despite 

 acknowledged uncertainties both in the biological requirements and in the best methods for increasing 

 fish production in the basin. The Act also called on the Council to treat the Columbia Basin as a 

 system, necessitating an approach that transcends the jurisdictional complexities of the Columbia 

 Basin. 



The 1987 program represents a fundamental step in the development of the Council's efforts to 

 meet this mandate. Measures in the new program are focused on achievement of an interim goal of 

 doubling the runs of salmon and steelhead in the basin (Section 203). Efforts to reach this goal are to 

 be consistent with the following set of policies (Section 204) that are intended to ensure equitable and 

 sustainable benefits: 



1 . The area above Bonneville Dam is accorded priority. 



2. Genetic risks must be assessed. 



3. Mainstem sun/ival must be improved expeditiously. 



4. Increased production will result from mix of production methods. 



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