Walla Walla Basin Spring Chinook Hatchery Program, 45116-45119 [2018-19214]

Agencies

• Bonneville Power Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 172 (Wednesday, September 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45116-45119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19214]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Bonneville Power Administration


Walla Walla Basin Spring Chinook Hatchery Program

AGENCY: Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville), Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Record of decision (ROD).

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SUMMARY: This notice announces Bonneville's decision to implement the 
Proposed Action--Alternative 1--as described in the Walla Walla Basin 
Spring Chinook Hatchery Program Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) (DOE/EIS-0495, May 25, 2018). Bonneville will fund construction 
and operation of a spring Chinook hatchery at the existing South Fork 
Walla Walla Adult Holding and Spawning Facility in Umatilla County, 
Oregon, subject to the execution by both parties of the Memorandum of 
Agreement between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (CTUIR) and Bonneville for Construction of the Walla Walla 
Spring Chinook Hatchery. The hatchery will be owned and operated by the 
CTUIR and will have the capacity to incubate and rear up to 500,000 
spring Chinook smolts for release in the Walla Walla River basin in 
north central Oregon and south central Washington State.

ADDRESSES: This ROD will be available to all interested parties and 
affected persons and agencies. It is being sent to all stakeholders who 
requested a copy. Copies of the Walla Walla Basin Spring Chinook 
Hatchery Program Draft and Final EIS and additional copies of this

[[Page 45117]]

ROD are available from Bonneville's Public Information Center, P.O. Box 
3621, Portland, OR 97208-3621. Copies of these documents may also be 
obtained by using Bonneville's nationwide toll-free document request 
line: 1-800-622-4520, or by accessing the project website at 
www.bpa.gov/goto/WallaWallaHatchery.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chad Hamel, Supervisory Environmental 
Protection Specialist, Bonneville Power Administration--ECF-4, P.O. Box 
3621, Portland, Oregon 97208-3621; toll-free telephone number 1-800-
622-4519; fax number 503-230-5564; email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Bonneville is a federal agency that markets power generated from 
the federal hydroelectric facilities on the Columbia River and its 
tributaries. Bonneville's operations are governed by several statutes, 
including the Northwest Power Act. The Northwest Power Act directs 
Bonneville to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected 
by the development and operation of those federal hydroelectric 
facilities. To assist in accomplishing this, the Northwest Power and 
Conservation Council (Council) makes recommendations to Bonneville 
concerning which fish and wildlife projects to fund. The Council gives 
deference to project proposals developed by state and tribal fishery 
managers and has a three-step process for reviewing artificial 
propagation projects (i.e., hatcheries) which includes development of a 
Master Plan for the proposal as Step 1.
    In 1987, the Northeast Oregon Hatchery Program (NEOH) was 
established as part of the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and 
Wildlife Program. It was the initial artificial production planning 
effort by fishery co-managers for restoring anadromous fish runs in 
northeast Oregon, including the Walla Walla basin. The NEOH Program 
called for development of artificial production facilities which would 
produce between 2.3 and 3.0 million Chinook salmon and steelhead smolts 
designated for release into the Hood, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Grande 
Ronde, and Imnaha River basins and elsewhere. The proposed Walla Walla 
Basin Spring Chinook Hatchery Program and its Master Plan grew out of 
the NEOH Program.
    In 2008, Bonneville, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Bureau 
of Reclamation signed an agreement with the CTUIR and other Tribes to 
work as partners to provide tangible survival benefits for salmon 
recovery. The 2008 Columbia Basin Fish Accords Memorandum of Agreement 
between the Three Treaty Tribes and FCRPS Action Agencies (Fish 
Accords) includes an agreement to fund a spring Chinook hatchery in the 
Walla Walla basin, contingent on the favorable recommendation from the 
Council, completion of site-specific environmental review under the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and compliance with other 
environmental laws. At that time, the CTUIR in cooperation with Oregon 
Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Washington Department of Fish 
and Wildlife (WDFW), and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 
managed and continues to manage a spring Chinook smolt and adult 
outplant program in the Walla Walla basin using out-of-basin stocks.
    The CTUIR proposed the project because indigenous Walla Walla River 
spring Chinook were extirpated from the Walla Walla River basin in the 
early to mid-1900s, and recent reintroduction efforts have been 
unsuccessful in meeting basin goals. Spring Chinook raised at the 
proposed new hatchery would help meet Walla Walla basin goals to 
establish a naturally spawning population and augment populations for 
harvest. Supporting these spring Chinook recovery efforts would help 
Bonneville mitigate for the effects of the Federal Columbia River Power 
System (FCRPS) on fish.
    The CTUIR submitted a master plan to construct and operate a 
hatchery for spring Chinook salmon in the Walla Walla River basin to 
the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program. As a part of the Council's 3-
step process, and after undergoing review by the Independent Scientific 
Review Panel (ISRP), the Council recommended proceeding from step 1 to 
step 2. Bonneville determined that the proposal is consistent with the 
commitments made in the Fish Accords, and supports Bonneville's Fish 
and Wildlife Implementation Plan Environmental Impact Statement and 
Record of Decision policy direction, which calls for protecting weak 
stocks, while sustaining overall populations of fish for their economic 
and cultural value.
    To meet obligations under NEPA, Bonneville prepared the Walla Walla 
Basin Spring Chinook Hatchery Program EIS; ODFW and the CTUIR were 
cooperating agencies. In May 2013, Bonneville issued a Notice of Intent 
to prepare an EIS. The draft EIS, based on the proposal in the Master 
Plan, was issued for public review in October 2014. Minor changes were 
made to the EIS in response to public comments, as well as to address 
refinements to the design of water supply structures and adjustments to 
water use requirements; the impacts of these changes were evaluated in 
the Final EIS. The Final EIS was issued in May 2018.
    The CTUIR, ODFW, WDFW, NMFS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
and other managers of habitat, fisheries, and hatcheries in north 
central Oregon participated actively in development of the Proposed 
Action; and, along with other interested and affected agencies, 
organizations, and individuals, were consulted during the development 
of the EIS. Bonneville is issuing this ROD only for its own actions.

Alternatives Considered

    The final EIS considered in detail two alternatives for the 
Proposed Action--Alternative 1 and Alternative 2--and the No Action 
Alternative. The final EIS identified Alternative 1 as the preferred 
alternative and also discussed other alternatives that were considered 
but eliminated from detailed study. The following summarizes the 
alternatives that were considered in detail in the EIS.

Proposed Action--Alternative 1

    Under Alternative 1, Bonneville will fund the construction and 
operation of the Walla Walla hatchery and the CTUIR will expand its 
efforts to reintroduce spring Chinook into the Walla Walla River basin 
in Oregon and Washington State. The hatchery program will include 
development of a locally adapted broodstock and production of up to 
500,000 spring Chinook smolts for release in tributaries throughout the 
basin, to increase harvest opportunities and natural production in the 
basin. The hatchery program includes the following activities:
     Construction and use of a hatchery at the existing South 
Fork Walla Walla Adult Holding and Spawning Facility.
     Collection of spring Chinook adults at Nursery Bridge Dam 
on the mainstem Walla Walla River and potentially at Dayton Adult Trap 
on the Touchet River to develop a locally adapted broodstock.
     Release of up to 400,000 smolts to the South Fork Walla 
Walla River and up to 100,000 smolts to the Touchet River.
     Planting of returning adults in selected tributaries in 
the Walla Walla basin.
    New facilities at the South Fork Walla Walla site include a 
hatchery building that will house incubation facilities, circular 
rearing tanks for early rearing and grow-out, administrative offices,

[[Page 45118]]

and a visitor center; a pumpback system that would be used as needed to 
return water from the pollution abatement pond to the river near the 
intake, in order to maintain minimum instream flows; a headbox; a shop; 
and three new residences. Existing piping will be modified and new 
piping added to distribute water supply and effluent, and the existing 
pollution abatement pond will be divided in half to improve discharges 
and increase ease of maintenance.
    Most of the smolts produced would be released directly from the 
hatchery into the South Fork Walla Walla River; about 20% of the 
production would be direct-stream-released into the Touchet River, 
which is in the Washington State portion of the Walla Walla basin. 
Adults surplus to broodstock, escapement, and harvest needs would 
continue to be outplanted in Mill Creek and the Touchet subbasin as 
they are now.
    The program is intended to provide in-basin Tribal and non-tribal 
harvest and to increase natural production of spring Chinook in the 
basin, and would be implemented in three phases that are expected to 
gradually increase the number of adult returns and the proportion of 
naturally produced adults in the broodstock. Research, monitoring, and 
evaluation (RM&E) of the status and distribution of spring Chinook in 
the Walla Walla basin (as well as steelhead and bull trout) is ongoing 
as a separate program, and will continue. The RM&E program identifies 
hatchery fish using PIT tags, fin-clips, and coded-wire tags to monitor 
their survival through various stages of their migration and their rate 
of survival to adults. Fish are also trapped at existing juvenile and 
adult traps throughout the basin, and spawning areas in the Walla Walla 
and Touchet rivers and Mill Creek are surveyed to count redds and 
estimate natural production. The RM&E program will help determine the 
success of the hatchery program and when it can move to the next phase.
    Construction under Alternative 1 will comply with applicable 
regulatory requirements, permits, and guidance for protection of the 
environment and human wellbeing and safety, and will incorporate Best 
Management Practices such as erosion and dust control, waste 
management, weed management, restrictions on vegetation clearing during 
nesting season for migratory birds (March-August), and work-hour and 
noise restrictions. Instream work will be minimal and will be done 
during the state-specified in-water work window (July 1-August 15). The 
work area will be isolated behind a temporary cofferdam and fish will 
be collected and relocated outside the work area.
    Alternative 1 incorporates special measures such as retaining as 
much native vegetation as possible; landscaping with native, drought-
resistant plants; and installation of a pumpback system and real-time 
monitoring equipment to ensure that minimum instream flows are 
maintained. The modified water supply intake will meet NMFS screening 
requirements. Hatchery water discharge will comply with applicable 
regulations and standards, including applicable Total Maximum Daily 
Loads in the South Fork Walla Walla River. Effluent treatment systems 
will ensure that discharges do not adversely affect the receiving 
waters.

Alternative 2

    Alternative 2 is similar to Alternative 1 except the hatchery would 
have been larger in order to accommodate the incubation and rearing of 
an additional 810,000 spring Chinook smolts currently produced at the 
Umatilla Hatchery near Irrigon, Oregon, which is experiencing water 
supply problems. Alternative 2 would have required a costly water reuse 
system in order to support the additional fish, but was expected to 
improve the fitness and survival of spring Chinook destined for the 
Umatilla basin.

No Action Alternative

    Under the No Action Alternative, Bonneville would not have funded 
the Walla Walla Basin Spring Chinook Hatchery Program. No new 
facilities would be constructed, no new artificial propagation 
activities would be implemented, and no long-term in-basin source 
(natural or hatchery) of spring Chinook broodstock would be available 
for the Walla Walla River basin. The current release of out-of-basin 
smolts, funded under the Mitchell Act and by Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
and incorporated into the 2018-2027 U.S. v. Oregon Management 
Agreement, would be expected to continue for the foreseeable future. 
Spring Chinook for the Umatilla basin program would continue to be 
reared at Umatilla Hatchery as is currently done. Under this 
alternative, it is unlikely that a self-sustaining, naturally 
reproducing spring Chinook population could be established in the Walla 
Walla basin in harvestable numbers, due to the lack of a broodstock 
adapted to the basin; the current smolt release program results in low 
smolt-to-adult survival rates because smolts are reared out of the 
basin from out-of-basin broodstock.

Comments Received Since Issuance of the Final EIS

    After the Final EIS was issued, Bonneville received comments from 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 in a letter 
dated July 2, 2018. The agency indicated that their comments on the 
Draft EIS had been addressed in the Final EIS. EPA's comments on the 
Draft EIS concerned water re-use and maintenance of instream flows; a 
request for additional information on time periods needed to reach 
Phase 3 goals of the hatchery production program; and a request to 
assess the adequacy of habitat improvements over the long term.

Rationale for Decision

    In making its decision to implement the Proposed Action under 
Alternative 1, Bonneville considered and balanced a variety of relevant 
factors. Bonneville considered how well the action alternatives and the 
No Action Alternative would fit with its statutory missions and 
relevant policies and procedures. Bonneville also considered the 
environmental impacts described in the Final EIS, as well as public 
comments received throughout the NEPA process for the program.
    Another consideration was the extent to which each alternative 
under consideration would meet the following Bonneville purposes (i.e., 
objectives) identified in the final EIS:
     Support efforts to mitigate for effects of the development 
and operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System on fish and 
wildlife in the mainstem Columbia River and its tributaries under the 
Northwest Power Act.
     Assist in carrying out commitments related to proposed 
hatchery actions that are contained in the 2008 Columbia Basin Fish 
Accords Memorandum of Agreement with the CTUIR and others.
     Implement Bonneville's Fish and Wildlife Implementation 
Plan EIS and ROD policy direction to protect weak stocks while 
sustaining fish populations for their economic and cultural value.
     Improve the fitness and survival of spring Chinook 
released in the Umatilla basin.
     Minimize harm to natural or human resources, including 
species listed under the Endangered Species Act.
    After considering and balancing all of these factors, Bonneville 
has decided to fund the Walla Walla Basin Spring Chinook Hatchery 
Program, subject to the execution by both parties of the Memorandum of 
Agreement between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (CTUIR) and

[[Page 45119]]

Bonneville for Construction of the Walla Walla Spring Chinook Hatchery. 
The Proposed Action was recommended to Bonneville for funding by the 
Council and is consistent with the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program. 
Providing funding for construction and operation of the hatchery under 
Alternative 1 supports a high-priority mitigation project in the 
Council's Fish and Wildlife Program. In addition, the Proposed Action 
under Alternative 1 meets the funding commitment for spring Chinook 
reintroduction made to the CTUIR in the Fish Accords and would protect 
weak stocks in the Walla Walla basin while reintroducing spring Chinook 
for additional harvest opportunities and cultural value to CTUIR and 
others. Under Alternative 1 of the Proposed Action, the fitness and 
survival of spring Chinook in the Umatilla basin would not be affected.
    In planning and designing the hatchery, Bonneville, the CTUIR, 
project designers and other fish and wildlife agencies worked to 
minimize environmental and social impacts through project design, 
consultation with regulatory entities, and development of mitigation 
measures.
    Impacts considered and fully disclosed in the final EIS include 
effects of hatchery withdrawals on flows in the South Fork Walla Walla 
River; water quality impacts of hatchery effluent discharge; impacts of 
hatchery construction, juvenile spring Chinook releases, and increasing 
numbers of returning spring Chinook adults on species such as bull 
trout and steelhead; the effects of additional fishing activities on 
private property owners; effects on habitat of vegetation removal; the 
potential of construction activity to spread noxious weeds; and visual 
changes associated with new structures.

Mitigation

    All mitigation measures described in the Final EIS and the project 
Biological Opinions from NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have 
been adopted; a few were modified to describe the activity more 
specifically in order to ensure that contract language is clear. A 
complete list of these measures is presented in the project Mitigation 
Action Plan, available on the project website. All practicable means to 
avoid or minimize environmental harm are adopted.

    Signed in Portland, Oregon, on August 22, 2018.
Elliot E. Mainzer,
Administrator and Chief Executive Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-19214 Filed 9-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-P