2004 PSP Proposals and Reviews

Proposal ID: 2004-001

Applicant: California Department of Fish and Game

Proposal Title: Juvenile Anadromous Salmonid Emigration Monitoring on the Sacramento River at the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District (GCID) Fish Screen Bypass Channel

Amount sought: $90,072

Description: This project will continue an existing California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) juvenile salmonid monitoring project located at the Glenn Colusa Irrigation District (GCID) diversion on the Sacramento River near Hamilton City. The project has, and continues to provide short-term monitoring specifically related to restoration actions (including Delta operations), and long-term monitoring to detect annular and cyclic population changes.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-002

Applicant: California Department of Fish and Game

Proposal Title: Merced River Restoration Project Monitoring, Crocker-Huffman Dam to Gallo Ranch

Amount sought: $2,051,106

Description: This project is located in the Merced County and includes 17.0 miles of the Merced River from Crocker Huffman Dam (RM 52.0) to Gallo Apple Ranch (RM 35.0). Tasks involved with this proposal include monitoring geomorphic and revegetation development on the Robinson Reach of the Merced River Salmon Habitat Enhancement Project. Fisheries monitoring will also evaluate salmonid production, survival and rearing habitat on the entire study reach but focusing on past restoration actions.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-003

California Department of Water Resources

Proposal Title: The COYOTE Project: a Unified Approach to Monitoring Floodplain and Freshwater Tidal Marsh Restoration in the Cosumnes Preserve and Yolo Bypass

Amount sought: $5,107,577

Description: This "COYOTE" project will monitor connectivity and key ecological response variables at various spatial and temporal scales within the Yolo Bypass and the Cosumnes Preserve. The program will take advantage of comparisons between like ecosystems in the Yolo Bypass and Cosumnes River to assess project performance and the impacts of seasonal and interannual hydrologic variability. This project will be an integrated, multi-institutional, long term monitoring program for these two regions that: 1) assesses the response of ecosystems to management activities and hydrologic change, 2) develops indicators and performance measures to evaluate progress toward restoration objectives, 3) supports adaptive management of on-going restoration programs, and 4) develops new tools and methods to help guide floodplain and marsh restoration efforts throughout the CALFED region of interest.

Recommendation: Reconsider if Revised

Amount: $1,500,000

Proposal ID: 2004-004

Applicant: California Department of Water Resources

Proposal Title: Real-Time Flow Monitoring

Amount sought: $330,000

Description: This project funds the continued operation and maintenance of flow monitoring stations that are part of an effort to assess, acquire, and manage minimum base instream flows in four eastside Sacramento River tributaries,(Big Chico, Butte, Deer and Mill creeks). Additional efforts to determine appropriate instream flows are currently in progress and will require a long–term record of the daily hydrograph for the various reaches of each tributary. Installation and operation of flow monitoring stations specifically targeted for the management of anadromous fish migration will provide the necessary long–term time series data for determination of minimum base flows. Installation and operation of flow monitoring stations specifically targeted for the management of anadromous fish migration will ensure the presence of, and facilitate the management of, dedicated instream flows acquired for anadromous fish.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-005

Applicant: California State Coastal Conservancy

Proposal Title: Near-field and Far-field Effects of Tidal Wetland Restoration in the Lower Napa River

Amount sought: $2,731,376

Duration: 36 months

Description: This project will monitor the effects of a large (3,900 ha) NSMR Project, and determine its effects on a relatively small (28 km long) Napa River Estuary. This ecosystem provides a unique opportunity to assess the effect of restoration actions on an undammed river, including the ability to contribute to recovery of at-risk fish species and other populations. This project wil use a BACI (before-after, control-impact) sampling framework to determine changes in restored ponds in the Restoration Project, as well as to examine near-field and far-field effects in wetlands in the Napa River Estuary. This project will also measure changes in physical processes and biological responses.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-006

Applicant: California State Coastal Conservancy

Proposal Title: Monitoring for Invasive Spartina Control in the San Francisco Estuary

Amount sought: $1,651,396

Description: The proposed project includes annual regional surveys for non-native corgrasses (Spartina) in the San Francisco Estuary and outer coast marshes. It also will monitor marsh areas treated to control Spartina to determine if treatment was effective. A major research component of the proposal is the development of genetic markers to indentify particulaly invasive Spartina hybrid genotypes.

Recommendation: Fund

Conditions: The Selection Panel agrees with the Technical Panel that the genetic marking work is not essential. Eliminate the QTL development task and continue to use the RAPD method for a cost savings of $139,000 per year for 3 years - total $417,000. A detailed explanation of the proposed administrative overhead rates and an evaluation of the proposed administrative fees for the primary and subcontractor agreements is required. The panel recommends that State reserves the right to negotiate a reasonable administrative overhead rate and additional fee rates other than stated in the grant proposal. The proposed grantee shall provide a description of qualifications and a short justification for contracting services for pre-selected subcontractors. The proposed grantee shall submit a detailed budget identifying labor rates and indirect costs of the proposed subcontractors.

Proposal ID: 2004-007

Applicant: California State University, Chico

Proposal Title: Butte Creek Spring-run Chinook Salmon Life History Investigation

Amount sought: $513,281

Description: This project, a partnership between California State University, Chico Research Foundation and the California Department of Fish and Game, will continue the Butte Creek spring-run Chinook salmon (SRCS) life history investigation for an additional three years. This project is located on Butte Creek, in Butte County, California near Chico. The objective is to continue development of an SRCS adult escapement estimate that will serve as a reliable and more precise "recovery-metric" providing a measure of overall restoration effectiveness and as a measure of recovery for the listed SRCS.

Recommendation: Fund

Amount: $513,281

Proposal ID: 2004-008

Applicant: California State University, Chico

Proposal Title: Sacramento River Riparian Monitoring and Assessment Project

Amount sought: $3,222,967

Description:This project will measure a range of physical and biological indicators for ERP and AFRP-funded projects within the Sacramento River Ecological Management Zone (Red Bluff to Colusa) and compare them to previous conditions and reference systems in order to test whether restoration actions have been successful in improving riparian forest conditions and forest interactions with aquatic processes. Because local and regional perceptions of restoration can affect the implementation and effectiveness of ecosystem improvements, we will also test the effects of these restoration efforts on human attitudes towards ecosystem restoration.

Recommendation: Reconsider if Revised

Proposal ID: 2004-009

Applicant: California State University, Hayward

Proposal Title: Multdisciplinary Monitoring of Environmental Processes in CALFED Restored Marshes in the Suisun Bay Ecological Zone. Phase Two: Importance of Marsh Tidal Pools, Algae, and Other Features along Marsh Channels.

Amount sought: $1,023,911

Description: This project would be Phase II of our mesohaline tidal marsh comparative monitoring, using non-destructive physical-chemical-biological monitoring with replication throughout each of our four recent CALFED collaborative marsh restorations and three (adjacent, ~100-yr-old, relatively natural) reference marshes. No other continued monitoring among these marsh sites is available. Central goals are to identify and improve factors that greatly enhance marsh (1) colonization, (2) productivity, (3) export, and (4) sustainability of dwindling and diverse native populations. This project will monitor and compare three reference marshes with >four replicate restored CALFED marshes both with and without pond connections, preferably including marsh maintenance as experimental field manipulations.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-010

Applicant: California State University, Sacramento

Proposal Title: Effects of Structural Enhancement on Salmonid Spawning

Amount sought: $188,776

Description: Due to the uncertainty of exactly how or why structure may attract spawning salmon or what benefits may be associated with spawning adjacent to objects, such as woody debris and boulders, this project will study the influence of structure on intergravel permeability, down-welling, sediment composition and behavior of spawning salmonids on known Chinook salmon and steelhead spawning habitat in the Central Valley of California, including existing enhanced spawning sites that have received AFRP and CALFED funding for either construction or monitoring.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-011

Applicant: Fishery Foundation of California

Proposal Title: Cosumnes River Passage Improvement Monitoring Program

Amount sought: $251,647

Description: This project will continue to monitor a previously funded CALFED/Anadromous Fish Restoration Program (AFRP) project; The Cosumnes River Salmonid Barrier Improvement Project (Barriers Project). The project involved two CALFED/AFRP grants to improve passage at a low flow crossing near tidewater, four summer dams operated by the local water districts, and two fish ladders at Granlees Dam in Rancho Murieta. In total, improvements were made to six structures from River mile (RM) 6.75 through RM 34.5. The FFC proposes to continue monitoring the effectiveness of the individual barrier improvements and the response of the salmon population in terms of migration, escapement, and juvenile production to the restoration project as a whole. Total escapement will be estimated using the Peterson Index or modified Peterson Index.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-012

Applicant: Fishery Foundation of California

Proposal Title: Monitoring Study of Western Delta Aquatic Habitat Restoration Sites including Twitchell Island Restoration Site – K250/1997

Amount sought: $411,820

Description: This project will build upon ongoing monitoring at two western Delta restorations sites and initiate monitoring at the Twitchell Island Set-Back Levee Restoration Site on the lower San Joaquin River. The objective of the proposed monitoring is to compare fish habitat use within and among the three sites and adjacent river reference areas of the Western Delta.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-013

Applicant: Friends of the Tuolumne, Incorporated

Proposal Title: Tuolumne River Post Construction Habitat Evaluation

Amount sought: $353,790

Description: This project will monitor two separate restoration projects managed by Friends of the Tuolumne: BOBCAT FLAT RIVERMILE 43 AND GRAYSON RIVER RANCH. This project will monitor the instream habitat enhancements to evaluate the effectiveness of the designs which aim to provide not only increased salmon spawning but also spawning and holding habitat for steelhead/trout.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-014

Applicant: Lassen National Forest

Proposal Title: Monitoring Effectiveness of Watershed Improvement Measures in Deer, Mill, Antelope and Battle Creeks

Amount sought: $259,152

Desctiption: This project would assess the effectiveness of past and ongoing watershed improvement activities in four of the five watersheds on the Lassen National Forest that support anadromous fishes. Data would be collected in the Deer, Mill, Antelope and Battle Creek watersheds. The plan proposes to monitor the effectiveness of implemented practices at site, reach, sub-watershed and watershed scales.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-015

Applicant: Marin Audubon Society

Proposal Title: Petaluma Marsh Expansion Project -- Monitoring and Secondary Test Site for the Integrated Regional Wetland Monitoring Project

Amount sought: $235,000

Description: This project will monitor and evaluate the Petaluma Marsh Expansion Project (PMEP),(ERP Project # ERP-98-F13). This project will monitor this marsh as a secondary site within the Integrated Regional Wetland Monitoring Project (IRWM). This project will: 1) evaluate the underlying management question, how are ecosystem restoration efforts throughout the region affecting ecosystem processes at different scales; and (2) through application of adaptive monitoring strategy concepts, prepare for subsequent longer-term monitoring.

Recommendation: Fund

Amount: $235,000

Conditions: Several concerns were raised by reviewers concerning the projects budget. Final approval of funding for this project should be conditioned on the applicants successfully providing detailed budget information addressing deficiencies identified in the budget review. According to the proposal, the California Department of Transportation provided $185,000 to complete regulatory compliance monitoring, but the applicants feel they need another $50,000 to fully implement the previously funded monitoring plan. The funding agency should confirm with CalTrans that the $50,000 requested in this proposal to implement the CalTrans funded monitoring plan is a reasonable investment of State funds. If the Science Program approves funding for a related proposal titled "Integrated Regional Wetland Monitoring (IRWM) Project", then final approval of funding for the Petaluma Marsh expansion monitoring project should also be conditioned on reconciling the budget for this effort with the budget for the related request before the Science Program, to ensure that funding is complementary and not duplicative.

Proposal ID: 2004-016

Applicant: National Audubon Society

Proposal Title: Monitoring Ecosystem Response and Restoration Implementation in Western Sacramento Valley Watersheds

Amount sought: $1,200,000

Description: This project will expand the monitoring efforts initiated during our Willow Slough Rangeland Stewardship Program (ERP-01-N31). We propose to monitor restoration actions carried out by Audubon-California (ERP-98-E13, ERP-01-N31), the Center for Land-Based Learning (ERP-02-P11), the Solano Land Trust´s Jepson Prairie Preserve (ERP 97-N10, ERP-02-P21), and The Nature Conservancy´s Lassen Foothills Project (ERP-02-P26). The monitoring program is based on a conceptual model that takes a dual approach to measure indices of ecosystem response across landscape units while at the same time assessing restoration implementation at the project level.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-017

Applicant: Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission

Proposal Title: Upper Sacramento River Basin Chinook Salmon Escapement Monitoring Program

Amount sought: $1,353,357

Description: The CALFED ERP, the CVPIA Program, and other programs, have provided millions of dollars for the restoration of Chinook salmon habitat in the Upper Sacramento River Basin (USRB), including the mainstem Sacramento River, Clear Creek, Battle Creek, Deer Creek and Mill Creek. The primary objective of this proposal is to continue to monitor the annual abundance, migration timing, and distribution of adult winter, spring, late-fall and fall-run Chinook salmon returning to spawn in the USRB for the next three years. Streams and species/runs to be monitored include: Sacramento River - winter, fall, and late fall-run Chinook; Clear Creek - fall-run Chinook; Battle Creek - fall-run Chinook; Mill Creek - fall and spring-run Chinook; Deer Creek - fall and spring-run Chinook; Beegum Creek - spring-run Chinook; Antelope Creek - spring-run Chinook.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-018

Applicant: Plumas Corporation

Proposal Title: Upper Last Chance Restoration Project Monitoring

Amount sought: $473,804

Description: This project will continue on-going monitoring studies in the Last Chance Creek watershed, a tributary to the Feather River, in Plumas County. Last Chance Creek is the site of a nine-mile gully elimination project using the geomorphic pond and plug technique. The monitoring will focus on surface water discharge and timing, groundwater storage areas and volume, the evolution of channels newly subjected to bankfull flows, water temperature, evapotranspiration, and vegetative and beaver responses. The proposal also includes further refinement of the WEHY model currently being developed.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-019

Applicant: River Partners

Proposal Title: VELB Colonization of Planted Riparian Restoration Projects along the Middle Sacramento River

Amount sought: $638,851

Description: Since 1993, riparian restoration has occurred on 3,600 acres of the USFWS Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge. This project will survey eight selected refuge units spanning 73 river miles (RM 167 to 240) in the middle reach of the Sacramento River. These units represent a golden opportunity to study the recovery of VELB populations and how this recovery is influenced by both local site characteristics and proximity to existing natural beetle populations.

Recommendation: Reconsider if Revised

Proposal ID: 2004-020

Applicant: River Partners

Proposal Title: Sub-surface water quality monitoring on restored riparian sites along the middle Sacramento River

Amount sought: $409,350

Description: This project will monitor the sub-surface soil water under planted riparian restoration sites adjacent to the Sacramento River between Red Bluff and Chico. The restoration plantings were originally carried out with the goal of improving wildlife habitat and populations (ERP Goal 3). This project will monitor the sub-surface groundwater at three historic restoration sites for concentrations of nitrates, redox potential, dissolved oxygen content and isotopic ratios of water.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-021

Applicant: River Partners

Proposal Title: Vegetation and Wildlife Response to Native Grass Restoration on the Llano Seco Unit, Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge

Amount sought: $372,100

Description:This project will examine the performance of a riparian savanna and grassland restoration. The monitoring effort will focus on key wildlife and vegetation responses. In 2000, River Partners initiated restoration on 206 acres of the Llano Seco Unit (Tract 4 and Tract 8) of the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge (Figures 1 and 2). Tract 4 (T4) and Tract 8 (T8) are located approximately 10 miles southwest of Chico, in Butte County, California. Funding was provided under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA).

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-022

Applicant: River Partners

Proposal Title: Assessment of Vegetative and Wildlife Responses to Innovative Restoration Design on the Beehive Bend Unit

Amount sought: $364,156

Description: This project will monitor the restoration responses of project ERP-97N03B (the Dept of Fish and Game's "Sacramento River Floodplain Acquisition - Riparian Forest Restoration"). This project will lead a collaborative effort to examine the responses of wildlife and vegetation to the restoration project and test some of the underlying assumptions that went into the project design on the Beehive Bend Unit.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-023

Applicant: San Francisco Estuary Institute

Proposal Title: Implementation of A Wetlands Monitoring System Suitable for Assessing Ecosystem Response to Restoration Actions

Amount sought: $1,774,680

Description: The CWMV consists of a state-wide Core Team of agencies, NGOs and academics who advise multi-disciplinary Regional Teams to develop and implement a three-tiered approach to comprehensive wetlands monitoring. The three tiers of the CWMV are (1) habitat inventories; (2) rapid quantitative monitoring; and (3) intensive scientific study. The approach provides the most-cost-effective applications of science across the broadest array and largest number of restoration projects to report the distribution and abundance of wetlands, net changes in wetland acreage, and the condition of restoration projects relative to their performance standards, key ecological services, and ambient conditions.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-024

Applicant: San Joaquin County Resource Conservation District

Proposal Title: Murphy Creek Restoration Monitoring Project

Amount sought: $583,054

Description: In 2002, the SJRCD and EBMUD were awarded a CALFED grant for the Murphy Creek Restoration Project. Sparrowk Dam, the downstream-most dam in Murphy Creek, was removed in August 2003, opening an additional 0.8 mile of potential spawning and rearing habitat to anadromous salmonids. Cattle exclusion fencing was installed in the area along the previous impoundment location and an effort to remove non-native riparian vegetation has been implemented. This project will determine the extent to which restoration actions undertaken by the MCRP have resulted in measurable increases and/or improvements in habitat for spawning and rearing of anadromous salmonids, production of anadromous salmonids, the relative proportion of native fish fauna, and the water quality in Murphy Creek. A secondary goal is to identify additional hydrologic, physical, chemical, and biological factors that may be limiting production of anadromous salmonids.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-025

Applicant: Sonoma Ecology Center

Proposal Title: Arundo donax Eradication and Coordination Program: Monitoring and Evaluation

Amount sought: $396,352

Description: This project will implement the monitoring of Arundo eradication sites for restoration success. Funding is requested to support two additional years of monitoring so that monitoring continues without interruption. This work will be carried out at all 10 partner projects of the Arundo Eradication and Coordination Program (Arundo Program), which is managed by the Sonoma Ecology Center.

Recommendation: Reconsider if Revised

Amount: $111,000

Proposal ID: 2004-026

Applicant: Sonoma Ecology Center

Proposal Title: Does It Work? Measuring the Success of Salmonid Habitat Restoration at Multiple Scales

Amount sought: $810,324

Description: This project will quantify the impact of hundreds of thousands of CALFED dollars for restoration in the Sonoma Creek watershed in terms of actual steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population recovery. CALFED funding has equipped this project to develop an experimental design capable of measuring local benefits to habitat quality, reach-scale benefits in terms of increased fish productivity, and watershed-scale increases in total steelhead populations. Integrating reach- and watershed-scale approaches will allow this project to quantify the percentage of the fish population derived from treated reaches versus non-treated reaches.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-027

Applicant: Stockton East Water District

Proposal ID: Calaveras River: Bellota Fish Ladder Passage Evaluation

Amount sought: $144,051

Description: In 2003, USFWS funded, through the Central Valley Project Improvement Act´s (CVPIA) Anadromous Fish Restoration Program (AFRP), the construction and installation of a denil fish ladder at the lower end of the Bellota Weir (RM 24). Since its installation, there has been no comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the ladders at providing fish passage. This monitoring project will evaluate the effectiveness of the ladders under low flow conditions by enumerating fish migrating through the ladders with an infra-red scanner (Vaki RiverWatcher). An additional objective is to evaluate flow conditions preceding recorded fish passage events by documenting flow data at two gaging stations.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-028

Applicant: The Nature Conservancy

Proposal Title: Measuring the Performance of Riparian Restoration Projects on the Sacramento River

Amount sought: $1,103,944

Description: This project will determine the success of horticultural restoration projects towards (ERP goal 4), and (ERP goal 1) on a wider geographic basis. This project will use remote censusing and field-based monitoring techniques to better characterize existing habitats and species abundance, distributions, fecundity, and survival (at both restoration sites and in remnant riparian areas) at the landscape scale. The iterative process of mapping and characterizing riparian vegetation, ground-truthing mapped areas, and refining mapping methodologies will enable us to evaluate the recovery of riparian habitats, songbirds and the VELB at the scale of the entire Project area. In addition, it will allow us to better determine the relative utility that various types of GIS-derived landscape-scale data (e.g., relative elevation, landform age, channel position, channel features, etc.) have in predicting occurrences and abundances of key species and communities. A SECONDARY OBJECTIVE is to integrate new monitoring information into an ecological scorecard framework that tabulates and synthesizes information to characterize the status and trends of focal biodiversity in the Sacramento River Project area.

Recommendation: Reconsider if Revised

Proposal ID: 2004-029

Applicant: The Nature Conservancy

Proposal Title: Cosumnes River Preserve restoration monitoring data integration for adaptive management

Amount sought: $885,420

Description: This project will be implemented through a collaborative partnership with UCD (Information Center for the Environment) and PRBO Conservation Science. The primary objective is to monitor past restoration actions on the lower Cosumnes River floodplain by refining and measuring indicators for selected key ecological attributes and targets. This project will monitor: - Habitat distribution and amount by mapping and characterizing terrestrial land cover using aerial photos and remote imagery (UCD); - Habitat structure by establishing long-term permanent plots to monitor vegetation structure throughout riparian and floodplain habitat (TNC); and - Habitat function by monitoring riparian bird populations as indicators of ecosystem function (PRBO).

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-030

Applicant: Tri-Dam Project

Proposal Title: Stanislaus River Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Escapement Evaluation

Amount sought: $551,914

Description: This project will measure restoration success in the Central Valley with regard to Chinook salmon in the collection of escapement estimates, primarily obtained through carcass surveys. The Stanislaus River Weir is the only method capable of enumerating upstream migrating steelhead, which don´t die after spawning and are not counted in traditional carcass surveys. Due to challenges encountered during the first two years of operation, steelhead enumeration was not possible and Chinook salmon enumeration was incomplete. Modifications to the monitoring system are anticipated to provide complete estimates of both steelhead and salmon abundance and run timing. Additional weir monitoring will also provide data to evaluate the influence of environmental conditions on fall-run Chinook run timing. Of particular interest is the potential for low dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Deep Water Ship Channel (DWSC) of the San Joaquin River to delay Chinook migration.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-031

Applicant: Tri-Dam Project

Proposal Title: Assessment of Project Specific and Cumulative Effects of Restoration on Stanislaus River Juvenile Chinook Production

Amount sought: $478,509

Description: This project will use outmigration data collected with rotary screw traps in the lower Stanislaus River to continue monitoring the cumulative effects of in-channel restoration and other actions taken to restore and protect fall-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Another goal of this project is to identify and quantify improvements in Stanislaus River juvenile production per spawner as a result of the Lovers´ Leap Restoration Project. The Lovers´ Leap Restoration Project, a gravel augmentation effort designed to increase the abundance of Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead, was funded by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), through the Central Valley Project Improvement Act´s (CVPIA) Anadromous Fish Restoration Program (AFRP), and will be completed during 2005.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-032

Applicant: Turlock Irrigation District

Proposal Title: Tuolumne River Restoration Monitoring

Amount sought: $2,430,400

Description: This project proposes monitoring that includes extension and, in some cases, augmentation, of project-specific effectiveness monitoring for four restoration projects on the Tuolumne River. We also propose to extend long-term, river-wide, biological trend monitoring needed to interpret project-specific monitoring results within tributary- and population-level contexts. Monitoring components include channel morphology, sediment transport, riparian vegetation, salmonid distribution and abundance, and salmonid habitat. Projects for which monitoring is proposed are: (1) Gravel Mining Reach Restoration (7/11 reach and M.J. Ruddy reach), (2) Special Run Pool 9 Restoration, (3) Fine Sediment Management, and (4) Coarse Sediment Management (Phases I through III, including coarse sediment augmentation at the Friends of the Tuolumne Bobcat Flat site).

Recommendation: Fund

Amount: $2,430,000

Conditions: Several concerns were identified in the budget review that must be met prior to a final grant award. The proposed grantee shall provide a description of qualifications and a short justification for subcontracting services for pre-selected subcontractors. The proposed grantee shall also submit a detailed budget identifying the labor rates and indirect costs of the proposed subcontractors. A detailed explanation of the proposed Administrative Overhead/Indirect costs rates and an evaluation of the proposed additional administrative fees for the primary and subcontractor agreements shall also be provided. The Selectionn Panel recommends that the State reserve the right to negotiate a reasonable administrative overhead rate and additional administrative fee rates other than stated in the grant proposal. In addition, the digital terrain model created for the project area must be available to the public.

Proposal ID: 2004-033

Applicant: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Proposal Title: Monitoring and Evaluation of Riparian Habitat and Floodplain Restoration at San Joaquin river National Wildlife Refuge

Amount sought: $1,464,782

Description: This project will initiate a multidisciplinary monitoring and evaluation program on San Joaquin River floodplain lands protected and restored through previous CALFED Ecosystem Restoration Program funding on and adjacent to San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge. Part of the components of this monitoring will be new to the site while others will be a continuation of monitoring previously initiated as part of the restoration effort.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-034

Applicant: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Proposal Title: Clear Creek Anadromous Salmonid Monitoring Program

Amount sought: $3,373,313

Description: This project is a comprehensive salmonid monitoring program that will provide feedback for the adaptive management and evaluation of restoration actions of the Clear Creek Restoration Program and B2 Water Program, funded by the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), and of the Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP), Watershed Program, and potentially the Environmental Water Program, funded by CALFED. Five major restoration actions are monitored: increased instream flows, Saeltzer Dam removal, stream channel restoration, gravel augmentation, and erosion control. The three year monitoring program is based on a core of existing monitoring efforts currently funded by CALFED and CVPIA. The program complements a concurrent CALFED monitoring PSP proposal from the Western Shasta Resource Conservation District to provide geomorphological, riparian and avian monitoring of the same restoration actions.

Recommendation: Reconsider if Revised

Proposal ID: 2004-035

Applicant: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Proposal Title: Estimating the Abundance of Sacramento River Juvenile Winter Chinook Salmon with Comparisons to Adult Escapement

Amount sought: $2,282,630

Description: Rotary-screw traps at Red Bluff Diversion Dam (RBDD) have provided estimates of abundance and outmigration timing of downstream migrating salmonids since 1994. The primary objective of this project is to obtain juvenile winter Chinook production indices and to correlate these indices with estimated escapement from adult counts at RBDD and the winter-run carcass survey.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-036

Applicant: U.S. Geological Survey

Proposal Title: Evaluation of the conservation value of lands purchased with CALFED funds for wintering Sandhill Cranes

Amount sought: $490,909

Description: This project fills the need for a monitoring and applied research study to evaluate how CALFED´s investments in land acquisitions, easements and habitat enhancements in the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta region (hereafter called the Delta) can contribute to the conservation and recovery of threatened Greater Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis tabida). Detailed information on crane habitat requirements and movement patterns is needed to understand the critical links between properties purchased by CALFED and surrounding privately owned lands. A meaningful evaluation also needs to consider crane use at a larger spatial scale by asking questions about connectivity among sites and the role of CALFED properties in meeting the needs of all cranes wintering in the Delta Region.

Recommendation: Fund

Amount: $490,909

Conditions: A detailed explanation of the proposed Administrative Overhead/Indirect costs rates and an evaluation of the proposed additional administrative fees for the primary and subcontractor agreement is required. The State reserves the right to negotiate a reasonable administrative overhead rate and additional administrative fee rates other than stated in the grant proposal. In addition the proposed grantee shall provide a short justification for pre-selected subcontractors/consultants (as sited on page 16 of the PSP). The research team must clarify how this project will evaluate both public and private lands used by the birds in the work products.

Proposal ID: 2004-037

Applicant: U.S. Geological Survey

Proposal Title: Comparison of hyporheic water quality and methylmercury exposure in salmonid redds within restored and unrestored gravels in the lower American River

Amount sought: $996,307

Description: This project will examine hyporheic water quality and the potential for methylmercury exposure in salmonid redds on the Lower American River. Three existing CVPIA gravel restoration sites will be evaluated for indicator conditions that could potentially lead to methylmercury production, and water samples will be collected and analyzed for a variety of compounds that are related to methylmercury production. These include redox, sulfate or iron, low dissolved oxygen conditions, reactive mercury, organic carbon, pH and temperature.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-038

Applicant: University of California, Davis

Proposal Title Monitoring Sacramento perch populations in the Central Valley

Amount sought: $715,362

Description: This project is a logical follow-up to a present project (ERP 02-P34) to study the basic biology of Sacramento Perch (SP), which was listed as Milestone 117 by the CBDA (2004). This project will monitor four established experimental SP populations and of three others to be established in 2005. This project will establish and monitor at least three other sites in 2006 as additional fish become available. Ultimately, this project will monitor a minimum of ten pilot reintroduction sites in the Delta and Suisun Marsh to gather data that can be used to optimize management strategies for current and future restoration sites.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-039

Applicant: University of California, Davis

Proposal Title: Hypothesis-driven Monitoring of the CALFED/CVPIA Sponsored Gravel Augmentation on the Lower Mokelumne River

Amount sought: $705,052

Description: In this next-phase monitoring and hypothesis-testing project, the project goal is to test 3 sets of hypotheses nested into a multi-scalar framework that explicitly recognizes the diverse needs for hydrogeomorphic and biological monitoring at reach, geomorphic-unit, and hydraulic-unit scales. At the reach scale the key performance questions evaluate the extent to which coarse sediment addition has re-started self-sustainable sediment transport continuity and whether the fish community shows a response to rehabilitation over a decade (1997-2008). At the geomorphic-unit scale a sediment budget framework is used to evaluate performance and persistence of complex pool-riffle units designed using SHIRA. At the hydraulic-unit scale the key performance questions evaluate the large uncertainty surrounding the hydrogeomorphic and biological functionality as well as rehabilitation value of artificially placed boulders, woody debris, and other habitat heterogeneity features.

Recommendation: Do Not Fund

Proposal ID: 2004-040

Applicant: University of California, Davis

Proposal Title: Monitoring Responses of the Delta Smelt Population to Multiple Restoration Actions in the San Francisco Estuary

Amount sought: $2,658,648

Description: This project requests three years of support to implement a state-of-the-art monitoring program to link key vital parameters for individual delta smelt with survival to adulthood at the population level. Our plan is to measure five vital parameters for fish collected by the IEP, including growth and body condition, exposure to toxic chemicals, survival to the adult stage, spawning success, and feeding and food selectivity. We previously developed the methodology for measuring four of these parameters for delta smelt and the fifth is a standard technique. Our approach is novel because it combines information from histopathology of fish tissues, gut contents, and analyses of fish growth from otoliths to distinguish among mechanisms influencing the state of the individual fish. By combining this information on surviving fish with region-specific information on the vital rates and risk of loss to the water export facilities, we can begin to discern what combinations of environmental conditions result in high or low survival and population abundance.

Recommendation: Reconsider if Revised

Amount: $1,482,480

Proposal ID: 2004-041

Applicant: Western Shasta Resource Conservation District

Proposal Title: Lower Clear Creek Monitoring Program

Amount sought: $1,308,449

Description:The Lower Clear Creek Floodway Restoration Project is a CALFED funded, three phase project. This project will include the following: (1) Avian Monitoring, which will use five metrics to monitor essential avian populations, including the collection of data on an established set of riparian focal species; (2) Geomorphic Monitoring, which will include the measurement of geomorphic changes at both the project scale and on the entire watershed; (3) Riparian Habitat Monitoring, which will measure eight elements of vegetation survival and productivity, wetland creation, and the success of exotic species control efforts.

Recommendation: Fund

Amount: $1,308,449

Conditions: The grant is subject to a detailed evaluation and approval of the whole budget to determine if labor rates and services are reasonable for services provided and are comparable to state or market rates. For subcontractor portion of the budget, the proposed grantee shall provide a description of qualifications and a short justification for subcontracting services for pre-selected subcontractors (as sited on page 16 of PSP). The proposed grantee shall also submit a detailed budget identifying the labor rates and indirect costs of the proposed subcontractors.