Federal officials say they are on track, and producing results in terms of improved fish survival, after the first year of implementation of measures called for in NOAA Fisheries Service's 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System biological opinion.

A 2008 progress report released Monday describes work by federal agencies during the first year of the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System "BiOp." The 10-year strategy issued by NOAA Fisheries Service aims to assure the Columbia-Snake river hydro system avoids jeopardizing the survival of protected fish stocks. The Columbia River basin is home to 13 salmon and steelhead stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The progress report "summarizes the significant actions implemented by the Action Agencies in 2008 to protect ESA-listed salmon and steelhead affected by the operation" of the FCRPS. It describes the status of the implementation of the BiOp's "reasonable and prudent alternative" across the fish life cycle for that calendar year.

The actions described in this annual report aim at achieving biological performance standards and performance targets at the dams. They also are intended to address factors that limit certain life stages for specific ESA-listed "evolutionarily significant units" of salmon or "distinct population segments" of steelhead.

The document says safer passage through dams for adult and juvenile fish, reductions in predation and restored and improved habitat are among the many actions implemented that are now providing biological benefits for the fish. The actions are being implemented by the involved federal agencies, along with state and tribal partners and others.

The 2008 habitat accomplishments, says the report, included improved or opened access to more than 260 miles of spawning and rearing habitat, 170 acres of floodplain and wetland habitat improvements, the placement of more than 300 in-stream structures, work to increase the complexity of almost 60 stream miles, and the realignment, connection, or creation of about 44 acres of stream channels.

Other cited achievements included the planning of more than 600 acres of riparian vegetation, the lease or purchase of more than 9,500 acres of riparian habitat, and improvement or relocation of more than 35 miles of roads affecting riparian areas.

The progress report breaks down 2008 accomplishments in categories relevant to freshwater factors that can affect the fishes' survival -- hydro, habitat, hatcheries and harvest. It also includes a research, monitoring and evaluation implementation assessment. The report is available online at www.salmonrecovery.gov

"We're not only seeing that more fish make it past the dams safely, but we're also looking beyond the dams to make sure they have what they need elsewhere in the system, too," said Bill McDonald, Pacific Northwest regional director for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. "While this reflects only the first year of the BiOp, it's setting the direction for the years to come."

The progress report was developed by the "action agencies" – the Bureau, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration. The Bureau and Corps own and operate the federal dams; BPA markets power generated in the hydro system.

The BiOp's RPA outlines 73 actions for implementation within the hydro system and off-site that are intended to improve salmon survival and thus avoid jeopardy.

The BiOp requires the federal agencies to regularly examine their progress on RPA implementation and address any shortcomings.

"Tribes, states and federal agencies are rightfully proud of their progress," said BPA Administrator Steve Wright. "This program spans four states and involves hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Given that scale, it's a challenge to keep the program on track while spending countless hours managing litigation. We're all anxious to concentrate wholly on our work for fish in the rivers and streams where it counts most."

The first-year report concludes the agencies are on track to meet science-driven targets for boosting juvenile survival at each of the system's dams to at least 96 percent in spring and 93 percent in summer.

"Survival rates of ESA-listed adult chinook and steelhead through the FCRPS are at or slightly below adult passage performance standards," according to the report.

But determining optimal spill levels for all life-cycle stages (to reduce adult delay and fallback), modifying operations or structures with known adult passage problems and managing sea lion predation should improve adult survival rates in the future, the report said of measures that remain works in progress.

To name a few accomplishments in the hydropower category, a new passage system, called a spillway weir, was completed and tested to show it was the safest passage route at Lower Monumental Dam. Survival was nearly 100 percent for yearling chinook and steelhead and 97 percent for subyearling chinook that passed over the weir. Also, construction was started on both an adjustable spillway weir at Little Goose Dam (installed early 2009) and an outfall for the juvenile bypass system was relocated at Little Goose Dam. All four of the lower Snake River FCRPS dams now are equipped with surface bypass implements such as the spillway weirs.

In the hatcheries, agencies have begun planning to shift to more locally adapted broodstock for steelhead hatcheries in Washington. Also funded were safety-net hatchery programs that reduced the extinction risk of populations of Snake River sockeye, spring/summer chinook, fall chinook and steelhead, and Middle and Lower Columbia steelhead.

In harvest, agencies funded a study of selective fishing methods, and found that purse seine fishing does not harm protected fish. Protected salmon could be released while hatchery fish are harvested. The studies are continuing.

Some of the habitat actions produced immediate and tangible benefits, says the report. For example, a year-round flow was returned to previously dry sections of a Pahsimeroi River tributary in central Idaho, and in September 2008, Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists counted two chinook "redds," or nests in what suddenly had become prime spawning ground.

Another example was a project in central Washington in which fixes to passage barriers in the Methow River resulted in recolonization of upstream habitat by spawners of listed fish. However, significant straying of hatchery adult steelhead into the recolonized tributary study areas also occurred.

Further examples, illustrated with maps and charts, are cited throughout the report. Many projects have multiple benefits: habitat restoration, for instance, provides local jobs while boosting the resilience of fish to climate change.

Officials say the report comes a few months past its planned release because ongoing litigation over the biological opinion has diverted staff and resources. The report's release comes the same day as the latest court filing.