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Status and trends monitoring of the mainstem Columbia River: sample frame development and review of programs relevant to the development of an integrated approach to monitoring

January 1, 2013

Implementing an Integrated Status and Trends Monitoring program (ISTM)
for the mainstem Columbia River will help identify trends in important natural resources and
help us understand the long-term collective effects of management actions. In this report, we
present progress towards the completion of a stepwise process that will facilitate the
development of an ISTM for the mainstem Columbia River. We discuss planning and regulatory
documents that can be used to identify monitoring goals and objectives and present existing
monitoring and research activities that should be considered as the development of a Columbia
River ISTM proceeds. We also report progress towards the development of sample frames for
the Columbia and Snake Rivers and their floodplains. The sample frames were formulated using
Digital Elevation Models (DEM’s) of the river channel and upland areas and a Generalized
Random-Tessellation Stratified (GRTS) algorithm for an area based resource to generate
“master sample(s).” Working with the Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership
(PNAMP) we facilitated the transfer of the sample frames to the PNAMP “Monitoring Sample
Designer” tool. We then discuss aspects of response and survey designs as they pertain to the
formulation of a mainstem Columbia River ISTM. As efforts to formulate an ISTM for the
mainstem Columbia River proceed, practitioners should utilize the extensive literature
describing the planning and implementation of fish and wildlife mitigation and recovery efforts
in the Columbia River Basin. While we make progress towards establishing an ISTM framework,
considerable work needs to be done to formulate an ISTM program for the mainstem Columbia
River. Long-term monitoring programs have been established for other large rivers systems;
scientists that have experience planning, implementing, and maintaining large river monitoring
efforts such as those in the Colorado, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers should be consulted and
involved as efforts proceed.

Publication Year 2013
Title Status and trends monitoring of the mainstem Columbia River: sample frame development and review of programs relevant to the development of an integrated approach to monitoring
Authors Timothy D. Counihan, Jill M. Hardiman, Stephen Waste
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype Organization Series
Series Title PNAMP Report Series
Series Number 2013-003
Index ID 70095527
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Western Fisheries Research Center