At the Council's December 2004 request, the ISRP with the assistance of ISAB members reviewed the draft criteria and checklist for evaluating proposals to secure riparian easements to protect tributary habitat. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Pacific Northwest Regional Office, will use these criteria and checklist to select projects for implementation through the Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program funded by the Bonneville Power Administration.
This riparian protection effort is an expansion of the Water Transactions Program that for the past two years has focused on innovative water transactions to increase tributary flows in the Columbia River Basin.
The ISRP participated in the review and development of the water transactions criteria. At the conclusion of that review process, the ISRP was satisfied that the criteria requested the necessary information to scientifically review and prioritize water transaction proposals (see ISRP reports 2004-2, 2003-1, and 2002-15).
