At the Council’s November 6, 2009 request, the ISRP evaluated documentation provided by the Chelan County Natural Resource Department to justify restoration actions on one of four proposed project sites for the Wenatchee Complexity Project, 20073250. Chelan County provided this information in response to earlier ISRP reviews, which requested more details to allow us to assess the value of the project on scientific merit (ISRP 2008-13). In that review, although the ISRP preferred a complete plan for all sites, the ISRP noted that to allow for sequential implementation of the project, the ISRP would review support documents for each site as they became available. Chelan County took the sequential approach.
In 2009, the ISRP reviewed support documents for three sites – CMZ 11, N4, and 6 – and found the proposed restoration actions for the three sites scientifically justified (ISRP 2009-4; ISRP 2009-29, and ISRP 2009-48). The ISRP’s recommendation for CMZ 6 included the qualification that the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting aspects of the project needed improvement.
On April 16, 2010, the Council sent us Chelan County’s response package for the fourth site, CMZ 20, including a specific response document, a construction narrative that includes the permit-ready designs and monitoring plan, a signed landowner willingness form, the U.S. Army Corps Specific Project Information Form (SPIF), and monitoring information for CMZ 11 and CMZ N4. The revised CMZ 6 monitoring plan is also included in the response package.
The ISRP found that the submittal Meets Scientific Review Criteria (Qualified) and stated that the project proponents have done a generally good job of responding to the ISRP’s request for more information. The qualification is that Chelan County should complete the process of obtaining stakeholder feedback on the CMZ 20 proposal and securing the final permits before work begins. The ISRP encourages Chelan County to look for opportunities to strengthen the monitoring of the side channel large woody debris structures (including periods when the side channel is connected to the mainstem) and to carefully monitor the success of the riparian revegetation efforts.
A fifth site, CMZ 17, will not be addressed under this BPA-funded project. Thus, the attached ISRP memo completes the ISRP’s review of the Wenatchee Complexity Project.
