Research, Monitoring and Evaluation (Inst Rec 8)

Action

As an adjunct to the CRFMP and the Fish and Wildlife Program, representatives of the federal government, the states and tribes need to establish a research and monitoring program that sets long-term priorities and provides dispute resolution.

Federal government agencies control priorities, methodologies, implementation, and evaluation of research related to the impacts of federal hydropower projects on the Columbia Basin’s anadromous fishery resources. Except in limited cases, federal research selection processes do not provide scientific peer review. Further, timely access to data obtained by federal researchers is problematic.

Other monitoring, evaluation and research on restoration is often uncoordinated and unconnected to related restoration measures.

Because a comprehensive restoration plan requires a coordinated research, monitoring and evaluation program that incorporates all life stages of anadromous fish, the tribes propose establishment of a basin-wide research and monitoring program that sets long-term priorities and provides dispute resolution among federal, state and tribal entities.

The FERC structure provides for research planning and dispute resolution as an element of its settlements. A similar policy-driven program is recommended for other research, particularly that concerned with the operation and structural modification of federal dams.

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