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Title: Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigation, 1994 Annual Report.

Abstract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in concordance with Bonneville Power Administration provided a release of 1.48 billion cubic meters (1.2 MAF, million acre feet) of impounded water from Lake Koocanusa, Montana from June 1 to June 28, 1994. This release of water provided approximately 566 To/s (20 thousand cubic feet per second, kcfs) discharge in the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Between February and early April 1994, 15 adult sturgeon (10 females, 5 males) in late vitellogenic stage were captured and fitted with combinations of radio and sonic transmitters. A total of 31 sturgeon were monitored. Ten hatchery reared juvenile white sturgeon equipped with radio and sonic tags were released in pools down river of Kootenai Falls, Montana. All ten sturgeon had moved between 60 and 97 km (37.3 and 60.3 mi) down river of release sites within one month. Movements coincided with major flow peaking associated with hydropower production at Libby Dam, located upriver of the release site

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG)
Sponsoring Org.:
US Bonneville Power Administration
OSTI Identifier:
245637
Report Number(s):
DOE/BP-93497-6
ON: DE96011095
DOE Contract Number:
1988BP93497
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Jul 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
13 HYDRO ENERGY; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; FISHES; POPULATION DYNAMICS; HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS; ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS; AMBIENT TEMPERATURE; BEHAVIOR; ANIMAL GROWTH; PROGRESS REPORT; White sturgeons - Kootenai River

Citation Formats

Marcuson, Patrick E., Wakkinen, Virginia, and Kruse-Malle, Gretchen. Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigation, 1994 Annual Report.. United States: N. p., 1995. Web. doi:10.2172/245637.
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Marcuson, Patrick E., Wakkinen, Virginia, & Kruse-Malle, Gretchen. Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigation, 1994 Annual Report.. United States. doi:10.2172/245637.
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Marcuson, Patrick E., Wakkinen, Virginia, and Kruse-Malle, Gretchen. Sat . "Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigation, 1994 Annual Report.". United States. doi:10.2172/245637. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/245637.
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@article{osti_245637,
title = {Kootenai River White Sturgeon Investigation, 1994 Annual Report.},
author = {Marcuson, Patrick E. and Wakkinen, Virginia and Kruse-Malle, Gretchen},
abstractNote = {The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in concordance with Bonneville Power Administration provided a release of 1.48 billion cubic meters (1.2 MAF, million acre feet) of impounded water from Lake Koocanusa, Montana from June 1 to June 28, 1994. This release of water provided approximately 566 To/s (20 thousand cubic feet per second, kcfs) discharge in the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Between February and early April 1994, 15 adult sturgeon (10 females, 5 males) in late vitellogenic stage were captured and fitted with combinations of radio and sonic transmitters. A total of 31 sturgeon were monitored. Ten hatchery reared juvenile white sturgeon equipped with radio and sonic tags were released in pools down river of Kootenai Falls, Montana. All ten sturgeon had moved between 60 and 97 km (37.3 and 60.3 mi) down river of release sites within one month. Movements coincided with major flow peaking associated with hydropower production at Libby Dam, located upriver of the release site},
doi = {10.2172/245637},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995},
month = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995}
}
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Technical Report:
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DOI:  10.2172/245637
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  • Test flows for Kootenai River white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus spawning, scheduled for June 1996, were postponed until July. However, an estimated 126% snow pack and unusually heavy precipitation created conditions for sturgeon spawning that were similar to those occurring before construction of Libby Dam. Discharge in the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry rose to nearly 1,204 m{sup 3}/s (42,500 cfs) during May and water temperature ranged from 5.8 C to 8.4 C (42 F to 47 F). Migration of adult white sturgeon into spawning areas occurred in late May during a rising hydrograph. Discharge and water temperature were rising andmore » had reached approximately 1,077 m{sup 3}/s (38,000 cfs) and 8 C (46 F). Discharge at Bonners Ferry peaked at about 1,397 m{sup 3}/s (49,300 cfs) on June 5. A total of 348 eggs (and one egg shell) were collected with 106,787 h of mat effort during the flow events. The first white sturgeon eggs were collected on June 8 and continued through June 30. Staging of eggs and back-calculating to spawning dates indicated there were at least 18 spawning episodes between June 6 and June 25. Discharge on June 6 was 1,196 m{sup 3}/s (42,200 cfs) and decreased steadily to 850 m{sup 3}/s (30,000 cfs) by June 26. Although sturgeon spawned in the same reach of river that they had during 1994 and 1995, the majority of eggs were found significantly (P = 0.0001) farther upstream than 1994 and 1995 and this in turn may be related to elevation of Kootenay Lake.« less

  • ; ;
    Flows in the Kootenai River for white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus spawning in 1998 were expected to be at a minimum because the snow pack in the basin was only about 79% normal, and local inflow was expected to be very low, <142 m{sup 3}/s (5,000 cfs). Flows in the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry from late April through early May were at about 425 m{sup 3}/s (15,000 cfs) while water temperature ranged from about 8 to 10 C (45 to 50 F). Spawning and incubation flows from Libby Dam began on May 18 when flow at the dam was broughtmore » up to 765 m{sup 3}/s (27,000 cfs). Unusually frequent rains and several enormous storms brought peak flows at Bonners Ferry to over 1,175 m{sup 3}/s (41,500 cfs) on May 27, temperature ranged between 8 and 10.6 C (45 to 51 F). Flow gradually subsided at Bonners Ferry during June and was steady at 708 to 765 m{sup 3}/s (25,000 to 27,000 cfs) while temperature gradually rose to 14.4 C (58 F). Forty-seven adult white sturgeon were captured with 4,220 hours of angling and setlining effort between March 1 and April 15, 1998 by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG). Sonic and radio tags were attached to four female and five male sturgeon during this effort. From April 1 through July 31, 1998, a total of 17 fish were monitored specifically for pre-spawn and spawning activities. White sturgeon spawning location, timing, frequency, and habitat were evaluated by sampling for eggs with artificial substrate mats. Four hundred and eighty-four eggs were collected, 393 eggs (81%) were collected on 60 standard mats, and 91 eggs (19%) were collected on seven experimental mats with drift nets. Ten eggs collected with experimental mats were found mixed with sand, suggesting eggs are moving in the lower water column with sand. The middle Shorty's Island reach (rkm 229.6-231.5) produced the most eggs (173) while the Deep Creek section (rkm 237.6-240.5) produced 112 eggs. No eggs were collected above the Deep Creek section (>rkm 240.5). Four hundred and twenty (87%) of the 484 white sturgeon eggs collected in 1998 were viable. Development ranged from stage 12 to 28 (1 h to 12 d old), with 95% of the viable eggs at stage 21 (about 2.4 days) or earlier. The oldest egg was estimated at 293 hours old or about 12 days. Based on ages of viable eggs and the dates of egg collection, we estimated that white sturgeon spawned during at least 20 days in 1998. The first spawning episode was estimated to have occurred on May 6. The next episode was estimated to have occurred May 7 with a gap in spawning until May 10. Thereafter, spawning occurred for the next three days with a second break. From May 22, spawning occurred nearly every day through June 6. Peak spawning appeared to occur between from May 23 through May 28. Juvenile sampling yielded 163 individual fish (several fish were recaptured) of which 160 were hatchery and three wild sturgeon recruited from flow test years. Food habit studies of hatchery age-3 sturgeon indicated Chironomids comprised about 36% of the total food items by number while the Ephemeropterans Ephemerellidae and Baetidae contributed 22%. Continuous seismic profiling of a 12-km (7.45 mi) reach of the Kootenai River (rkm 228-240) indicated the riverbed was comprised primarily of fine and coarse sand. There was no evidence to suggest pre-dam gravels were overlain with sand. Recommendations for the 1999 spawning season include coordinating the flow test with sturgeon behavior and river temperatures of 8-10 C (46-50 F), and discharge should be in increments of 57 m{sup 3}/s (2,000 cfs) per day to a minimum of 1,130 m{sup 3}/s (40,000 cfs) at Bonners Ferry. We also recommend no load following.« less

  • ; ;
    Sampling for adult Kootenai River white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus began in March and continued through April 1999. Forty-six adult sturgeon were captured with 4,091 hours of angling and set-lining effort, while an additional three adult sturgeon were captured during gillnetting for juveniles. Flows for Kootenai River white sturgeon spawning were expected to be high because the snow pack in the basin was estimated at 130% of normal, but runoff came very slowly. Discharge from Libby Dam from mid-March through mid-June was maintained at 113 m{sup 3}/s (4,000 cfs). Flows in the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry during early April, includingmore » local inflow, were 227-255 m{sup 3}/s (8,000-9,000 cfs) but increased gradually in late April to a peak of 657 m{sup 3}/s (23,200 cfs). Flows subsided in early May to about 340 m{sup 3}/s (12,000 cfs), but rose to 1,031 m{sup 3}/s (36,370 cfs) by Mary 26 because of local runoff, and white sturgeon began spawning. However, flows subsided again to 373 m{sup 3}/s (13,200 cfs) June 11, 1999 and some female white sturgeon with transmitters began leaving the spawning reach. Water temperature ranged from about 8 C to 10 C (45 F to 50 F) during these two weeks. On June 13 (two weeks after sturgeon began spawning), spawning and incubation flows from Libby Dam began. The flow was brought up to 1,136 m{sup 3}/s (40,100 cfs) and temperature rose to about 11 C (52 F). They sampled for 3,387 mat days (one mat day is a single 24 h set) with artificial substrate mats and captured 184 white sturgeon eggs. The Middle Shorty's Island reach (river kilometer [rkm] 229.6-231.5) produced the most eggs (144), with 388 mat days of effort; the Refuge section (rkm 234.8 to 237.5) with 616 mat days of effort produced 23 eggs; and the Lower Shorty's section produced 19 eggs with 548 days of mat effort. No eggs were collected above the Refuge section (> rkm 240.5) with 988 mat days of effort. They do not believe flows for sturgeon spawning in 1999 were very time for adequate spawning. Most spawning is thought to have occurred before the spawning flows, when 66% of the spawning events and 87% of the eggs were collected. Recommendations for the 2000 spawning season are given.« less

  • ;
    The objective of this research was to determine the environmental requirements for successful spawning and recruitment of the Kootenai River white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus population. Annual tasks include monitoring and evaluating the various life stages of Kootenai River white sturgeon. Sampling for adult Kootenai River white sturgeon in 2003 began in March and continued through April. Eighty-one adult white sturgeon were captured with 3,576 hours of angling and set-lining effort in the Kootenai River. Discharge from Libby Dam and river stage at Bonners Ferry in 2003 peaked in May and early June. Flows remained above 500 m{sup 3}/s throughout June,more » decreased rapidly through mid July, and increased back to near 500 m{sup 3}/s after mid July and through mid August. By late August, flows had decreased to below 400 m{sup 3}/s. We monitored the movements of 24 adult sturgeon in Kootenay Lake, British Columbia (BC) and the Kootenai River from March 15, 2003 to August 31, 2003. Some of the fish were radio or sonic tagged in previous years. Twelve adult white sturgeon were moved upstream to the Hemlock Bar reach (rkm 260.0) and released as part of the Set and Jet Program. Transmitters were attached to seven of these fish, and their movements were monitored from the time of release until they moved downstream of Bonners Ferry. Eight additional radio-tagged white sturgeon adults were located in the traditional spawning reach (rkm 228-240) during May and June. Sampling with artificial substrate mats began May 21, 2003 and ended June 30, 2003. We sampled 717 mat d (a mat d is one 24 h set) during white sturgeon spawning. Three white sturgeon eggs were collected near Shortys Island on June 3, 2003, and five eggs were collected from the Hemlock Bar reach on June 5, 2003. Prejuvenile sampling began June 17, 2003 and continued until July 31, 2003. Sampling occurred primarily at Ambush Rock (rkm 244.0) in an attempt to document any recruitment that might have occurred from the Set and Jet Program. Sixteen larval fish were collected, but no prejuvenile white sturgeon were collected. Juvenile white sturgeon sampling started July 14, 2003 and continued through September 18, 2003. A total of 330 h of gillnetting effort captured 238 hatchery white sturgeon and three wild white sturgeon.« less

  • ;
    The objective of this research was to determine the environmental requirements for successful spawning and recruitment of the Kootenai River white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus population. Annual tasks include monitoring and evaluating the response of various life stages of Kootenai River white sturgeon to mitigation flows supplied by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Sampling for adult Kootenai River white sturgeon in 2004 began in March and continued into May. One hundred forty-two adult white sturgeon were captured with 4,146 hours of angling and set-lining effort in the Kootenai River. Kootenai River discharge and stage at Bonners Ferry inmore » 2004 peaked in mid December. Discharge remained below 400 cubic meters per second (cms) until June 1; then, because of a systems operations request (SOR), increased and remained between 480 and 540 cms through the end of June. From July through September, discharge ranged from 360 to 420 cms, decreasing to 168 cms by the end of October. Discharge increased again to above 625 cms by November 4 to increase winter storage in Lake Koocanusa and ranged from 310 to 925 cms through the end of December. We monitored the movements of 31 adult sturgeon in Kootenay Lake, British Columbia (BC) and the Kootenai River from mid-March until late August 2004. All telemetered fish were dual tagged with external sonic and radio transmitters, and some of the fish were tagged in previous years. Eighteen of the 31 telemetered adult white sturgeon were released at Hemlock Bar reach (rkm 260.0) as part of a research project to test the feasibility of moving sexually mature adult white sturgeon to areas with habitat types thought to be more suitable for successful egg hatching and early life stage recruitment. Marked fish were monitored from the time of release until they moved downstream of Bonners Ferry. Sampling for white sturgeon eggs with artificial substrate mats began May 3 and ended June 10, 2004. We sampled 650 mat days (a mat day is one 24 h set) during white sturgeon spawning. Most of the sampling occurred in the post-Libby dam spawning reach (rkm 229.0 to 246.0) but some sampling occurred near Crossport (rkm 253.5) and in the Canyon reach above Hemlock Bar (rkm 261.0). We collected eight white sturgeon eggs near Shortys Island in 2004. Sampling for larval white sturgeon began June 8 and continued until July 22, 2004. Sampling occurred primarily at Ambush Rock (rkm 244.0) in an attempt to document any recruitment that might have occurred from the Set and Jet Program. We collected 103 larval fish, but none were white sturgeon larvae or embryos. Juvenile white sturgeon sampling started July 26 and continued through September 27, 2004. A total of 271 hours of gillnetting effort captured 256 juvenile hatchery white sturgeon and two juvenile wild white sturgeon.« less