Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program. 2012 Synthesis Memorandum

Abstract

Abstract : The Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (BPA/Corps) jointly instituted the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program (CEERP) to implement federal ecosystem restoration actions and research, monitoring, and evaluation (RME) in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE). The CEERP is composed of three programmatic elements: the Strategy Report, Action Plan, and this Synthesis Memorandum. The overall goal of the CEERP is to understand, conserve, and restore ecosystems in the LCRE. Relative to this goal, the specific CEERP objectives are as follows: Increase the opportunity for access by aquatic organisms to shallow-water habitats. Increase the capacity and quality of estuarine and tidal-fluvial ecosystems. Improve ecosystem realized functions. As a companion to the Strategy Report and Action Plan under the adaptive management process, this CEERP 2012 Synthesis Memorandum summarizes the state of the science of salmon ecology and habitat restoration in tidally influenced areas of the LCRE to provide an integrated scientific basis for the future strategic direction of ecosystem restoration. The findings and recommendations in this report are directed at refining both the action plan and the strategy for meeting the objectives of CEERP.