WRIA 1 Instream Flow Analysis

Instream Flow Methods Meeting

Scope of Work for Chairperson

As part of the instream flow analysis element of the Water Resources Inventory Area 1 (WRIA 1) Watershed Management Project, a meeting of fisheries biologists, fluvial geomorphologists, botanists/riparian ecologists, hydrologists, engineers, and other experts will be convened in early October 1999. The goal of the 2½ day meeting will be to achieve agreement among the approximately 25 invited experts on the most appropriate method(s) for estimating an accurate relation between streamflow and fish habitat quantity and quality in WRIA 1.

Participants will be asked to describe and debate the advantages and disadvantages of the available methodologies for estimating the relation between streamflow and fish (fin- and shell-) habitat. Participants will include proponents of the IFIM, fluvial geomorphic methods, hydrology methods, indicator methods, and any other methods recognized by the General Chairperson. The General Chairperson, along with the Initiating Governments and the Planning Unit, will record the key findings of the meeting and recommend the most appropriate method(s) for WRIA 1.

Because the goal of the meeting is to focus the attention of a group of experts on solving a complex problem, distractions must be minimized and the experts allowed to speak their minds. To minimize interruptions during the meeting, the public will not be invited to attend. However, the meeting results will be published and made available to the general public in WRIA 1.

Tasks:

The Initiating Governments will provide clerical, administrative, and logistic support to the General Chairperson. That is, the Initiating Government staff will perform tasks such as identifying and obtaining copies of background material for meeting participants, mailing invitations, coordinating responses, identifying the meeting site, identifying lodging and recreational opportunities, maintaining a participants database, and report reproduction.

The following three tasks of the scope of work for the General Chairperson correspond to activities before, during, and after the Instream Flow Methods Meeting.

Task 1 Identify and Invite Participants

The General Chairperson will work with the Initiating Governments and Planning Unit of the Watershed Management Project to identify and invite meeting participants. Participants from both the public and private sector will be selected and invited based on their experience, capabilities, and availability. The goal is to select experts in specific methodologies that estimate the relation between streamflow and fish habitat quality and quantity, experts with experience using a wide range of methodologies, and experts that are experimenting with new methods.

The participants will be provided background information on the study area and a questionnaire to focus thinking prior to the meeting. Travel, per diem, and lodging costs for participants will be paid upon request. Participants from the private sector will be asked to donate their time.

Task 2 General Chairperson

During the Instream Flow Methods Meeting, the General Chairperson will conduct introductions, facilitate group discussions, summarize the meeting results at the end of the meeting, and direct the flow of the participants into a series of breakout and group work sessions. The draft recommended agenda for the meeting is as follows:

Day 1

Introductions, meeting purpose, overview of how meeting will proceed (Group).

Meeting participants asked to identify the available methods for estimating the relation between instream flow and fish habitat quality and quantity (Group).

Proponents of specific methods asked to work together to identify the advantages and disadvantages of applying the methods along mainstem reaches and tributaries throughout WRIA 1 (Breakout).

Begin small group reports of the advantages and disadvantages of each method; open discussion of reported findings will follow each presentation (Group).

Day 2

Continue small group reports of the advantages and disadvantages of each method; open discussion of reported findings will follow each presentation (Group).

Start to formulate a recommendation of the method(s) to use in mainstem reaches and tributaries throughout WRIA 1 to estimate an accurate relation between streamflow and fish habitat quality and quantity (Group).

Day 3 (morning only)

Finalize recommendations of the method(s) to use in mainstem reaches and tributaries throughout WRIA 1 to estimate an accurate relation between streamflow and fish habitat quality and quantity (Group).

Task 3 Prepare Report

The General Chairperson will prepare a report on the meeting to document which methods were considered, the advantages and disadvantages of each considered method, and which method(s) were recommended. A draft of this report will be circulated to meeting participants as part of a peer review process.

Schedule:

The final report for the meeting, which will include recommendations on the most appropriate method, must be completed by November 30, 1999. This accelerated time frame is necessary for budgetary purposes and to ensure that the parties who will be conducting the recommended method(s) can conduct any fieldwork during the spring and summer of 2000.