Glossary

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In progress! Uncertain about phrases/sentences/list additions in italics.--CM 1/8/2026

Technical Terms

Additional definitions of technical terms are available in the YBTAP, pg. 215-219 (222-226 of the PDF), and the Yakima Steelhead RME Plan VSP Section, pg. 67-71 (71-75 of the doc). Also see the USGS Water Resources Glossary.

Abundance: In the context of salmon recovery, abundance refers to the number of fish. For example, "adult abundance" is the number of fish returning to spawn.

Acoustic Tag: Tags used to track salmon through a network of transmitters that are surgically implanted in salmon and emit unique sound codes and receivers that pick up and track those sounds even when fish are a significant distance away. Acoustic tags are larger, more expensive, shorter lasting and harder to implant than pit tags, but offer fine scale data on fish movements unavailable with other technologies. They have become an important tool in smolt survival studies in the Yakima Basin and for understanding salmon migrations in salt water.

Acre-foot: The volume of water needed to cover an acre of land to a depth of one foot (≈325,000 gallons), a common unit for quantifying how much water is needed for irrigation or stored in our reservoirs.

Adaptive Management: Adaptive management in salmon recovery planning is a method of decision making in the face of uncertainty. An overall implementation plan incorporates a monitoring, evaluation, and feedback framework in which the results of current actions are monitored and evaluated in a structured manner to inform subsequent actions. Adaptive management ideally designs current actions and associated monitoring specifically to test hypothesis about key questions that would change the direction of future management.

Adfluvial: A life history strategy of fish species in which spawning by adults and rearing of juveniles occurs in streams, but subadults and adults migrate to and forage extensively in lakes or reservoirs. All of the Yakima Basin's kokanee and many of our bull trout populations are adfluvial. Contrasts with Anadromous, Fluvial and Resident.

Alevin: Freshly hatched salmonids that still have the yolk sac from their eggs attached to their bellies. Once they have consumed the yolk sac and grown in size, they emerge from their nest gravel (Redd) and are considered Fry.

Alluvium: Loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, or in an alluvial fan or beach. Alluvium is composed of sediment?? Unsure of distinction

  • Alluvial Aquifer: The groundwater Aquifer Typically shallower than other aquifers.
  • Alluvial Fan: the alluvium that is deposited by a stream when it flows out of the mouth of a canyon onto a valley floor, where it slows down and sediment drops out. This alluvium often gets deposited in a fan shape from a bird's eye view. Our Wilson-Naneum Creek system has an alluvial fan that spreads into the Kittitas Valley.
  • Alluvial Plain: flat or gently sloping areas formed over time by the deposition of sediment from rivers during floods.

Anadromous: Life history strategy of fish species in which fish are born and rear in freshwater, migrate to and mature in salt water, and return to freshwater to spawn. Contrast with Adfluvial, Fluvial.

  • Anadromy: The expression of the anadromous migratory life cycle.

Anastomosing (Channel): Read more here. Contrast with Braided.

Aquifer: an underground layer of porous rock or earth that holds groundwater. Aquifers feed springs and wells.

Avulse/avulsion: when the flow of a river naturally redirects, rapidly and permanently, into a new channel. Read more here.

BACI: Before-After Control-Impact. A monitoring/research experimental design that compares outcomes of a treatment to both outcomes in a control reach (where no action was take) and to site conditions prior to treatment. Oten used to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration projects.

Background Concentration: The concentration of a substance in a particular environment that would typically exist without human inputs.

Bank: see Streambank.

Bankfull: the point at which a stream or river is filled to the brim, carrying the maximum flow it can hold within its regular channel before spilling over into the floodplain. Typically, streams reach bankfull levels at least once a year.

Barrier: Obstacles to fish passage. Barriers typically prevent fish from moving upstream but can also prevent them from moving downstream. They include manmade structures like culverts and dams, waterfalls, low water flow, high stream temperatures, poor water quality, etc.

  • 100% Barrier: Under no conditions can fish pass the barrier.
  • Partial Barrier: Under certain conditions (seasonal high flows, floods), fish can pass the barrier, but at other times they can not. Degree of passability indicated with a percentage.
  • Seasonal Barrier: When a barrier occurs under recurring seasonal conditions such as high temperatures or low flows.

Base Flow: The sustained low flow of a stream in between precipitation events. Fed by groundwater seeping into the stream. In the Yakima Basin, base flows typically occur from mid-summer (after the last of the high elevation snowpack runoff is complete) through Septemebr or October (when significant fall rains occur).

Basin: The geographic area that provides water to a river. Typically used for an area made up of multiple smaller Watersheds.

BDA: Beaver dam analog. Human-constructed habitat features that function like a beaver dam--holding back water to inundate the floodplain and raise the water table. BDA's may be installed to get the benefits of beaver dams in places without beavers, or to encourage beavers to settle in a particular area. BDA's don't use logs as much as PALS.

Bedload: Sediment, typically sand, gravel and/or cobble that settles forms the bed of a river is transported along the bottom of a river by flowing water. Contrast with Suspended load which is finer material that is transported in the water column, not on the river bed.

Bedrock: The solid rock that lies underneath soil or stream gravels. When stream velocity is too high, stream gravels can get washed downstream, eventually exposing and eroding bedrock. Bedrock is unsuitable for spawning.

Benthic: of, relating to, or occurring at the bottom of a body of water.

Bioaccumulation: when the rate of intake of a substance by an organism exceeds the rate that the organism can metabolize or excreted. This leads to increasing concentrations of that substance in the organism over time.

BMP: Best Management Practice

Braided (Channel): Contrast with Anastomosing.

Brood Hider: fish species that hide their eggs in redds or substrate for protection rather than guarding them. I've never heard this term so unlikel to need here!

BT: Common abbreviation for bull trout. See Salvelinus confluentus.

Catadromous: Life history strategy of fish species in which fish are born in salt water, migrate to and mature in freshwater, and return to salt water to spawn. Contrast with Anadramous.

Catchment: Typcially British term for the geographic area that provides water to a waterbody. See Watershed and Basin

cfs: Cubic feet per second, a common unit for quantifying streamflow, aka discharge.

Channelized: a stream that has been artificially straightened or restricted by manmade structures. See Floodplain, Levee.

Char: A common name for a genera of the Salmonid genetic fish family. Bull trout is actually a char, not a trout (scandal!). Read more here.

(In-stream) Complexity: The amount of variety in suitable habitat (in the stream) for all needs of a species; for fish, this includes the amount and distribution of deep pools, amount of large woody debris, variety in substrate (gravel size), etc. Habitat restoration typically strives to restore habitat complexity in simplified streams. tools include ELJ's, BDA's, rootwads, etc.

Connectivity: Refers to the ability of a species to move unimpeded between adjoining, accessible habitats of different types and sufficient quantity and quality to support various life stages of a species; especially critical to migratory species such as anadromous salmonids. See Passage.

Core Area: The USFWS uses this term to define the basic unit on which to gauge recovery. For bull trout, a core area represents the closest approximation of a biologically functioning unit (metapopulations).

(Barrier) Correction: The process of taking a manmade barrier to fish passage (e.g., culverts, dams) and either removing the barrier or making it easier for fish to pass through/around it.

Cobble: stream rocks larger than 6.5 cm (2.5 in) in diameter that have been shaped and smoothed over time by the abrasive force of flowing water. Larger than Gravel.

Culvert: Structures that allow water to flow under a road, railroad, trail, or other waterway obstruction. An undersized or improperly placed culvert can limit or totally block fish passage.

Dam: A physical structure running the width of a river system to capture or impound water. Some fish species are very poor jumpers and cannot get past even low height dams. Contrast with Diversion, Weir.

Delta: wetlands at the mouth of a river. Deltas form because as rivers meet another body of water, the water slows down and lots of sediment drops out to the river bottom. Over time, this sediment builds up, decreasing the gradient of the riverbed and raising the bed of the river to be closer to the floodplain. The Yakima River has a delta in Richland.

DART: Data Access in Real Time, a term used to describe when data that is gathered continuously is publicly available. Examples include the Columbia River DART and Reclamation's webpage showing Yakima Basin reservoir levels.

  • Also, Data Access & Retrieval Tool (UW’s database that includes tons of data on fish in the Columbia Basin). WAIT THIS IS ALSO THE Columbia River DART isn't it? The link I had for this is the same one

DEM: Digital Elevation Model

Deposition: when sediment drops down and settles onto the bottom of a body of water. A "deposit" is a collection of deposited sediment.

Diadromous: Fish species that spend part of their life in freshwater and part in salt water. See Anadromous, Catadromous.

Diversion: a structure that redirects water from a natural stream for another purpose, such as irrigation. Diversion projects may include the construction of dams, weirs, levees, pumping stations, irrigation canals, or any other manmade structure that modifies the natural flow of a waterway. These structures can be harmful to fish if the fish are redirected along with the water into the irrigation system (see entrainment), if the fish get caught on the water intake structure, or if the structure blocks fish from moving further up the stream.

DPS: Distinct population segment, a term applied to a fish stock if it is a) substantially reproductively isolated from other stocks, and b) an important component in the evolutionary legacy of the species. A DPS is larger than an MPG (Major Population Group), which is larger than a Population. The Yakima Basin MPG is within the Middle Columbia DPS (see map).

ELJ: Engineered Log Jam. ELJ's mimic natural log jams, which provide numerous benefits to fish. See Large Woody Debris.

Endangered: Endangered species are at risk of extinction throughout a significant portion of their range. Contrast with Threatened.

Entrainment: When a fish passes through or over a dam/barrier/screen such that it can't return to where it came from, it is considered “entrained”. We see two main forms; when fish enter and are then trapped in an irrigation canal, and when fish pass downstream through a major dam and are unable to return to habitat upstream of the dam. We also talk about entrainment into fish sampling facilities, in which case fish typically are returned to the river after sampling.

Erosion: when soil and rock is transported by wind, water, or other natural forces away from its original site. See Sediment.

ESA: Endangered Species Act.

  • ESA-listed: a species or population of a species that is classified by the federal government under the ESA as either “endangered” with extinction or “threatened” with becoming endangered. In the Yakima Basin, we have no “endangered” fish species, but we have two ESA-listed “threatened” fish species, steelhead (the anadromous form of Oncorhynchus mykiss) and bull trout. These are the highest priority species the Recovery Board works to recover.

Estuary: a transitional, brackish habitat where a large river meets the sea and mixes with saltwater. Generally more biologically productive than the river or the sea; read more here.

ESU: Evolutionarily Significant Unit

Extirpation: Elimination of a species from a particular area. Coho and sockeye salmon were extirpated from the Yakima Basin in the 1900's; the Yakama Nation is reintroducing them using hatchery fish, but the original population is {thought to be?} extinct.

Federal Nexus: a connection to the federal government; more specifically, sufficient connection between an activity, entity, or property and the federal government for federal authority to apply. Used in the context of grant funding.

Fines: stream sediment smaller than Gravel.

Fishery: the act or business of catching fish, or an area where fish are caught.

Floodplain: The relatively flat areas adjacent to river channels that are partially or totally covered with water in flood events. A floodplain is “well-connected” when water is able to spread out from the main channel in flood events (as opposed to a “channelized” stream that has been artificially straightened or restricted by manmade structures--see Levee). Well-connected floodplains have numerous ecological benefits—they lead to less intense flood events by allowing the water to disperse and slow down, give young fish a refuge from being swept downstream, and more.

  • X-year Floodplain: The area which has a 1/X annual chance of flooding. For example, the 100-year floodplain has a 1/100 or 1% annual chance of flooding, while the 2-year floodplain has a ½ or 50% annual chance of flooding.

Flume: An artificial channel to maintain fish passage during stream dewatering. They are constructed above-ground, as opposed to a trench. When Gold Creek or Box Canyon Creek dewater seasonally, WDFW organizes "flume build" volunteer events to quickly construct flumes for Bull Trout.

Fluvial: Of, or found in, a river. Also: A life history of fish species in which spawning by adults and rearing of juveniles occurs in tributaries, but the subadults and adults occupy habitats in larger streams and mainstem rivers. Examples include bull trout in the Naches River and its tributaries, and many rainbow and cutthroat trout. Contrast with Adfluvial, Anadromous.

FMO: Feeding, migrating, overwintering. Often used in the term "FMO habitat" as distinct from spawning habitat.

Freshet: a great rise or overflowing of a stream caused by heavy rains or melted snow.

Fry: A juvenile salmonid that has consumed its yolk sac, about 1-2 inches long. Following life stages include Parr and Smolt.

Genotype: The genotype of an organism is the chemical composition of its DNA, which gives rise to the phenotype, or observable traits of an organism.

Gradient: how steep a stream is.

Gravel: pebbles between 5 mm (0.2 in) to 6.5 cm (2.5 inches) in diameter; smaller than Cobble, larger than Fines. Salmonids require gravels to build redds in in order to spawn; this is why soil erosion can disrupt spawning, as the fines can smother the gravels.

Groundwater: water that has infiltrated the soil beyond the surface and collected in gaps and pores underground. Vital for Base Flows. Read all about it here.

Habitat: an environment that meets all the environmental conditions an organism needs to survive. For an animal, that means everything it needs to find and gather food, select a mate, and successfully reproduce. An animal may live in different habitats during different seasons.

(Fish) Hatchery: a facility that breeds, hatches, and rears fish for aquaculture (fish farms) or to supplement natural populations. Hatcheries are an important part of maintaining salmonid abundance in the Yakima Basin while habitat restoration and passage projects are completed, as well as supporting recreational fishing. See YKFP, WDFW.

Headgate: a gate for controlling the water flowing into a channel (such as an irrigation ditch). See Diversion.

Heterozygosity: An estimate of the amount of genetic variation in a population.

High Flow Event: Describes when the amount of water in a stream increases above the OHWM. Floods count as high flow events, but not all high flow events cause flooding. High flow events generally mean increased stream velocity, which means greater movement of sediment and a less hospitable environment for fish, which will try to move to lower velocity areas like side channels.

Hold: when fish pause their migration and hang out in an area in the interim. Reasons fish might hold include waiting for better migration conditions, or waiting for the right season to smolt or spawn.

HUC: Hydrologic Unit Code, pronounced, “huck.” Hydrologic units are the USGS's standardized hydrologic geographic units, typically referred to as HUC’s. There are several different layers of HUC’s (see here); the largest units are called HUC-2’s (e.g., the Pacific Northwest), and the smallest sub-units are HUC-12’s (a small local watershed). HUC codes can be pretty inscrutable to the uninitiated (just a string of numbers) and don’t always match the way we talk about watersheds locally, so the Recovery Board has developed our own regional geographic units with names that match local usage but can be tied back to HUCs.

Hydraulic:

Hyporheic zone: A zone of saturated substrate beneath and spreading laterally from a river bed. It is the zone of active water and organism exchange between the river water and groundwater.

Incision: The process of a stream cutting its channel into the bed of a valley through erosion. An "incised" channel is one that has cut so deeply into the bed that it is disconnected from its floodplain.

Incubation: the period after salmon eggs are laid in redds during which they remain in the gravel for months while the embryos develop. When the eggs hatch, alevin emerge.

Introduction: Fish planted into a habitat where the species did not exist historically.

Introgression, aka Introgressive Hybridization: the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another. Introgression is an issue for bull trout; when they breed with brook trout, the result is hybrid offspring that are generally not able to reproduce.

Iteroparous: a species that reproduces multiple times in its lifetime. See Kelts, Spawning Adult. Contrast with Semelparous.

J-Hook: a stream restoration structure that protects against erosion and creates pools.

Juvenile: a species in its early life stages. Includes the salmon and trout life stages of Alevin, Fry, and Parr.

Juvenile Rearing: period during which young salmon grow in freshwater; includes Fry and Parr life stages. Ends when they turn into smolts and begin their migration to the ocean.

Kelt: A steelhead that has survived spawning and may return to the ocean before returning to freshwater to spawn a second (or even third) time. Unlike Pacific salmon, steelhead (as well as Atlantic salmon and European sea trout) don’t all die after spawning.

  • Kelt Reconditioning. An experimental method where steelhead are captured during the post spawning migration and held in a facility until the spawning window of the following year, at which point they are released to return to natal streams to spawn again.

Large Woody Debris (LWD): Trees and tree limbs larger than 16" in diameter that have fallen into a stream or river and are often pushed together into log jams. Important for stream health; may be added to streams where it is lacking as part of restoration projects. Read more here. ELJ's are constructed using LWD.

Legacy Effects: Impacts from past activities (land use) that continue to affect a stream or watershed in the present day.

Levee: an embankment, typically earthen, built to prevent a stream/river from flooding onto adjacent land and/or migrating. Levees are useful for protecting human infrastructure, but they cut off rivers from their floodplains and wetland areas, which denies important side channel habitat to fish and increases stream velocity to inhospitable speeds.

Life History Stage: a specific period during the life cycle of a fish such as spawning, incubation, juvenile rearing, smolt migration, etc.

Life History Strategy: the distinct patterns of how fish use different habitats at different points in their life. For example, a fish with a resident life history may live its whole life within the same mile of stream, while a fish with a winter migrant fluvial life history may migrate to floodplains far downstream during the winter and return to its home stream in summer. Life history categories include Adfluvial, Anadromous, Fluvial, and Resident, but the term is also used to talk about specific patterns in habitat usage over time within each of these larger categories.

Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration (LTPBR): See Process-Based Restoration.

LWD: see Large Woody Debris.

Mainstem: Term applied to the principal channel of a major stream or river. Mainstems are fed by numerous tributaries that compose a watershed.

Meander: An extreme U-bend in the course of a stream formed by the stream's erosive power, usually occurring in a series. Meanders occur when erosion on one bank of a stream is matched by deposition of a Point Bar on the opposite side; in unconfined valleys, meanders alternate from one side to the other, and migrate downstream over time, creating a dynamic changing channel configuration which shows up on a map or ariel photo as characteristic set of interlocking S-curves.

Mid-C: the Middle Columbia Region, which includes the Yakima Basin and Klickitat County.

(Stream Channel) Migration: the natural process of a stream or river channel moving around its floodplain over time. The Dept of Ecology has a great quick read on this subject

Migration: the regular, often seasonal, movement of all or part of an animal population to and from a given area. Salmon migrate from freshwater streams to the ocean as smolts and migrate back from the ocean as adults to their natal streams to spawn.

Mitigation: efforts to prevent, reduce, or compensate for adverse effects of various activities to aquatic habitats and species (e.g., transportation projects)

Mobilization: in habitat restoration projects (and construction projects more generally), this is the phase of preparing, organizing, and transporting materials, equipment, and personnel before construction begins. This step ensures all elements are in place for construction to proceed efficiently once started. Often shortened to “mob.”

(River) Mouth: where the river enters into another body of water, such as an ocean, lake, or another river.

MPG: Major Population Group. See DPS.

OHWM: Ordinary High-Water Mark. The highest elevation of the regularly inundated stream channel, as marked by erosion patterns, changes in vegetation, and debris deposits. Typically at or just below the bankfull level.

Oncorhynchus mykiss: the latin name for the species that, when anadromous, is called steelhead, and when resident, is called rainbow trout. Neither common name is the default name of the species (though the phrase "steelhead trout" is sometimes used when making a distinction from salmon); to refer to the species, we generally abbreviate it as "O. mykiss."

PALS: Post-assisted log structures. PALS are a tool for mimicking natural wood accumulation in riverscapes to, in turn, guide stream hydraulic forces for greater stream health--floodplain connection, sinuosity, etc. Contrast with BDAs, ELJs.

Parr: Once fry have grown to about 5 inches and developed vertical fingerprint marks on their sides called “parr marks”, they are considered Parr. If they are anadromous, when they journey to the ocean to mature, they become Smolts.

Passage: Describes whether a fish is able to move upstream or downstream freely around obstacles. See Barrier, Connectivity, and (Barrier) Correction.

PBR: See Process-based restoration.

Phenotype: The observable characteristics of an organism (such as its external appearance, development, biochemical or physiological properties, and behavior) that result from the interaction of its genotype with the environment. Contrast with Genotype.

  • Phenotypic characteristic: An aspect of the phenotype.

PIT tag: Passive Integrated Transponder tag (a tracking device implanted in fish to study their movements). Pronounced like the word, “pit”. See Radio Telemetry.

Point Bar: deposits of sediment on the inside of river bends (meanders). Point bars form as the water on the inside of meanders slows down and sediment settles out to the river bottom. As they build over time, they create distinct landforms that can influence water flow patterns and provide habitats for various plant and animal species.

Pool: a deeper part of the stream where fast-flowing water begins to carve away at the sediment at the bottom and sides, making it deeper and wider, and the stream slows down. Important habitat for fish to rest and feed.

Population: a group of individuals of one species that lives in a particular geographic area. In the case of anadromous species, "population" refers to those fish that are born in and return to spawn in a particular geographic area.

Precipitation: Rain, snow, hail, etc. "Precip" for short.

Process-based restoration:

Productivity: The average number of surviving offspring per parent. Used as an indicator of a population’s ability to sustain itself or its ability to rebound from low numbers. See SAR.

Radio Telemetry: Transmission of data from tags attached to an animal that transmit radio signals. The signals are read at either fixed receiving stations or by mobile tracking devices. Radio tags for fish are usually inserted into the stomach or surgically into the body cavity.

Rear: to mature and grow. Salmon and steelhead undergo a period of juvenile rearing in freshwater and adult rearing in the ocean.

Recharge: The movement of water into the saturated zone, either by the downward percolation of precipitation or surface water and/or the lateral movement of groundwater from adjacent aquifers.

Recovery Unit (bull trout):
A USFWS term for one of the nested units delineated for recovery efforts. Biologically, recovery units are considered groupings of bull trout for which gene flow was historically or is currently possible. The Yakima Core Area is one of many core areas within the Middle Columbia recovery unit, and there are multiple recovery units within the Distinct Population Segment (DPS). Used widely?

Redd: A salmonid spawning bed, or "nest". Redds are dug by female salmonids in streambed gravels, and females deposit and bury fertilized eggs into them. Redds can be distinguished in the streambed gravel by a cleared depression and an associated mound of gravel directly downstream.

Resident: A life history strategy in which fish spend their entire life cycle in freshwater, without making significant migrations. The Ahtanum Bull Trout Population is our only resident bull trout population in the Yakima Basin; many other species of trout also have a resident life history. Contrast with Anadromous.

Riffle: where water can be seen and heard rushing and splashing over large rocks. This is where water flows the fastest, is the shallowest, and where oxygen is importantly mixed into the water. Read more here.

Rip: Short for "Riparian."

Riparian: relating to, living on, or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (such as a river), or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater. We often talk about riparian areas in reference to the area that grows vegetation supported by stream and flood waters, and contrast those to Uplands.

Riprap: rocky material placed along shorelines, bridge foundations, steep slopes, and other shoreline structures to protect from scour and erosion.

Riverbed: the bottom of a stream.

RM: River Mile. River miles count upward from a stream’s lowest point (where it either joins a larger stream or a lake, or meets the ocean). So, “Yakima River RM 0” would be the confluence with the Columbia River, “Naches River RM 0” would be where the Naches River joins the Yakima River, etc.

RME: Research, monitoring, and evaluation lumped together for ease of communication

Rock barb: (stream barbs?) a low rock sill structure angled upstream to decrease flow stresses on a bank. They are designed to redirect streamflow away from the near bank region.

Rootwad: a bank stabilization and aquatic habitat improvement tool that involves burying a dead tree into the streambank with the root system still attached. Benefits of installing root wads include bank stability, fish habitat and insect habitat.

S&T: Status & Trends.

Salmonid: Fish of the family Salmonidae, including salmon, trout, chars, grayling, and whitefish. In general usage, the term most often refers to salmon, trout, and chars (subfamily Salmonidae). Visit this website to learn all about the various species.

Salvelinus confluentus: latin name for Bull Trout.

SAR: Smolt-to-Adult Ratio--the percentage of smolts that survive and return to spawn. An important metric for tracking the impact of the hydropower system on salmon and steelhead and how sustainable the rates of returning adults are over time. Important indicator for Productivity.

Saturated Zone: The area underground where every pore and crack between sediments and within rock are completely filled with water.

Sediment: solid material that is moved and deposited in a new place, especially eroded material. Sediment can include rocks and soil as well as the remains of plants and animals.

Semelparous: a species that reproduces only once in its lifetime. Most salmon are semelparous; see Spawning Adult. Contrast with Iteroparous.

SH: Common abbreviation for steelhead. See Oncorhynchus mykiss.

Side Channel: a small channel that branches from the mainstem of a river and returns to the river further downstream. Side channels are formed by the erosive power of the river and may move, fill in, or become the new mainstem over time.

Sinuosity:

Smolt: A juvenile fish that is migrating out to the ocean.

  • Smoltification: a series of bodily changes that salmonids undergo to transition from a freshwater to saltwater environment.

Spawn: the act of laying and fertilizing eggs. See Redd.

Spawning Adult: a sexually mature adult fish that is ready to spawn or in the process of spawning (laying/fertilizing eggs). Spawning adult salmonids look distinct from their adult ocean counterparts; depending on the species, their body color changes from silver to shades of brown, green, or red. The males of some species develop a hooded snout, humped back, and elongated teeth. Salmonids do not feed once they leave the ocean and begin the migration to their freshwater spawning grounds; they spend all their energy navigating back to their natal streams to spawn. After spawning, Pacific salmon die. Some trout (and Atlantic salmon) become Kelts.

Staging: in habitat restoration projects, the action of temporarily storing machinery and materials leading up to and/or during the project. The staging area is the site where machinery/materials are stored.

  • Also, when fish hold in anticipation of future movements (e.g., fish staging in deep pools near a spawning area that they’ll spawn in soon).

Stochastic: Describes a natural event or process that is random or unpredictable. Examples include environmental conditions such as rainfall, runoff, and storms, or life-cycle events, such as survival or fecundity rates.

Streambank: The sloping ground that borders a stream.

Subadult: a life stage, typically referred to for bull trout, where larger juvenile fish (typically 2-4 years old) migrate widely in search of food before returning to their natal streams to spawn at 4-5 years old.

Subpopulation: Groups within populations between which migration and interbreeding is presumed to occur.

Supplementation: The release and management of artificially propagated fish in streams with the intent to increase or establish naturally spawning fish populations while minimizing associated genetic and ecological risks. See Hatchery.

Suspended Load: fine sediment that remains floating in the water column before deposition. Contrast with Bedload.

Subadult: a life stage, typically referred to for bull trout, where larger juvenile fish (typically 2-4 years old) migrate widely in search of food before returning to their natal streams to spawn at 4-5 years old.

(Stream) Substrate: the material in a riverbed, including earth, rocks, and organic matter. Stream substrate plays a vital role in habitat suitability for aquatic species. See Cobble, Fines, Gravel, Redd, and Spawn.

Thalweg: the center of the mainstem of a river/the main flow path of a river

Thermal Refugia: a spot where temperature is hospitable to a species, surrounded by inhospitable temperatures. We often refer to thermal refugia for salmon in the context of the lower Yakima River, where summer stream temperatures can rise to lethal levels, and pools provide a cooler place to rest and recover as they try to migrate up or downriver.

Threatened: A status of a species that is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range—as defined in the Endangered Species Act. Contrast with Endangered.

TMDL: Total Maximum Daily Load. A TMDL is the calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant allowed to enter a waterbody so that the waterbody will meet and continue to meet water quality standards for that particular pollutant.

Trib: Short for "Tributary."

Tributary: A river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake.

Uplands: Contrast with Riparian.

USGS: US Geological Survey. See HUC.

VSP: Voluntary Stewardship Program, see GMA.

  • Also, Viable Salmonid Population. This is a technical term for the population size threshold at which a population of salmonids is viable. Not currently in wide usage, but used in the YBFWRB's 2011 addition to the steelhead recovery plan.

Wasting/mass wasting??

Water Column: the vertical axis of water stretching between the surface and the floor of a body of water.

Watershed: The entire geographic area upstream of a point that drains precipitation past that point. Watersheds vary in scale; the Yakima Basin is a watershed, but it also contains many smaller watersheds within it (e.g., the Naches watershed, the Teanaway watershed, the Toppenish watershed, etc). Used interchangeably with "catchment" and "basin". Read more here.

Water Table: the level in the soil below which groundwater fills any spaces between sediments and within rock, referred to as the "saturated zone".

Weir: a small dam in a stream or river to raise the water level upstream or divert its flow (see Diversion). Weirs allow water to flow over their top, unlike dams. Pronounced like “we’re.”

WRIA: Water Resource Inventory Area, commonly pronounced, “Rye-uh.” A standardized definition of large watersheds used by the State of Washington. The Yakima Basin is made up of WRIA’s 37, 38, and 39, which are consistent with HUC-8’s.

Young of Year (YOY): Young fish in their first year of life. Term overlaps with Fry and Parr.

Technical Resources

DART: Data Access & Retrieval Tool (UW’s database that includes tons of data on fish in the Columbia Basin).

FPDSI: Fish Passage & Diversion Screening Inventory (tells you where fish passage barriers are; not comprehensive)

Juvenile Salmonid and Small Fish Identification Aid

PTAGIS: PIT-TAG Information System. See PIT tag. A data collection, distribution, and coordination project to monitor the migratory habits of Columbia River fish as they migrate through Columbia River dams using PIT tags.

SWIFD: State-Wide Integrated Fish Distribution database (tells you which fish live where)

Organizations

BIA: Bureau of Indian Affairs

BLM: Bureau of Land Management. A federal agency that manages federal lands in the Yakima Basin, mainly in the Yakima Canyon, Cowiche Creek, and Swauk Creek watersheds and upland areas in the Lower Yakima Basin.

BPA: Bonneville Power Administration, the federal hydropower marketing administration within the Dept of Energy. The Northwest Power Act directs BPA to fund fish and wildlife projects to mitigate the impacts of federal dams; this funding is widely used in the Yakima Basin.

BTWG: Bull Trout Working Group. A local group that updates and monitors progress on the Yakima Bull Trout Action Plan (YBTAP) and coordinates bull trout recovery activities in the Yakima Basin

CBFWA: Columbia River (Basin?) Fish and Wildlife Authority

CD: Conservation District. CD's are county-level natural resource conservation organizations coordinated by the WA Conservation Commission. The North Yakima CD (NYCD), South Yakima CD (SYCD), Kittitas County CD (KCCD), and Benton CD (BCD) are the conservation districts in the Yakima Basin.

CRITFC: Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

DFW: See WDFW.

DOE: Department of Ecology. Implements state water quality and quantity programs along with many other pollution reduction programs

DOT: Department of Transportation. Frequently involved in salmon recovery projects where state highways cross or are adjacent to stream and rivers

DNR: Department of Natural Resources. Manages most state-owned lands, including the riverbeds of most rivers, and regulates forestry activity

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

FS: See USFS. (Also, may denote a Forest Service road. E.g., FS-100 = Forest Service road 100.)

FWS: See USFWS.

GSRO: Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office. Coordinates salmon and orca recovery for the state and develops the state’s strategy to guide those efforts and track progress. Produces the annual State of Salmon in Watersheds report. Administered by RCO, but works under the authority of the governor.

ID: Irrigation District. ID's are public entities which own water rights and distribute water for irrigation.

KCCD: Kittitas County Conservation District

KCPW: Kittitas County Public Works. The agency in charge of roads and floodplain management in Kittitas County

KCT: Kittitas Conservation Trust

KID: Kennewick Irrigation District

KRD: Kittitas Reclamation District

MCF(EG): Mid-Columbia Fisheries (Enhancement Group)

ICTRT: Interior Columbia Technical Recovery Team

NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Their fisheries department, NOAA fisheries, helps fund SRFB grants via PCSRF; they are also involved in reviewing projects to ensure their compliance with the ESA. Also regulates offshore fisheries in federal waters and implements ESA and Manguson Act programs that protect marine fish, including salmon and steelhead, and their habitats.

  • NMFS: National Marine Fisheries Service, the division of NOAA also referred to as NOAA fisheries

NPCC (formerly NPPC): Northwest Power & Conservation Council. Created following the 1980 Northwest Power Act to “inform and advance a regional vision for power and fish & wildlife in the Columbia Basin”. Provides funding recommendations for BPA’s fish and wildlife programs.

NRCS: National Resources Conservation Service, the USDA’s primary private lands conservation agency

NYCD: North Yakima Conservation District

RCO: the Recreation & Conservation Office. This is a state agency that manages numerous grant programs, including SRFB, ALEA, and WWRP. Lead Entities are contracted through RCO, and the Yakima Basin's regional grant manager works for RCO. RCO also administers the GSRO. See Lead Entity, SRFB, GSRO.

RC&D: Washington Resource Conservation & Development council. A nonprofit that supports communities’ adaptation to changing environmental and economic conditions, including salmon habitat restoration and wildfire planning

Reclamation (also BOR, USBR): Bureau of Reclamation, a water management agency in the Western US. Federal manager of the Yakima Project irrigation water infrastructure and a source of grant funds.

RFEG: Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group. These are 14 nonprofits created around WA in 1990 through the RFEG program to involve local communities, volunteers, and landowners in WA's salmon recovery efforts. RFEG’s are partially funded by WDFW, but they also seek grants and donations, and their boards are composed of local citizens. Our RFEG is the Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, often referred to as Mid-Columbia Fisheries or MCF. See Fishery.

SRFB: Salmon Recovery Funding Board (commonly pronounced "Surfboard") which runs the annual grant round for all Lead Entities across the state.

SVID: Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District

SWG: Steelhead Working Group. A group local to the Yakima Basin that updates and monitors progress on the Yakima Steelhead Recovery Plan (YSRP). This group hasn’t been convened since 2014 (?); to be reconvened asap to update the YSRP.

SYCD: South Yakima Conservation District

TU: Trout Unlimited, a nonprofit focused on trout conservation

USDA: United States Department of Agriculture

USFS (also, FS): United States Forest Service. The Recovery Board works primarily with the Naches and Cle Elum Ranger Districts of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

USFWS (also, FWS): United States Fish & Wildlife Service. A federal agency that manages fish and wildlife resources in the public trust, including more than 560 national wildlife refuges and dozens of national fish hatcheries. It also provides funding and project review for fish restoration projects.

WDFW (also, DFW): Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. A state agency that preserves and protects WA’s fish, wildlife, and ecosystems while providing sustainable recreational and commercial opportunities.

WWT: Washington Water Trust, a nonprofit focused on protecting instream flows across WA

Yakama Nation Fisheries: A program of the Yakama Nation that conserves culturally important fish populations and their habitats, and protects the rights of YN members to use those natural resources. Partner in the YKFP.

YBFWRB: Yakima Basin Fish & Wildlife Recovery Board. "The Recovery Board" for short.

YBIP habitat subcommittee: a subcommittee of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, a 30-year collaborative water resource plan (2013-2045). The Lead Entity coordinates with this committee to fund fish habitat restoration projects in the Yakima Basin. See YBIP.

YKFP: Yakima-Klickitat Fisheries Project. A joint fisheries management project of the Yakama Nation and WDFW in the Yakima and Klickitat River basins.

YN: Yakama Nation. Key programs include Yakama Nation Fisheries, Lower Yakima, Yakama Watersheds, and Yakama Wildlife.

YRBWEP: Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, a program of the Bureau of Reclamation that was created by Congress in 1979 and has federal direction and funding to support habitat restoration, water conservation, and other activities that meet water supply and fisheries goals in the Yakima Basin. In 2009, the YRBWEP program joined with the WA Department of Ecology to create the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan (also referred to as YRBWEP Phase III). The YBIP program is overseen by a partnership called the YBIP workgroup that is co-chaired by the Department of Ecology and the Bureau of Reclamation. Pronounced, “yurb-wep.”

YSPB: Yakima Subbasin Fish and Wildlife Planning Board (a precursor organization to the Yakima Basin Fish & Wildlife Recovery Board)

YTAHP: Yakima Tributary Access & Habitat Program, pronounced, “why-tap.” Organized in 2002 by RC&D with regional partners including the North Yakima and Kittitas County Conservation Districts, the Yakama Nation, and MCF to help restore fish passage and habitat on Yakima River tributaries by providing technical and financial assistance. Primarily funded by BPA.

Legislation, Permits, Programs, & Plans

ALEA: Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account. A grant program for aquatic land projects, administered by RCO.

APE: Area of Potential Effects of projects on historic properties (includes properties with tribal historical significance). Projects must complete an APE assessment to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act.

BTAP: Bull Trout Action Plan. The primary guiding document for bull trout recovery in the Yakima Basin. The Bull Trout Working Group (BTWG) updates and monitors progress on the plan. This glossary borrowed some terms from the BTAP's glossary (Pg. 217).

CCA: Climate Commitment Act (legislation passed in WA in 2023). Initiative I-2117 (2024) aimed to repeal the CCA, but it did not pass.

EA: Environmental Assessment

EIS: Environmental Impact Statement

ESA: Endangered Species Act

GMA: Growth Management Act. See the VSP.

HPA: Hydraulic Project Approval. Administered by WDFW.

JARPA: Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application. A single application that allows project sponsors to apply for more than one permit at a time; created by multiple regulatory agencies working together to streamline the environmental permitting process.

LOA: Landowner Agreement. A contract spelling out the conditions under which a project can be conducted on private property. (?)

Manguson Act:

Middle Columbia Steelhead Recovery Plan: The Recovery Plan for the Middle Columbia Steelhead DPS (the whole steelhead population of the Mid-Columbia Region) developed by NOAA Fisheries as required by the ESA. The 2009 Yakima Steelhead Recovery Plan developed by the Recovery Board is incorporated into the federal plan as a chapter.

National Historic Preservation Act: See APE.

Northwest Power Act:

PCSRF: Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (a source of grant funding; established by Congress to reverse the decline of West Coast salmon. Managed by NOAA fisheries). Commonly pronounced, "pack-surf".

PPFL: Planned Project Forecast List. A list of projects that are anticipated to be pursued in the coming two years. Projects are solicited from project sponsors by the Lead Entity Coordinator. The list is then used by RCO as it develops funding requests to the legislature.

SMA: Shoreline Management Act

SRP: Salmon Recovery Portal. A database like PRISM where you can find and learn about all SRFB projects online, but also planned or conceptual projects as well. See the SRP Map. Does not contain documents associated with the projects, however; for that, PRISM is the place to go.

VSP: Voluntary Stewardship Program. The VSP offers counties and agricultural landowners farm-friendly options for protecting fragile and/or hazardous natural resources — referred to as “critical areas” — in places where agricultural activity is conducted. See GMA.

WWRP: Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program. A grant program for recreation projects, administered by RCO.

YBIP: Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, pronounced, “why-bip.” A 30-year collaborative water resource plan (2013-2045).

YBTAP: See BTAP.

YSBP: Yakima Sub-Basin Plan, a precursor to the YSRP and BTAP?

YRBWEP: Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, pronounced, “yirb-wep.” A BOR project enacted by Congress, 1979-present, one product of which is the YBIP.

YSRP: Yakima Steelhead Recovery Plan. The primary guiding document for steelhead recovery in the Yakima Basin. Completed by the Steelhead Working Group (SWG) in 2009 and formally adopted by NOAA Fisheries as a chapter in the ESA-required Middle Columbia Steelhead Recovery Plan.

SRFB Grant Round Terms

CC: Citizen Committee

Lead Entity (LE): A local salmon recovery organization created in accordance with RCW 77.85.050 to solicit, evaluate, and rank proposals for salmon recovery projects, so as to develop an annual ranked project list(s) for consideration for funding by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB). There are 25 LE’s across WA, each with their own specific geographic area. LE’s typically include a technical and a citizen advisory committees and are managed by a designated LE Coordinator; LE operating costs are funded through a contract with RCO. The Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board serves as the Lead Entity for the Yakima Basin.

NMI (Needs More Information): A rating the SRFB review panel can give projects after site tours when the review panel needs more information before they can clear the project. A sponsor may get their project cleared by supplying the requested additional information, but if concerns remain, the review panel may switch the designation to POC (Project of Concern). Contrast with POC.

PCSRF: Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, a primary source of funding for the SRFB grant program. Established by Congress to reverse the decline of West Coast salmon. Managed by NOAA fisheries and made available to Pacific Salmon States (AK, CA, ID, OR, and WA) and federally recognized tribes in the region. Commonly pronounced, "pack-surf".

POC (Project of Concern): a rating the SRFB review panel can give projects when the review panel has such significant concerns about a project that it recommends that it not be funded. Lead Entities typically remove POC’s from the annual funding list they submit to the SRFB. Contrast with NMI.

PRISM: RCO’s online database for grant management. Pronounced like the word, “prism.” (It stands for “Performance and Registration Information Systems Management”, but nobody calls it that.)

Review Panel (RP): Shorthand for the SRFB State Review Panel, a group of engineers, fisheries experts, and habitat experts hired by the SRFB to review projects for technical soundness simultaneously with the local review process. The panel provides an independent, third-party review of the technical merits of SRFB proposals from throughout the state.

RFP: Request for Proposal (to solicit grant applications)

SARM: Salmon Recovery Model (a project scoring matrix developed by the TAG)

Sponsor: Shorthand used to refer to SRFB grant applicants, aka project sponsors.

TAG: Technical Advisory Group

TI: Targeted Investments. A grant program for large projects ($1-7M) that takes place in even numbered years.

Geography

Bonneville Dam: the most downstream dam on the Columbia River.

The Dalles Dam: the second most downstream dam on the Columbia River.

Gap-to-Gap: The 8-mile stretch between Selah Gap and Union Gap

John Day Dam: the third most downstream dam on the Columbia River, and second dam downstream of the Yakima River.

Lower Yakima: The stretch of the Yakima River that is downstream of Union Gap.

McNary Dam: the fourth most downstream dam on the Columbia River, and first dam downstream of the Yakima River.

Naches Basin: the watershed upstream of the mouth of the Naches River. Supports its own distinct population of steelhead (one of four MPGs in the basin).

Naches River: A tributary of the Yakima River running from the Cascade Crest near White and Chinook Passes by the town of Naches to its confluence with the Yakima in the City of Yakima; a significant watershed for steelhead and bull trout.

Prosser Dam: a dam on the Yakima River mainstem in Prosser, WA. Commonly called just "Prosser". Serves as an irrigation diversion for farms downriver in the Lower Yakima Valley.

Roza Dam: a dam on the Yakima River mainstem in the Yakima River Canyon. Commonly called just "Roza." Serves as an irrigation diversion for much of the Lower Yakima Valley.

Satus Creek: A tributary of the Yakima River on the Yakama Reservation; supports its own distinct population of steelhead (one of four MPGs in the basin).

Toppenish Creek: A tributary of the Yakima River on the Yakama Reservation; supports its own distinct population of steelhead (one of four MPGs in the basin).

Upper Yakima: Refers to the stretch of the Yakima River that is upstream of the confluence with the Naches River; a significant watershed for salmon, steelhead and bull trout.

Upper Yakima Basin: Refers to the watershed upstream of the confluence of the Naches River; supports its own distinct population of steelhead (one of four MPGs in the basin).

Wapatox Dam: A dam on the Naches River just downstream of the confluence of the Naches and Tieton Rivers. Commonly called just “Wapatox”. Serves as an irrigation diversion for farms in the Naches Heights and Upper Yakima Valley.

Yakima Basin: Our watershed, within which all surface and groundwater drains to the Yakima River, and eventually to the Columbia River. The basin extends from Snoqualmie Pass, Chinook Pass, and White Pass all the way to the mouth of the Yakima River where it meets the Columbia River.

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