The henrys fork foundation (HFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission, ability to leverage additional funding, expertise, and skills make IT uniquely positioned to effectively address…

This $136,458.52 Project Grant award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the National Fish Habitat Partnership (CFDA 15.686) program supports the Henry's Fork Foundation's efforts to permanently eliminate the oxythermal habitat squeeze at the Island Park Reservoir in Idaho. The funding will be used to develop a "shovel-ready" design plan for a hypolimnetic oxygenation system, which is a proven technique for improving fish habitat and downstream water quality. This system is expected to significantly increase total habitat for Kokanee salmon in the reservoir, potentially up to 20,000 acre-feet in years with lower drawdown. The grant award period runs from June 24, 2024 to September 30, 2026. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on watershed conservation, the Henry's Fork Foundation will leverage this federal funding to secure additional grants from programs like the USBR WaterSMART initiative to implement the oxygenation system and enhance the ecological health of the Henry's Fork of the Snake River.

The henrys fork foundation (HFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission, ability to leverage additional funding, expertise, and skills make IT uniquely positioned to effectively address the issues at island park reservoir. Our mission is to conserve, restore, and protect the unique fishery, wildlife, and aesthetic qualities of the henrys fork of the snake river watershed. HFF is supported by donations from its 2,500 members and grants from private foundations and public agencies. Since HFF first hired full-time staff in 1992, science-based collaboration has been the hffs primary mode of mission accomplishment. With fremont-madison irrigation district (fmid), HFF CO-facilitates the henrys fork watershed council, which has become a nationally recognized model of collaborative watershed management and community outreach. The hffs science-based work is supported by a science and technology program that includes an in-house water quality aquatic ecology laboratory and is staffed byfive full-time equivalent employees, one graduate students, and as many as six undergraduate interns. Our project goal is to permanently eliminate the drawdown-driven oxythermal habitat squeeze by designing, evaluating, and installing a hypolimnetic oxygenation system. Hypolimnetic oxygenation is a proven technique for improving fish habitat (mcqueen lean 1986, horne 2019) and downstream water quality (horne 2019). In 2021, a hypolimnetic oxygenation system would have increased total habitat for kokanee salmon in island park reservoir from 1,000 acre feet to 3,500 acre-feet, an increase of 350%. Absolute habitat savings will be even larger in years where island park reservoir drawdown is lowerpreliminary data from henrys fork foundation monitoring indicates up to 20,000 acre-feet in habitat improvement is possible in years with lower drawdown. Hypolimnetic oxygenation will permanently increase deep, coldwater refugia despite island park reservoirs shallowness (mean depth 5 m) and climate driven uncertainty in water regime. Funds provided by the rfhp will be used to develop ashovel-ready design plan. A shovel-ready plan includes necessary engineering design, stakeholder outreach, plan evaluation, and monitoring. A shovel-ready plan allows US to leverage up to $3 million in usbr watersmart grants available through the infrastructure and jobs act and inflation reduction act.