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Background
Klamath Tracking and Accounting Program (KTAP) is a local program seeking to better understand the benefits to water quality created by changes in land management and restoration projects. KTAP seeks to highlight the collective benefit that restoration and land management projects provide for water quality and habitat for native fish in the Klamath Basin.
KTAP Stewardship Project Reporting Protocol defines a consistent system to track voluntary conservation and restoration actions in a way that 1) enables local practitioners and funders to make informed decisions regarding where and how to invest in water quality and habitat improvement; 2) provide the basis for scientific research that furthers our understanding of the system.
Participation in KTAP Stewardship Project Reporting is completely voluntary.
Use the drop down menus below to explore more information about the Klamath Tracking and Accounting Program.
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Protocols
KTAP Stewardship Project Reporting Protocol (2016): This document describes the background, goals, and objectives of KTAP. It provides a summary of how KTAP can be useful to project developers, funds, researchers, the public, and public agencies. It also provides a rationale for the information collected in KTAP and a guide for registering a project.
KTAP Data Entry Form (Excel File)
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Program Objectives
The goal of KTAP is to increase the pace and reduce the cost of improving Klamath Basin water quality to support all beneficial uses, including, but not limited to recovery of native fish. KTAP is designed to work in tandem with public conservation funding and regulatory structures.
Specific objectives include:
Increase the effectiveness of conservation investments in the Klamath watershed by providing a framework to:
- Identify opportunities to more efficiently improve water quality and habitat for native fish, and facilitate basin-wide prioritization and implementation of those opportunities;
- Create a basin-wide framework that links benefits from restoration actions to existing plans for water quality and habitat improvement (e.g., CA and OR TMDLs, UKL CA);
- Provide a transparent process and robust tools that inform decisions ranging from individual project design to basin-wide policy.
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Part of a Watershed Stewardship Approach
KTAP Stewardship Project Reporting is part of a larger Watershed Stewardship Approach - an adaptive management framework aimed at improving water quality and protecting sensitive beneficial uses that rely on good water quality, including habitat for the endangered and other unique species of the Klamath Basin. The Klamath Basin Monitoring Program (KBMP), a voluntary monitoring coordination framework, is another portion of the Watershed Stewardship Approach. The stewardship project information tracked through KTAP could be paired with the water quality status and trends information from KBMP to evaluate progress towards water quality goals by stream reach.
Advanced Tracking
The KTAP Stewardship Project Reporting Protocol is a companion to the KTAP Advanced Project Reporting Protocol (Advanced Protocol). While not currently in use, the Advanced Protocol can be applied to develop quantified and verified units of environmental improvement. In the future, regulatory agencies may choose to use the KTAP Advanced Project Reporting Protocol to track the water quality benefits of projects funded by point sources (e.g., Klamath Falls waste water treatment plant) toward their regulatory obligations (e.g. NPDES permit effluent limits).
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FAQs
A few of the most frequently asked questions for the Klamath Tracking and Accounting Program:
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Why does KTAP collect project-specific information?
Information on individual projects is collected, summarized, and shared so that local practitioners and funders can make informed decisions regarding where and how to best spend their time and money on restoration. It is also intended to provide information for scientific research that furthers our understanding of the system and the instream response of collective action.
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What information does KTAP collect?
All submissions are voluntary. KTAP’s project submission form has a set of default fields, but the user decides what to share. The default fields include things like: project name, project activity (e.g., fencing, fish screen), project description, project objectives and goals, anticipated benefits to water quality and habitat, monitoring. It also provides a list of recommended project documentation, including: project design, pre- and post-project maps or photos, report on anticipated water quality benefits, stewardship and monitoring plans. Recommended fields were selected to support post-project assessments and watershed-scale research to understand how restoration actions affect instream outcomes.
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What information is shared with the public?
All submissions are voluntary and any information submitted to KTAP may be shared to inform better decision making or enhance understanding of how restoration benefits water quality and habitat. It is the responsibility of those submitting information to KTAP to filter sensitive or private information. KTAP strongly encourages that you share information consistent with existing agreements and/or with permission from the involved parties.
KTAP web reports are designed to protect the privacy of individual landowners by showing data aggregated by reporting zone (watershed or subwatershed).
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Who is KTAP, specifically?
KTAP is a collaborative effort. The KTAP Working Group, which guides the program development, includes local groups from throughout the basin as well as representatives from state and federal agencies, shown in Table 1. The effort was initially facilitated by Willamette Partnership, a Portland-based non-profit with a conservation mission. Willamette Partnership works across the state, region, and nationally to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts on water quality. Moving forward, the Klamath Basin Monitoring Program will facilitate the KTAP program. Trout Unlimited (formerly Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust) and Klamath Watershed Partnership have been strong partners in this effort, as have all the participating organizations below.
KTAP Working Groups Participating Organizations
OR Watershed Enhancement Board CA North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Karuk Tribe PacifiCorp Klamath Watershed Partnership US Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Basin Monitoring Program US EPA Region 9 &10 Trout Unlimited USDA National Resource Conservation Service Klamath Tribes USDA Forest Service National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Watercourse Engineering OR Department of Environmental Quality Willamette Partnership -
Under KTAP, are project benefits sold as credits?
No! Projects participating in KTAP are NOT part of a crediting or offset program. KTAP’s voluntary program focuses on understanding and communicating collective efforts to improve watershed health, water quality, and habitat improvements. KTAP has a separate track designed to provide a compliance crediting option to permitted entities (e.g., wastewater operators), however, this program is not currently active. The process for generating credits involves more documentation and oversight. There is absolutely no way that your project could be used in this way.
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I have more questions, who can I contact?
We are happy to provide as much information as we can to provide clear picture of how KTAP utilizes project information to highlight collective progress toward water quality and habitat goals! Please contact:
Randy Turner, Coordinator at the Klamath Basin Monitoring Program via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or 707-499-5521.
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