Location
UMass Amherst
Start Date
27-6-2011 3:45 PM
End Date
27-6-2011 4:05 PM
Description
On September 17 of 2011, a 2.5 year deconstruction of two long-standing, head dams will begin on the Elwha River of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. Over the past decade, a variety of ecosystem related information (e.g., fish, riparian, in-stream habitat, and stream productivity) has been collected in the Elwha River basin to establish baseline conditions prior to one of the largest watershed and salmon restoration projects in North America. The design of these studies is based upon the geomorphic template of the watershed, as different channel types are expected to respond differently to the large amount of sediment that will be released as a result of dam removal. For example, we anticipate that floodplain channels will attenuate the impacts of sediment and provide biological refuges after several state, federal, and tribal organizations have collaborated to identify the most important questions and develop adequate study designs that can answer these questions such as how will salmon populations respond to the removal of large-scale, long-term barriers to migration? How will these same populations react to the large amount of sediment that will be released in combination with the large amount of pristine habitat that will be re-connected? Our ultimate goal is to quantify the ecological "signal" following dam removal in the Elwha River basin, in order to better tell the story of this unique watershed restoration and share critical findings with other dam removal projects.
Session B3- Getting scientifically ready for the removal of the Elwha River dams- last call for baseline data
UMass Amherst
On September 17 of 2011, a 2.5 year deconstruction of two long-standing, head dams will begin on the Elwha River of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. Over the past decade, a variety of ecosystem related information (e.g., fish, riparian, in-stream habitat, and stream productivity) has been collected in the Elwha River basin to establish baseline conditions prior to one of the largest watershed and salmon restoration projects in North America. The design of these studies is based upon the geomorphic template of the watershed, as different channel types are expected to respond differently to the large amount of sediment that will be released as a result of dam removal. For example, we anticipate that floodplain channels will attenuate the impacts of sediment and provide biological refuges after several state, federal, and tribal organizations have collaborated to identify the most important questions and develop adequate study designs that can answer these questions such as how will salmon populations respond to the removal of large-scale, long-term barriers to migration? How will these same populations react to the large amount of sediment that will be released in combination with the large amount of pristine habitat that will be re-connected? Our ultimate goal is to quantify the ecological "signal" following dam removal in the Elwha River basin, in order to better tell the story of this unique watershed restoration and share critical findings with other dam removal projects.
Comments
George Pess is a supervisory research fishery biologist at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center and an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (UWSAFS). Dr. Press and his colleagues have been working in the Elwha collecting baselin fish and habitat data for 10 years in anticipation of the Elwha River dam removals. George obtained his Ph.D. in fisheries at UWSAFS in 2009 with a focus on patters and processes associated with salmon colonization in newly opened habitats.