Aquatic Ecosystems and Habitats

The Skykomish, Snoqualmie, and Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Basins have historically provided critical spawning, rearing, and core habitat for several salmonid species.

The Issue: In Washington State, groundwater (GW) inflow to streams, or baseflow, is essential for maintaining aquatic habitats, and for out-of-stream uses such as irrigated agriculture during the typically dry summers. However, the National Hydrologic Model (NHM) currently is most suited to predicting total daily streamflow. This project aims to assess the NHM’s performance in simulating baseflow...

The issue: Salmonid fisheries are an important cultural and economic activity and efforts to support a thriving fisheries industry remain a major priority for the Quileute Tribe on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. Land use changes can have a profound influence on basin sediment production with direct effects on fisheries (Madej and Ozaki, 2009). Studies are needed to improve estimates of the...

The Issue: There is concern that inherently high finer-grained (small gravel, sand, and silt) sediment loads in the Sauk River system may adversely affect egg-to-fry survival of ESA-listed Chinook salmon in the Sauk River and lower Skagit River Basin. However, there are no quantitative data for the Sauk River basin to assess if fine sediment deposition and infiltration into spawning gravels are at...

The Issue: Streamflow in the lower 3.6 miles of the gravel-bedded Vance Creek often goes subsurface in the summer, limiting potential utilization by fish. There is an interest in stream restoration projects that might improve low-flow habitat conditions and connectivity, but their design and implementation are limited by a lack of knowledge about sediment transport conditions in the reach. How...

The issue: Agriculture and irrigation are major forces in Central Washington. Intensive land and water management practices may lead to water quality issues. In the Central Columbia Plateau and Yakima River Basin (CCYK), water quality issues include high nutrient loading resulting in eutrophication, elevated concentrations of water-soluble pesticides, and elevated concentrations of organochlorine...

The Puget Sound Basin (PUGT) study unit of the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program encompasses a 13,700-square-mile area that drains to Puget Sound and adjacent marine waters. Included in this region are all or part of 13 counties in western Washington, as well as the headwaters of the Skagit River and part of the Nooksack River in British Columbia, Canada. The Puget Sound Basin...

Fine-grained sediments in the lower reach of the Sauk River are adversely affecting the health and spawning of Chinook salmon. Climate change and forestry practices have been proposed as suspected causes of a reported increase in sediment loading to the river. To determine the amount and timing of suspended-sediment loading to the river and possible connections to adverse effects on Chinook salmon...

Emerging contaminants are a group of chemical compounds that generally include pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, surfactants, industrial and household chemicals, and food additives. Their presence in the environment is typically associated with discharges from wastewater treatment-plants (WWTP), on-site septic systems, and some animal production operations. They are of particular interest...

In the immediate aftermath of the SR530 Landslide, the USGS supported first responders and decision-makers as a key member of the collaborative effort to monitor the stability of the landslide deposit and the associated impoundment of the North Fork Stillaguamish River during rescue operations. With the initial disaster response now over, longer-term questions have arisen regarding the stability...

The Issue: The State of Washington issues Municipal Stormwater Permits to local governments in the Puget Sound region that require them to develop and implement a stormwater management program that reduces the discharge of pollutants and protects the quality of water in rivers, streams, lakes and Puget Sound. The permitees in partnership with the State need to measure whether water quality and...

The Issue: Federal and state natural resource managers and Tribes are concerned with the environmental impacts from unintentional release of coal dust from train cars during transport through the Northwest. Proposed new coal export terminals in Washington and Oregon would substantially increase rail traffic through the Northwest and the release of coal dust to the environment. How USGS will help...