Scientists conduct a float survey of the Quillayute River. They measure water temperatures at different depths and locations within the channel along the river's length.
Water Temperature Dynamics in the Quillayute River Basin
The Issue:
The Quillayute River Basin supports habitat for migrating, spawning, and rearing steelhead and salmon. Like many salmonid-bearing watersheds in the Pacific Northwest, water temperatures in the Quillayute River Basin are expected to warm in the coming decades. Warmer water temperatures pose a risk to salmonids and other cold-water fish, with the potential to adversely impact their health and survival.
How USGS will help:
We will provide the Quileute Tribe, Wild Salmon Center, and other partners with information about the timing and location of cold-water features in the Quillayute River Basin, which will shed light on the drivers of thermal variance. We will also estimate groundwater/surface water exchange at restoration sites and oxbow ponds, and characterize groundwater influence at additional sites, including small streams.
This information will aid in planning salmon habitat restoration efforts and may be used to evaluate and document changes in water temperature and groundwater/surface-water exchange as a result of restoration activities.
Problem
The Quillayute River Basin in northwestern Washington consists of the Quillayute River and the river systems of its major tributaries, the Dickey, Sol Duc, and Bogachiel Rivers. With a drainage area of 629 square miles, the Quillayute River Basin provides important habitat for 23 distinct runs of anadromous steelhead and salmon, representing one of the largest and most productive watersheds on the Washington coast (Nelson, 1982; Hunter, 2006).
Like many salmonid-bearing watersheds in the Pacific Northwest, water temperatures in the Quillayute River Basin are expected to warm in the coming decades due to projected increases in atmospheric temperatures and concomitant decreases and earlier melt of snowpack (Mote and others, 2018; Mantua and others, 2010; Izaak and others, 2012). The Quileute Tribe maintains treaty-protected fisheries at usual and accustomed areas within the Quillayute River Basin for Chinook (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha), coho (O. kisutch), and sockeye salmon (O. nerka), and steelhead trout (O. mykiss) (NWIFC, 2016). However, these fisheries are currently at risk during the late summer as ambient water temperatures within rivers may exceed the specific thermal tolerances of salmonids and other cold-water fish, adversely impacting their health and survival (Beauchamp, 2009).
Objectives
Center, initiated this study in 2021 to characterize late-summer thermal conditions and dynamics within the Quillayute River Basin. This study will provide the Quileute Tribe, Wild Salmon Center, and other partners with:
- Information on the drivers of thermal heterogeneity and the spatial and temporal distribution of cold-water features in the Quillayute River Basin.
- A baseline estimation of groundwater/surface-water exchange at restoration sites in the Quillayute River and in the Quillayute River oxbow ponds.
- A characterization of groundwater influence and thermal sensitivity at additional sites in the Quillayute River Basin, including small-order streams.
These products will aid in planning salmon habitat restoration efforts and may be used to evaluate and document changes in water temperature and groundwater/surface-water exchange as a result of restoration activities.

Relevance and Benefits
Locations of discharge from groundwater and tributaries that are colder than ambient surface water temperature are important elements of a river’s thermal regime. These locations can serve as cold-water refuges that allow salmonids and other aquatic species to remain viable in rivers with thermally unfavorable conditions (Izaak and Young, 2023; Snyder and others, 2022; Sears and others, 2016; Ebersole and others, 2001). Therefore, it is important to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of water temperatures in the Quillayute River Basin. This includes understanding the capacity of cold-water features to buffer or reduce high water temperatures. This information can be used to inform, prioritize, and evaluate the effect of planned and ongoing restoration projects in the Quillayute River Basin.
Approach
A variety of data collection and analysis techniques were used for this study, each with differing objectives and study areas. These study components and their objectives are listed below:
- Continuous monitoring of multi-depth water temperature in the Quillayute River main-stem and oxbow ponds.
- Evaluate sites in the Quillayute River main-stem and oxbow ponds for their suitability as core summer salmonid habitat and their potential to serve as thermal refuges.
- Identify and characterize groundwater and tidal influence or stratification at each site.
- Water temperature cross-sections in Quillayute River oxbow ponds.
- Assess thermal heterogeneity in Quillayute River oxbow ponds by comparing continuous water temperature records with cross-sectional water temperature profiles during summer baseflow.
- Further characterize potential groundwater/surface-water exchange or stratification within the oxbow ponds.
- Groundwater/surface-water exchange at restoration sites in the Quillayute River mainstem and oxbow ponds.
- Estimate baseline vertical groundwater/surface-water exchange using groundwater temperature rods at sites located 1) in the Quillayute River main-stem near anticipated engineered log jam installations, and 2) in the Quillayute River oxbow ponds prior to the planned reconnection with the main-stem.
- Float survey longitudinal stream profiles along the Quillayute River mainstem.
- Identify the upstream extent of tidal influence on water temperatures during various tidal stages.
- Identify cold-water anomalies indicative of groundwater discharge zones.
- Airborne thermal infrared and true-color surveys of major rivers in the Quillayute River Basin.
- Identify and classify thermal points of interest (POIs), representing tributaries, side channels, and cold-water anomalies indicative of groundwater discharge zones.
- Quantify longitudinal stream temperature profiles (LTPs) that represent how water temperature changes from upstream to downstream along the river centerline.
- Interpret longitudinal water temperature changes in the context of thermal POIs, geomorphic conditions, tributary inflows, groundwater discharge zones, and riparian vegetation.
- Analysis of paired air and stream temperature records at select sites in the Quillayute River Basin using previously collected data from the Washington Department of Natural Resources Olympic Experimental State Forest.
- Quantify the sensitivity of the stream's response in water temperature to changes in air temperature.
- Characterize the potential presence and source of groundwater at each site.
References
Mote and others, 2018; Mantua and others, 2010; I NWIFC, 2016; Snyder and others, 2022; Sears and others, 2016;
Beauchamp, D.A., 2009, Bioenergetic ontogeny—Linking climate and mass-specific feeding to life-cycle growth and survival of salmon, in Krueger, C.C., and Zimmerman, C.E., eds., Pacific Salmon—Ecology and management of western Alaska’s Populations: American Fisheries Society Symposium 70: Bethesda, Maryland, American Fisheries Society, p. 53–72.
Ebersole J.L., Liss W.J., and Frissell C.A., 2001, Relationship between stream temperature, thermal refugia and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss abundance in arid-land streams in the northwestern United States: Ecology of Freshwater Fish, v. 10, no. 1, p. 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0633.2001.100101.x.
Isaak, D.J., Wollrab, S., Horan, D., and Chandler, G., 2012, Climate change effects on stream and river temperatures across the northwest U.S. from 1980–2009 and implications for salmonid fishes: Climatic Change, v. 113, p. 499–524, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0326-z.
Izaak, D.J., and Young, M.K., 2023, Cold-water habitats, climate refugia, and their utility for conserving salmonid fishes: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, v. 80, no. 7, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2022-0302.
Mantua, N., Tohver, I., and Hamlet, A., 2010, Climate change impacts on streamflow extremes and summertime stream temperature and their possible consequences for freshwater salmon habitat in Washington State: Climatic Change, v. 102, nos. 1–2, p. 187–223, accessed June 13, 2024, at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-9845-2.
Mote, P.W., Li, S., Lettenmaier, D.P., Xiao, M., and Engel, R., 2018, Dramatic declines in snowpack in the western US: Climate and Atmospheric Science, v. 1, 6 p., at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-018-0012-1.
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC), 2016, State of Our Watersheds Report. A Report by the Treaty Tribes in Western Washington: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, https://geo.nwifc.org/sow/SOW2016_Report/Quileute.pdf.
Sears, M.W., Angilletta, M.J., Schuler, M.S., Borchert, J., Dilliplane, K.F., Stegman, M., Rusch, T.W., and Mitchell, W.A., 2016, Configuration of the thermal landscape determines thermoregulatory performance of ectotherms: Biological Sciences, v. 113, no. 38, p. 10595-10600, accessed June 13, 2024, at https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1604824113.
Snyder M.N., Schumaker N.H., Dunham J.B., Ebersole J.L., Keefer M.L., and Halama J., 2022, Tough places and safe spaces—can refuges save salmon from a warming climate?: Ecosphere, v. 13, no. 11, accessed June 13, 2024, at https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4265.
Water Temperature Dynamics in the Quillayute River Basin, Washington, 2021 - 2023 (ver. 2.0, February 2025)
Scientists conduct a float survey of the Quillayute River. They measure water temperatures at different depths and locations within the channel along the river's length.
Quillayute River near La Push, Washington. Looking downstream from Mora Road toward the river mouth and Pacific Ocean, with James Island in the distance.
Quillayute River near La Push, Washington. Looking downstream from Mora Road toward the river mouth and Pacific Ocean, with James Island in the distance.
The Issue:
The Quillayute River Basin supports habitat for migrating, spawning, and rearing steelhead and salmon. Like many salmonid-bearing watersheds in the Pacific Northwest, water temperatures in the Quillayute River Basin are expected to warm in the coming decades. Warmer water temperatures pose a risk to salmonids and other cold-water fish, with the potential to adversely impact their health and survival.
How USGS will help:
We will provide the Quileute Tribe, Wild Salmon Center, and other partners with information about the timing and location of cold-water features in the Quillayute River Basin, which will shed light on the drivers of thermal variance. We will also estimate groundwater/surface water exchange at restoration sites and oxbow ponds, and characterize groundwater influence at additional sites, including small streams.
This information will aid in planning salmon habitat restoration efforts and may be used to evaluate and document changes in water temperature and groundwater/surface-water exchange as a result of restoration activities.
Problem
The Quillayute River Basin in northwestern Washington consists of the Quillayute River and the river systems of its major tributaries, the Dickey, Sol Duc, and Bogachiel Rivers. With a drainage area of 629 square miles, the Quillayute River Basin provides important habitat for 23 distinct runs of anadromous steelhead and salmon, representing one of the largest and most productive watersheds on the Washington coast (Nelson, 1982; Hunter, 2006).
Like many salmonid-bearing watersheds in the Pacific Northwest, water temperatures in the Quillayute River Basin are expected to warm in the coming decades due to projected increases in atmospheric temperatures and concomitant decreases and earlier melt of snowpack (Mote and others, 2018; Mantua and others, 2010; Izaak and others, 2012). The Quileute Tribe maintains treaty-protected fisheries at usual and accustomed areas within the Quillayute River Basin for Chinook (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha), coho (O. kisutch), and sockeye salmon (O. nerka), and steelhead trout (O. mykiss) (NWIFC, 2016). However, these fisheries are currently at risk during the late summer as ambient water temperatures within rivers may exceed the specific thermal tolerances of salmonids and other cold-water fish, adversely impacting their health and survival (Beauchamp, 2009).
Objectives
Center, initiated this study in 2021 to characterize late-summer thermal conditions and dynamics within the Quillayute River Basin. This study will provide the Quileute Tribe, Wild Salmon Center, and other partners with:
- Information on the drivers of thermal heterogeneity and the spatial and temporal distribution of cold-water features in the Quillayute River Basin.
- A baseline estimation of groundwater/surface-water exchange at restoration sites in the Quillayute River and in the Quillayute River oxbow ponds.
- A characterization of groundwater influence and thermal sensitivity at additional sites in the Quillayute River Basin, including small-order streams.
These products will aid in planning salmon habitat restoration efforts and may be used to evaluate and document changes in water temperature and groundwater/surface-water exchange as a result of restoration activities.

Relevance and Benefits
Locations of discharge from groundwater and tributaries that are colder than ambient surface water temperature are important elements of a river’s thermal regime. These locations can serve as cold-water refuges that allow salmonids and other aquatic species to remain viable in rivers with thermally unfavorable conditions (Izaak and Young, 2023; Snyder and others, 2022; Sears and others, 2016; Ebersole and others, 2001). Therefore, it is important to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of water temperatures in the Quillayute River Basin. This includes understanding the capacity of cold-water features to buffer or reduce high water temperatures. This information can be used to inform, prioritize, and evaluate the effect of planned and ongoing restoration projects in the Quillayute River Basin.
Approach
A variety of data collection and analysis techniques were used for this study, each with differing objectives and study areas. These study components and their objectives are listed below:
- Continuous monitoring of multi-depth water temperature in the Quillayute River main-stem and oxbow ponds.
- Evaluate sites in the Quillayute River main-stem and oxbow ponds for their suitability as core summer salmonid habitat and their potential to serve as thermal refuges.
- Identify and characterize groundwater and tidal influence or stratification at each site.
- Water temperature cross-sections in Quillayute River oxbow ponds.
- Assess thermal heterogeneity in Quillayute River oxbow ponds by comparing continuous water temperature records with cross-sectional water temperature profiles during summer baseflow.
- Further characterize potential groundwater/surface-water exchange or stratification within the oxbow ponds.
- Groundwater/surface-water exchange at restoration sites in the Quillayute River mainstem and oxbow ponds.
- Estimate baseline vertical groundwater/surface-water exchange using groundwater temperature rods at sites located 1) in the Quillayute River main-stem near anticipated engineered log jam installations, and 2) in the Quillayute River oxbow ponds prior to the planned reconnection with the main-stem.
- Float survey longitudinal stream profiles along the Quillayute River mainstem.
- Identify the upstream extent of tidal influence on water temperatures during various tidal stages.
- Identify cold-water anomalies indicative of groundwater discharge zones.
- Airborne thermal infrared and true-color surveys of major rivers in the Quillayute River Basin.
- Identify and classify thermal points of interest (POIs), representing tributaries, side channels, and cold-water anomalies indicative of groundwater discharge zones.
- Quantify longitudinal stream temperature profiles (LTPs) that represent how water temperature changes from upstream to downstream along the river centerline.
- Interpret longitudinal water temperature changes in the context of thermal POIs, geomorphic conditions, tributary inflows, groundwater discharge zones, and riparian vegetation.
- Analysis of paired air and stream temperature records at select sites in the Quillayute River Basin using previously collected data from the Washington Department of Natural Resources Olympic Experimental State Forest.
- Quantify the sensitivity of the stream's response in water temperature to changes in air temperature.
- Characterize the potential presence and source of groundwater at each site.
References
Mote and others, 2018; Mantua and others, 2010; I NWIFC, 2016; Snyder and others, 2022; Sears and others, 2016;
Beauchamp, D.A., 2009, Bioenergetic ontogeny—Linking climate and mass-specific feeding to life-cycle growth and survival of salmon, in Krueger, C.C., and Zimmerman, C.E., eds., Pacific Salmon—Ecology and management of western Alaska’s Populations: American Fisheries Society Symposium 70: Bethesda, Maryland, American Fisheries Society, p. 53–72.
Ebersole J.L., Liss W.J., and Frissell C.A., 2001, Relationship between stream temperature, thermal refugia and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss abundance in arid-land streams in the northwestern United States: Ecology of Freshwater Fish, v. 10, no. 1, p. 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0633.2001.100101.x.
Isaak, D.J., Wollrab, S., Horan, D., and Chandler, G., 2012, Climate change effects on stream and river temperatures across the northwest U.S. from 1980–2009 and implications for salmonid fishes: Climatic Change, v. 113, p. 499–524, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0326-z.
Izaak, D.J., and Young, M.K., 2023, Cold-water habitats, climate refugia, and their utility for conserving salmonid fishes: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, v. 80, no. 7, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2022-0302.
Mantua, N., Tohver, I., and Hamlet, A., 2010, Climate change impacts on streamflow extremes and summertime stream temperature and their possible consequences for freshwater salmon habitat in Washington State: Climatic Change, v. 102, nos. 1–2, p. 187–223, accessed June 13, 2024, at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-9845-2.
Mote, P.W., Li, S., Lettenmaier, D.P., Xiao, M., and Engel, R., 2018, Dramatic declines in snowpack in the western US: Climate and Atmospheric Science, v. 1, 6 p., at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-018-0012-1.
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC), 2016, State of Our Watersheds Report. A Report by the Treaty Tribes in Western Washington: Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, https://geo.nwifc.org/sow/SOW2016_Report/Quileute.pdf.
Sears, M.W., Angilletta, M.J., Schuler, M.S., Borchert, J., Dilliplane, K.F., Stegman, M., Rusch, T.W., and Mitchell, W.A., 2016, Configuration of the thermal landscape determines thermoregulatory performance of ectotherms: Biological Sciences, v. 113, no. 38, p. 10595-10600, accessed June 13, 2024, at https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1604824113.
Snyder M.N., Schumaker N.H., Dunham J.B., Ebersole J.L., Keefer M.L., and Halama J., 2022, Tough places and safe spaces—can refuges save salmon from a warming climate?: Ecosphere, v. 13, no. 11, accessed June 13, 2024, at https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4265.
Water Temperature Dynamics in the Quillayute River Basin, Washington, 2021 - 2023 (ver. 2.0, February 2025)
Scientists conduct a float survey of the Quillayute River. They measure water temperatures at different depths and locations within the channel along the river's length.
Scientists conduct a float survey of the Quillayute River. They measure water temperatures at different depths and locations within the channel along the river's length.
Quillayute River near La Push, Washington. Looking downstream from Mora Road toward the river mouth and Pacific Ocean, with James Island in the distance.
Quillayute River near La Push, Washington. Looking downstream from Mora Road toward the river mouth and Pacific Ocean, with James Island in the distance.