Christopher Curran is the Assistant Center Director for Hydrologic Data at the Pacific Islands Water Science Center in Honolulu Hawaiʻi.
Chris Curran started his USGS career as a Hydrologic Technician in 1997 in Ithaca, New York. In 2000, he transferred to the USGS Washington Water Science Center (WAWSC) in Tacoma, Washington where he worked as a Hydrologic Technician specializing in hydroacoustics. In 2007, Chris joined the WAWSC Studies Program as a Hydrologist and worked on a variety of surface-water and sediment studies. He became supervisor of the Watersheds and Fluvial Systems Section of WAWSC Studies in 2019. Chris joined the Pacific Islands Water Science Center as Assistant Center Director in 2021.
Chris earned BS degrees in Civil Engineering and Geology from Lehigh University in 1989, and a MS degree in Hydrogeology from Syracuse University in 1999. Chris also served as an Engineer Officer in the U.S. Army, 10th Mountain Division, and as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, Central Africa.
Science and Products
Assessment of Sediment Quality and Volume behind Enloe Dam
The Issue: The Enloe Dam, a 100-yr old structure on the Similkameen River in Washington State, has not produced hydropower since 1958 and options are being considered for potential removal of the dam. The concentrations of sediment contaminants (primarily trace elements from a long history of mining and smelting operations in the US and Canada) trapped by Enloe Dam are unknown and may be high...
USGS science supporting the Elwha River Restoration Project
The Elwha River Restoration Project has reconnected the water, salmon, and sediment of a pristine river and coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.
Sumas River Sediment Load
The Issue: A large, clay-rich active landslide on the western flank of Sumas Mountain in Whatcom County, Washington, is a significant source of sediment to Swift Creek and the salmon-bearing Sumas River. The landslide contains naturally occurring serpentinite that weathers to chrysotile asbestos and elevated levels of metals. The asbestos load in water as well as deposits along the banks and flood...
Elwha River Sediment Monitoring
The Issue: The Elwha River Restoration Project is the largest single restoration action planned for the Puget Sound region in the foreseeable future and is a high priority for the Puget Sound Partnership. Beginning in 2011, two large dams on the Elwha River in Clallam County, Washington, will be removed by the National Park Service over about two and a half years. During removal, sediment...
Geomorphology & Sediment Transport
Geomorphology is the study of the formation and evolution of landforms on Earth's surface. In the Pacific Northwest, volcanoes, tectonic movement, glaciers, rain, snow, wind, vegetation, animals, and people all shape the landscape at different scales of time and space. Of particular interest in the region is the form and processes of rivers, a branch of the science termed fluvial geomorphology...
Sauk River Sediment
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...
Science and Products
- Science
Assessment of Sediment Quality and Volume behind Enloe Dam
The Issue: The Enloe Dam, a 100-yr old structure on the Similkameen River in Washington State, has not produced hydropower since 1958 and options are being considered for potential removal of the dam. The concentrations of sediment contaminants (primarily trace elements from a long history of mining and smelting operations in the US and Canada) trapped by Enloe Dam are unknown and may be high...USGS science supporting the Elwha River Restoration Project
The Elwha River Restoration Project has reconnected the water, salmon, and sediment of a pristine river and coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.Sumas River Sediment Load
The Issue: A large, clay-rich active landslide on the western flank of Sumas Mountain in Whatcom County, Washington, is a significant source of sediment to Swift Creek and the salmon-bearing Sumas River. The landslide contains naturally occurring serpentinite that weathers to chrysotile asbestos and elevated levels of metals. The asbestos load in water as well as deposits along the banks and flood...Elwha River Sediment Monitoring
The Issue: The Elwha River Restoration Project is the largest single restoration action planned for the Puget Sound region in the foreseeable future and is a high priority for the Puget Sound Partnership. Beginning in 2011, two large dams on the Elwha River in Clallam County, Washington, will be removed by the National Park Service over about two and a half years. During removal, sediment...Geomorphology & Sediment Transport
Geomorphology is the study of the formation and evolution of landforms on Earth's surface. In the Pacific Northwest, volcanoes, tectonic movement, glaciers, rain, snow, wind, vegetation, animals, and people all shape the landscape at different scales of time and space. Of particular interest in the region is the form and processes of rivers, a branch of the science termed fluvial geomorphology...Sauk River Sediment
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... - Data
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