Ryan L Fosness
Biography
Ryan Fosness is a hydraulic engineer with 18 years of experience with the USGS. Ryan began his career in South Dakota where he led field efforts for estimating potential bridge scour at more than 1,000 bridges. Ryan moved to the Idaho Water Science Center in 2007 and has worked on suspended and bedload sediment transport; GNSS surveying; high-resolution bathymetric and acoustic Doppler surveys; underwater sediment coring; sediment facies mapping; sub-bottom seismic surveys; bridge scour surveys; two-dimensional hydraulic modeling; river restoration monitoring, and streamflow statistics studies.
EDUCATION
M.S., Civil Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2006
B.S., Civil Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2005
Science and Products
Bathymetric Survey of the Mores Creek Arm of Lucky Peak Lake
In 2004, about 90 migrating elk and 25 mule deer broke through thin ice and drowned as they attempted to cross the Mores Creek arm of Lucky Peak Lake upstream of the Highway 21 bridge. To prevent any similar incidents, reservoir managers and wildlife biologists needed a better understanding of water depths over a range of reservoir pool elevations.
American Falls Reservoir Bathymetry
In cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, we surveyed the bathymetry within an area of about 500 acres of American Falls Reservoir between River Miles 713 and 714 August 6-8, 2019. The bathymetric survey provided high-resolution detail of a proposed treatment area for an aeration system that is being developed to support water quality during the American Falls spillway concrete repair...
Bathymetric Mapping of the Kootenai River
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. The Tribe has undertaken a large-scale restoration project and needs objective...
Evaluating Spatial and Temporal Fine-Scale Movement of Kootenai River White Sturgeon
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a plan for recovering the endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon. This study supports the objectives of that plan by quantifying white sturgeon habitat preference within a recently restored reach of the...
Real-Time Bridge Scour Monitoring and Evaluation
The most common cause of bridge failure is scour, when high-velocity streamflow scours streambed material from around bridge piers and abutments. As of 2017, the National Bridge Inventory listed 265 of Idaho's nearly 4,500 bridges (about 6 percent) as "scour critical." When rivers rise quickly, bridge inspectors have little or no time to mobilize and monitor bridges at risk of scour. Real-time...
Kootenai River Sediment Studies
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. White sturgeon and burbot have not successfully spawned in the Kootenai River since the completion of Libby Dam upstream in Montana. In recent years...
Streamflow Evaluation for Water Right Claims for Wild and Scenic Rivers, Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness
Several river segments in the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness have been designated as “Wild and Scenic” under the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. This designation is intended to protect the “outstanding remarkable values” (ORVs) in this area—specifically fish and wildlife habitat, scenic and geological features, and recreational opportunities.
The Bureau of Land Management (...
Estimating Seepage Rates of Streams, Ponds, and Lakes at the Camas National Wildlife Refuge
The Camas National Wildlife Refuge provides essential resting, feeding, and nesting habitat for waterfowl including migratory birds. A variety of other animals, large and small, are found there, too. Since the refuge was established in 1937, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been responsible for managing this vital resource.
Traditionally, Camas Creek and groundwater inflow...
Surrogate Technologies for Estimating Suspended Sediment in the Snake and Clearwater Rivers
Because fluvial sediment poses both economic and ecological problems, resource managers need a safe, cost-effective way to measure sediment in streams, particularly in remote areas.
Lower Granite Reservoir Bathymetric and Underwater Video Surveys
Sedimentation of Lower Granite Reservoir, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, affects commercial navigation and reservoir storage capacity. Some groups are concerned that dredging the reservoir to remove excess sediment may negatively affect endangered species such as steelhead and salmon.
Lower Granite Reservoir Bed Sediment Coring and Analysis
Some groups are concerned that dredging the reservoir and the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers to remove excess sediment may mobilize contaminants in sediment that could negatively affect endangered species such as steelhead and salmon.
Sediment Sampling in the Snake and Clearwater River Basins
Are there ways to manage sediment before it accumulates in Lower Granite Reservoir? If so, resource managers must know exactly how much sediment is being transported in the lower Snake and Clearwater River basins, the grain-size distribution of the sediment that is being transported, which subbasins are contributing the most sediment, and how the sediment is being deposited once it is...
Assessment of bridge scour countermeasures at selected bridges in the United States, 2014–18
Erosion of the streambed, known also as scour, around pier 3 of the New York State Thruway bridge over Schoharie Creek caused the pier to fail, which ultimately resulted in bridge failure during the flooding event of April 5, 1987. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) responded to the need for better guidance on the evaluation of bridge scour...
Suro, Thomas P.; Huizinga, Richard J.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Dudunake, Taylor
Defining the limits of spectrally based bathymetric mapping on a large river
Remote sensing has emerged as a powerful method of characterizing river systems but is subject to several important limitations. This study focused on defining the limits of spectrally based mapping in a large river. We used multibeam echosounder (MBES) surveys and hyperspectral images from a deep, clear-flowing channel to develop techniques for...
Legleiter, Carl J.; Fosness, Ryan L.
Bridge scour countermeasure assessments at select bridges in the United States, 2016–18
In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration published Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 23 (HEC-23) to provide specific design and implementation guidelines for bridge scour and stream instability countermeasures. However, the effectiveness of countermeasures implemented over the past decade following those guidelines has not been evaluated....
Dudunake, Taylor J.; Huizinga, Richard J.; Fosness, Ryan L. Substrate and flow characteristics associated with White Sturgeon recruitment in the Columbia River Basin
A study was conducted to identify habitat characteristics associated with age 0+ White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1863) recruitment in three reaches of the Columbia River Basin: Skamania reach (consistent recruitment), John Day reach (intermittent/inconsistent recruitment), and Kootenai reach (no recruitment). Our modeling...
Hatten, James R.; Parsley, Michael; Barton, Gary; Batt, Thomas; Fosness, Ryan L.
Bridge scour countermeasure assessments at select bridges in the United States, 2014–16
In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration published Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 23 (HEC-23) to provide specific design and implementation guidelines for bridge scour and stream instability countermeasures. However, the effectiveness of countermeasures implemented over the past decade following those guidelines has not been evaluated....
Dudunake, Taylor J.; Huizinga, Richard J.; Fosness, Ryan L. Field scale test of multi-dimensional flow and morphodynamic simulations used for restoration design analysis
Two- and three-dimensional morphodynamic simulations are becoming common in studies of channel form and process. The performance of these simulations are often validated against measurements from laboratory studies. Collecting channel change information in natural settings for model validation is difficult because it can be expensive and under...
Constantinescu, George; Garcia, Marcelo H.; Hanes, Dan; McDonald, Richard R.; Nelson, Jonathan M.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Nelson, Peter O.
Estimating peak-flow frequency statistics for selected gaged and ungaged sites in naturally flowing streams and rivers in Idaho
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Transportation Department, updated regional regression equations to estimate peak-flow statistics at ungaged sites on Idaho streams using recent streamflow (flow) data and new statistical techniques. Peak-flow statistics with 80-, 67-, 50-, 43-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Skinner, Kenneth D.; Veilleux, Andrea G. Effects of dam removal on Tule Fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the White Salmon River, Washington
Condit Dam is one of the largest hydroelectric dams ever removed in the USA. Breached in a single explosive event in October 2011, hundreds-of-thousands of cubic metres of sediment washed down the White Salmon River onto spawning grounds of a threatened species, Columbia River tule fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. We investigated over...
Hatten, James R.; Batt, Thomas R.; Skalicky, Joseph J.; Engle, Rod; Barton, Gary J.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Warren, Joe Evaluation of multiple-frequency, active and passive acoustics as surrogates for bedload transport
The use of multiple-frequency, active acoustics through deployment of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) shows potential for estimating bedload in selected grain size categories. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the University of Montana (UM), evaluated the use of multiple-frequency, active and passive acoustics as...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Pachman, Gregory; Lorang, Mark; Tonolla, Diego
Sediment transport and evaluation of sediment surrogate ratings in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Water Years 2011–14
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. Although the interconnections among anthropogenic changes and their impacts on fish are complex, the Kootenai...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Etheridge, Alexandra B.
Topographic and hydrographic survey data for the São Francisco River near Torrinha, Bahia, Brazil, 2014
Navigable inland waterways, including lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, are important transportation routes for people and goods in Brazil. Natural and anthropogenic effects coupled with recent severe droughts have led to decreased inland waterway navigation. The Company for Development of the São Francisco and Parnaíba River Valleys (...
Fosness, Ryan L.; Dietsch, Benjamin J.
Maps and geospatial data for the Shorty’s Island and Myrtle Bend substrate enhancement pilot projects, Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, 2014
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, conducted a study to characterize the physical habitat occupied by Kootenai River white sturgeon during spawning and early-life phases. The objective was to gain a better understanding of spawning behavior, site selection, and type of habitat used during egg...
Fosness, Ryan L.