Unified Interior Regions
Washington
Washington's Puget Sound is a complex ecosystem directly adjacent to a robust metropolitan area that scientists from the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center study. Recent surveys have looked at juvenile surf smelt, a key link in the food web that are consumed by predators such as salmon, orca, and many marine birds.
Western Fisheries Research Center
Research at the WFRC focuses on the environmental factors responsible for the creation, maintenance, and regulation of fish populations including their interactions in aquatic communities and ecosystems.
Go to CenterWashington Water Science Center
The Water Science Center's mission is to collect, analyze and disseminate the impartial hydrologic data and information needed to wisely manage water resources for the people of the United States and the State of Washington.
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The Response of Coastal Wetlands to Sea-level Rise: Understanding how Macroscale Drivers Influence Local Processes and Feedbacks
The purpose of this work is to advance our understanding of how coastal wetland responses to sea-level rise (SLR) within the conterminous United States are likely to vary as a function of local, regional, and macroscale drivers, including climate. Based on our interactions with managers and decision makers, as well as our knowledge of the current state of the science, we propose to: (a)...
Hydrochemical Analysis of Groundwater in Jewel Cave National Monument
The Issue: The park’s landscape and geomorphology is characterized as a carbonate karst environment, with sinking streams and fast connections between surface water and groundwater, resulting in high vulnerability of contamination to groundwater. Now that subterranean lakes have been discovered in Jewel Cave, understanding the groundwater connection of the lakes therein to the...
Weed-Suppressive Bacteria – Testing a Control Measure for Invasive Grasses in the West
Recent popular news has implied that Weed-Suppressive Bacteria (WSB) holds promise for cheatgrass control, yet a lack of peer-reviewed research exists to support this claim. USGS researchers stepped up to the challenge of objectively and rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of WSB for controlling exotic annual grasses, such as...
Walla Walla Groundwater
The Issue: Within the states of Washington and Oregon, the 1,777 mi2 Walla Walla River Basin (WWRB) is a complex hydrogeologic system with long-term water-level declines in regional aquifers and insufficient instream flows required for threatened and culturally important fish populations. The public and state resource management agencies need an improved...
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. Coordinated by the National Park Service, restoration of the Elwha River included the removal of two large dams that had blocked salmon and sediment passage for almost 100 years. The largest dam removal in U.S. history began in...
Using Video Imagery to Study Coastal Change: Whidbey Island
From May of 2018 through November of 2019, USGS scientists collected imagery from video cameras overlooking the coast along a beach on Whidbey Island, Island County at the northern boundary of Puget Sound in western Washington.
PS-CoSMoS: Puget Sound Coastal Storm Modeling System
The CoSMoS model is currently available for most of the California coast and is now being expanded to support the 4.5 million coastal residents of the Puget Sound region, with emphasis on the communities bordering the sound.
Elwha River Restoration Project
From 2011 to 2014, the Nation’s largest dam removal project to date took place in Washington State, allowing the Elwha River to once again flow unimpeded from its origin in the Olympic Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Nearly 100 years of sediment (30 million tons) had accumulated behind two dams, and about two-thirds of that (20 million tons) was released, dramatically affecting the...
Estuarine Ecosystem Recovery in Puget Sound
A clean and abundant sediment supply is critical for building and maintaining viable estuarine and wetland habitats. However, in many coastal regions, dikes, levees, and dams have disconnected water and sediment supply to estuarine and wetland habitats, altering sedimentation patterns, water quality, and nutrient loads. Dike and dam removal have become important methods for restoring river and...
Quantifying suspended-sediment load and transport characteristics in the Calawah and Upper Bogachiel Rivers, Washington
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...
Coarse sediment delivery and routing in the White River
The Issue: Ongoing channel aggradation has reduced flow conveyance along the lower White River, increasing the flood risk in urban-suburban areas. A refined understanding of the delivery, transport and deposition of sediment in the White River, and how those processes may be influenced by climate and existing dam operations, is necessary in order to plan for future flood...
Digital elevation models (DEMs) of the Elwha River delta, Washington, July 2017
This portion of the USGS data release presents digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from bathymetric and topographic surveys conducted on the Elwha River delta in July 2017 (USGS Field Activity Number 2017-638-FA). Nearshore bathymetry data were collected using two personal watercraft (PWCs) and a kayak equipped with single-beam echosounders and survey-grade global navigation satel
Nearshore bathymetry data from the Elwha River delta, Washington, July 2017, collected from personal watercraft
This part of the data release presents bathymetry data from the Elwha River delta collected in July 2017 using two personal watercraft (PWCs). The PWCs were equipped with single beam echosounders and survey-grade global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers.
Topography data from the Elwha River delta, Washington, July 2017
This part of the data release presents topography data from the Elwha River delta collected in July 2017. Topography data were collected on foot with global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers mounted on backpacks.
Wave observations from bottom-mounted pressure sensors in Bellingham Bay, Washington from Dec 2017 to Jan 2018
RBRduo pressure and temperature sensors (early 2015 generation), mounted on aluminum frames, were moored in shallow (< 6 m) water depths in Bellingham Bay, Washington, to capture wave heights and periods. Continuous pressure fluctuations are transformed into surface-wave observations of wave heights, periods, and frequency spectra at 30-minute intervals.
Downloadable Data for Eastern Oregon-Washington Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Eastern Oregon-Washington Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Western Oregon-Washington Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Western Oregon-Washington Oil and Gas Assessments
Chinook Salmon Use of Eelgrass Habitats Skagit River Delta Washington
The degree to which eelgrass on river deltas provides critical habitat for estuarine fishes, especially out‐migrating juvenile salmon, is an important scientific and management issue that bears on efforts to conserve and restore both eelgrass and fish.
2015 environmental DNA surveys for lampreys in Chehalis River tributaries, Washington
Columns of data representing Chehalis River tributary, sample reach locations, dates of water sampling, quantitative PCR results, and whether lamprey were sampled by electrofishing in each sample reach.
National Water Information System Elwha River at Diversion
Site Number 12046260 Elwha River at diversion near Port Angeles, WA
National Water Information System McDonald Bridge
Site Number 12045500 Elwha River at McDonald Bridge Near Port Angeles, WA
USGS Domestic Continuous (Unconventional) Oil & Gas Assessments, 2000-Present
Interactively explore assessment summary information for continuous (unconventional) assessments conducted at the USGS from 2000-2018. The assessment results data used to generate this visualization can be downloaded here in Excel Format. These data represent all assessment results...
MODFLOW-NWT model used to simulate groundwater storage changes in the Quincy Basin, Washington
A three-dimensional, groundwater flow model (MODFLOW-NWT) was developed to
examine groundwater storage changes in the Quincy Basin, Washington. The
model was calibrated to conditions from 1920 to 2013. The model was used to
(1) determine the change in groundwater storage from 1920 to 2013 , and
(2) simulate the potential effects of increases in pumping.
Geomorphic evolution of a gravel‐bed river under sediment‐starved vs. sediment‐rich conditions: River response to the world's largest dam removal
Understanding river response to sediment pulses is a fundamental problem in geomorphic process studies, with myriad implications for river management. However, because large sediment pulses are rare and usually unanticipated, they are seldom studied at field scale. We examine fluvial response to a massive (~20 Mt) sediment pulse released by...
East, Amy E.; Logan, Joshua B.; Mastin, Mark C.; Ritchie, Andrew C.; Bountry, Jennifer A.; Magirl, Christopher S.; Sankey, Joel B. Upstream migration and spawning success of Chinook salmon in a highly developed, seasonally warm river system
This review summarizes what is known about the influence of water temperature and velocity on the migration and spawning success of an inland population of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Models are then developed and used to illustrate how migration and spawning success might change if temperatures and velocities increase under a...
Connor, William P.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Chandler, James A.; Rondorf, Dennis W.; Arnsberg, Billy D.; Anderson, Kelvin C. Wetland stratigraphic evidence for variable megathrust earthquake rupture modes at the Cascadia subduction zone
Although widespread agreement that the Cascadia subduction zone produces great earthquakes of magnitude 8 to 9 was reached decades ago, debate continues about the rupture lengths, magnitudes, and frequency of megathrust earthquakes recorded by wetland stratigraphy fringing Cascadia’s estuaries. Correlation of such coastal earthquake evidence along...
Nelson, Alan R.; Witter, Robert C.; Englehart, Simon; Hawkers, Andrea; Horton, Benjamin P. State transportation agencies partner to deploy and enhance ShakeCast
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is organizing and leading a three-year Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) project, Connecting the Dots: Implementing ShakeCast Across Multiple State Departments of Transportation for Rapid Post-Earthquake Response. Ten state Departments of Transportation (DOT)—CA, ID, MO, MS, OK, OR, SC, TX, UT...
Turner, L.; Wald, David J.; Lin, Kuo-wan; Chiou, Brian; Slosky, Daniel
A snapshot of women of the U.S. Geological Survey in STEM and related careers
IntroductionThe term “STEM” has been used to group together the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to describe education and professions related to these fields. The professional fields connected to STEM education are thought of as engineering, medicine, and computer technology. Yet these professional fields are merely...
Aragon-Long, Susan C.; Burkett, Virginia R.; Weyers, Holly S.; Haig, Susan M.; Davenport, Marjorie S.; Warner, Kelly L. A bioenergetics evaluation of temperature‐dependent selection for the spawning phenology by Snake River fall Chinook salmon
High water temperatures can increase the energetic cost for salmon to migrate and spawn, which can be important for Snake River fall‐run Chinook salmon because they migrate great distances (>500 km) at a time when river temperatures (18–24°C) can be above their optimum temperatures (16.5°C). Average river temperatures and random...
Plumb, John M. Holocene fault reactivation in the eastern Cascades, Washington
Significant uncertainty remains concerning how and where crustal shortening occurs throughout the eastern Cascade Range in Washington State. Using light detection and ranging (lidar) imagery, we identified an ∼5‐km‐long">∼5‐km‐long lineament in Swakane canyon near Wenatchee, roughly coincident with a...
Carlson, Benjamin L.; Schermer, Elizabeth R.; Amos, Colin B.; Stephenson, William J.; Sherrod, Brian; Mahan, Shannon A. Integrated diet analyses reveal contrasting trophic niches for wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon in a large river delta
Hatchery programs have been used as a conservation tool to bolster declining populations of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha along much of the North American Pacific coast. In many watersheds, hatchery stocks are released concurrently with the wild population, thus raising the potential for density‐dependent effects. Competition...
Davis, Melanie J.; Woo, Isa; Ellings, Christopher S.; Hodgson, Sayre; Beauchamp, David A.; Nakai, Glynnis; De La Cruz, Susan E.W. Crustal inheritance and a top-down control on arc magmatism at Mount St Helens
In a subduction zone, the volcanic arc marks the location where magma, generated via flux melting in the mantle wedge, migrates through the crust and erupts. While the location of deep magma broadly defines the arc position, here we argue that crustal structures, identified in geophysical data from the Washington Cascades magmatic arc, are equally...
Bedrosian, Paul A.; Peacock, Jared R.; Bowles-Martinez, Esteban; Schultz, Adam; Hill, Graham Juvenile Chinook salmon and forage fish use of eelgrass habitats in a diked and channelized Puget Sound River Delta
Eelgrass Zostera marina can form extensive meadows on Puget Sound river deltas. The extent to which these meadows provide critical rearing habitat for local estuarine fishes, especially out‐migrating juvenile salmon, is not well understood. Further, delta eelgrass has been impacted by diking and river channelization with unknown...
Rubin, Stephen P.; Hayes, Michael C.; Grossman, Eric E. Responses of hatchery‐ and natural‐origin adult spring Chinook Salmon to a trap‐and‐haul reintroduction program
The construction of impassable dams severely affected many Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. populations, resulting in reintroduction efforts that are now focused on returning anadromous fish to areas located upstream of these dams. A primary strategy for moving adult salmon and steelhead O. mykiss around a dam or multiple dams...
Kock, Tobias J.; Perry, Russell W.; Pope, Adam C.; Serl, John D.; Kohn, Mike; Liedtke, Theresa L.
Evaluation of sockeye salmon after passage through an innovative upstream fish-passage system at Cle Elum Dam, Washington, 2017
Executive SummaryThe Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), working with the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project Workgroup (composed of representatives of the Yakama Nation; Federal, State, county, and city governments; environmental organizations; and irrigation districts), developed...
Kock, Tobias J.; Evans, Scott D.; Hansen, Amy C.; Perry, Russell W.; Hansel, Hal C.; Haner, Philip V.; Tomka, Ryan G.
The GeoGirls Create Field Drawings
The GeoGirls create field drawings of 1980 pyroclastic flow deposits on Mount St. Helens’ Pumice Plain.
GeoGirls Hike to Willow Creek
GeoGirls hike to Willow Creek, on Mount St. Helens’ Pumice Plain, to learn more about the ecology of the blast zone and how the area has recovered since the catastrophic May 18, 1980, eruption. Here, they look at stream characteristics and how it has influenced the return of life to the area.
GeoGirls Venture into Ape Cave
GeoGirls venture into Ape Cave, a 2,000-year-old lava tube on the south flank of Mount St. Helens, as they learn about Mount St. Helens’ eruptive history and lava flows.
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Panoramic views of tidal marsh at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge under an overcast sky.
Tribal Resources for Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments
Tribes have been actively engaged in efforts to anticipate and respond to climate impacts on their natural and cultural resources. And yet, some tribes have faced difficulties initiating and completing the critical first step of the climate adaptation planning process: an assessment of locally-specific climate risks that accounts for the unique priorities, values, and
USGS Scientists taking sediment core at Six Gill Slough restored marsh
USGS Scientists taking sediment core USGS Scientists taking sediment core at Six Gill Slough restored marsh.
National Oil and Gas Assessment Provinces
This is a graphic from the USGS National Oil and Gas Assessment Explorer application, which allows user to drill into 70 oil and gas assessment provinces throughout the United States.
Image of the Week - Elwha River Dam Removal
In September 2011, the largest dam removal project in U.S. history began.
Two dams built on the Elwha River in the early 1900s created two reservoirs in northwestern Washington. They also greatly reduced the amount of sediment flowing to the river’s delta and blocked salmon migration upstream into Olympic National Park.
Each week, the Earth Resources
Juga sp. snails
Juga sp. snails, the molluscan intermediate host for Nanophyetus salmincola, populate the bottom of a stream bed in a south Puget Sound watershed.
Sunrise at Mount St. Helens
The sun rises at Mount St. Helens (pictured in the distance), with low-level clouds covering Coldwater Lake. The view is from the Coldwater Science and Learning Center, the site of the 2018 GeoGirls field camp program.
First mission: USGS UAS monitors gas emissions at Mount St. Helens
On September 25, 2018, a team of three scientists based at the USGS–Cascades Volcano Observatory conducted the first-ever USGS-led Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) campaign at Mount St. Helens. The UAS survey was conducted with the permission and coordination of the U.S. Forest Service Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
The team used a multi-rotor UAS (“
First mission: USGS UAS monitors gas emissions at Mount St. Helens —AD
On September 25, 2018, a team of three scientists based at the USGS–Cascades Volcano Observatory conducted the first-ever USGS-led Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) campaign at Mount St. Helens. The UAS survey was conducted with the permission and coordination of the U.S. Forest Service Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
The team used a multi-rotor UAS (“
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center director Guy Gelfenbaum and NW Region Staff Scientist Bill Labiosa represented the USGS in the Puget Sound Day on the Hill in Washington, D.C. May 14 - 16, 2019.
Interactive Data Visualization Tool Allows Us to Explore Fish Use of Eelgrass Habitat in Puget Sound
The sockeye salmon population of the Lake Ozette watershed in northwestern Washington has been federally listed as threatened since 1999. Although the population has grown, numbers remain insufficient to allow harvest.
The Oso (SR 530) Landslide in Washington - Five Years Later
The following is an updated version of a story first published in March of 2015.
Species reintroduction is a powerful conservation tool when successful, but it is an expensive management strategy and for many species including freshwater fish, reintroduction attempts often fail.
Core players in “Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems” (EXPRESS) held a planning workshop at the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, November 29–30.
Identifying Habitat Characteristics for Successful White Sturgeon Recruitment in the Columbia River Basin
In montane ecosystems of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, increasing temperatures are resulting in a transition from snow-dominated to rain-dominated precipitation events, reducing snowpack.
An interdisciplinary team comprised of USGS and university scientists has developed the Probability of Streamflow Permanence Model or PROSPER which predicts flow permanence for unregulated and minimally impaired streams in the Pacific Northwest.
The USGS and National Park Service (NPS) have published the first Natural Resource Condition Assessment for Olympic National Park. A Natural Resource Condition Assessment, or NRCA, is a report that evaluates a subset of important natural resources in a NPS Unit.
Researchers from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC) participated in a research cruise to survey deep-water coral, sponge, and fish habitats off U.S. West Coast.
Mount St. Helens volcano loomed in the distance as 25 middle-school “GeoGirls” signed in, received a name tag, dropped their overnight gear and gathered in a grassy open space to meet camp staff, women scientists and volunteers.
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Locations
Washington Water Science Center
Phone: (253) 552-1600
Fax: (253) 552-1581
Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC)
Phone: (206) 526-6282
Fax: (206) 526-6654
USGS Volcano Science Center
Phone: 360-993-8900
Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO)
vhpweb@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8900
Fax: 360-993-8980
Columbia River Research Laboratory
Phone: (509) 538-2299
Fax: (509) 538-2843
WFRC - Fish Health Program
Phone: 206-526-6282
Fax: 206-526-6654
Marrowstone Marine Field Station
Phone: (360) 385-1007
Fax: (360) 385-7207
Northwest Washington Field Office
Phone: (360) 312-8155 x2001
Fax: (360) 312-8565
Mid-Columbia Field Office
Phone: (509) 735-3739
Fax: (509) 735-3723
Upper Columbia Field Office
Phone: (509) 353-2649
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) Olympic Field Station
fresc_outreach@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-565-3041
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) Cascadia Field Station
fresc_outreach@usgs.gov
Phone: 206-616-1874
Fax: 206-685-0790
Contacts
Western Fisheries Research Center
Research at the WFRC focuses on the environmental factors responsible for the creation, maintenance, and regulation of fish populations including their interactions in aquatic communities and ecosystems.
Go to CenterWashington Water Science Center
The Water Science Center's mission is to collect, analyze and disseminate the impartial hydrologic data and information needed to wisely manage water resources for the people of the United States and the State of Washington.
Go to Center