This project monitors ecosystem response to dam removals on the Elwha River, Washington State. The Elwha Dam removal project is the largest project of its kind in the world and is the largest restorative action that has taken place in any Western U.S. Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU). Ecosystem response includes changes to aquatic habitat, the food web, and all aspects of the viable salmon parameters of listed and non-listed salmonid species. The project is based on the development and implementation of the Elwha Monitoring and Adaptive Management Guidelines (EMAM), which was developed as a collaborative effort between the Watershed Program at the NWFSC, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT), the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the National Park Service (NPS). We employ a variety of metrics to efficiently monitor ecosystem condition over space and time. This project will provide data to assess changes for the listed Elwha River populations (Chinook salmon and steelhead), and help determine whether those populations are improving, static, or declining. Such analyses are crucial to help inform future large-scale dam removals for multiple ESUs across the Western U.S. All relevant biological data.

Removal of two dams on the Elwha River, Washington will help restore natural sediment processes to the coastal environment near the river mouth. We are interested in the responses of fish associated with shallow subtidal and intertidal habitats because they function as spawning and rearing habitat for many fish species including the ecologically important forage fish and federally protected species of Pacific salmon. Since 2006, we have been collecting species composition and size distribution of the intertidal/subtidal fish community in the Eastern and Central Strait of Juan de Fuca. Potential reference site and treatment sites (where sediment changes are expected to occur) were sampled on a monthly basis from April to September using a beach seine. We found over 45 species of fish, mostly juvenile stages, using this portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca representing two groups- fish occurring in the water column and those living on or near the bottom. The water column species tended to be very abundant and included both migrants (e.g., juvenile salmon) and residents (surf smelt). Although the same species tended to be present each year, they often exhibited dramatic between year variability in abundance. This suggests the importance of using multiple years of data to evaluate changes resulting from dam removal. Treatment and reference areas exhibited some significant differences and we found seasonality in the fish assemblage structure. Our results suggest that some promising bio-indicators of short and long term change in sediment processes are: 1) numbers of species, 2) species diversity, 3) composition and sizes of benthic species, 4) abundance by life history stage of surf smelt, and 5) presence of migratory species like juvenile salmon. We will continue this work following dam removal to track the changes due to dam removal. For this project, the data was stored in .xls and access files.

The Elwha Dams have been removed, with fish restoration to occur in areas previously inaccessible to salmonids. Fish recovery anticipates that genetic changes will occur to current populations, primarily due to genetic introgression between introduced and native stocks. For monitoring to occur, baseline genetics of Elwha river salmonids will be conducted on current populations. Genetic data.

This project addresses how to expand the current fish-tracking technologies to enable the fisheries community to successfully carry out the actions, research, and monitoring activities outlined in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 BiOps, 2004 UPA, Fish and Wildlife Program, and 2003 systemwide passage summary. The goal of the project is to satisfy these needs by developing interrogation systems that will collect data on migrating juvenile and adult salmonids through mainstem Columbia River Basin (CRB) dams, including juvenile salmon transiting surface-bypass systems and all life-stages transiting small streams. These fish-tracking technologies are then used to assess the effectiveness of management actions and strategies for recovery of ESA-listed fish populations. For example, development of PIT-tag systems that will work in large streams or even rivers are essential for determining the effectiveness of all types of restoration programs on stock recovery supported by BPA. In addition, these systems would help delineate the different types of interactions between hatchery and wild stocks in the field. Within this project, we propose to develop technologies that help monitor the stocks at critical (and if possible, all) life stages and critical locations. For example, many juvenile salmonids now use unmodified spillbays, spillbays outfitted with temporary spillway weirs (TSWs) or removable spillway weirs (RSWs), and turbines during their migration, but we are unable to monitor them in these locations because they lack PIT-tag interrogation systems. Consequently, we are collecting fewer data points for the different survival models. Therefore, we are proposing to start or continue development programs for interrogation systems (tags, antennas, receivers, etc) that will enable us to monitor these migrating fish through these pathways. Besides project administration, the proposed work for the performance period (October 2010-January 2012) covers four main research areas or work elements: 1. Finished development of the ogee-based PIT-tag system for Ice Harbor Dam. 2. Install and evaluate the ogee-based system for Ice Harbor Dam. 3. Continue the development of in-stream interrogation systems -- antennas and multiplexing transceiver. 4. Evaluate alternative interrogation technologies - HDX systems and ISO transceivers. Instream research notes.

Dam removal and other fish-barrier removal projects in western North America are assumed to boost freshwater productivity via the transport of marine-derived nutrients from recolonizing Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp). In anticipation of the removal of two hydroelectric dams on the Elwha River in Washington State, we tested this hypothesis with a salmon carcass addition experiment. Our study was designed to examine how background nutrient dynamics and benthic foodwebs vary seasonally, and how these features respond to salmon subsidies. We conducted our experiment in six side channels of the Elwha River, each with a spatially paired reference and treatment reach. Each reach was sampled on multiple occasions from October 2007 to August 2008, before and after carcass placement. We evaluated nutrient limitation status, measured water chemistry, periphyton, benthic invertebrates, and juvenile rainbow trout (O. mykiss) response, and traced salmon-derived nutrient uptake using stable isotopes. Outside of winter, algal accrual was limited by both nitrogen and phosphorous and remained so even in the presence of salmon carcasses. One month after salmon addition, dissolved inorganic nitrogen levels doubled in treatment reaches. Two months after addition, benthic algal accrual was significantly elevated. We detected no changes in invertebrate or fish metrics, with the exception of 15N enrichment. Natural seasonal variability was greater than salmon effects for the majority of our response metrics. Yet seasonality and synchronicity of nutrient supply and demand are often overlooked in nutrient enhancement studies. Timing and magnitude of salmon-derived nitrogen uptake suggest that uptake of dissolved nutrients were favored over direct consumption of carcasses. The highest proportion of salmon-derived nitrogen was incorporated by herbivores (18–30%) and peaked 1–2 months after carcass addition. Peak nitrogen enrichment in predators (11–16%) occurred 2–3 months after addition. All taxa returned to background d15N levels by 7 months. Since this study was conducted, both dams on the Elwha River were removed over 2011-2014 to open over 90% of the basin to anadromous fishes. We anticipate that as the full portfolio of salmon species expand through the basin, nutrient supply and demand will become more balanced and positive feedback loops of reciprocal nutrient transfer reinforced. All datasets related to Elwha River carcass addition experiment. Includes physical habitat, chemical, and biological data.

1) The purpose of this project is to measure changes in juvenile salmon habitat occurrence and health following restoration activities at the Mirror Lake Complex and Horsetail Falls in the Lower Columbia River and estuary. Parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 2) Lyndal Johnson (NWFSC FTE) is the project lead, and other primary staff involved are Sean Sol and Paul Olson (NWFSC FTEs) and Kate Macneale (NWFSC term employee), but the project also involves other NWFSC FTEs, other term employees, contractors, and staff from other programs (Environmental Chemistry) and Divisions (FE, CB), as well as staff from collaborating agencies (e.g., the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership). 3) The project involves field surveys in which parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 4) Specific products to be produced include annual reports for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, and manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. 5) Specific audiences include (but are not limited to) the Bonneville Power Administration and other federal, state, and local agencies involved with salmon recovery and environmental management in the Columbia Basin (e.g., EPA, Washington Department of Ecology, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the City of Portland), the NMFS regional office, and other agency and academic scientists. 6) This is a stand-alone project, but it is also a component of a larger action effectiveness monitoring program overseen by the Estuary Partnership. 7) This is an ongoing project with a soft completion deadline; however, there are specific tasks to be completed on a yearly basis. Growth rates of juvenile chinook salmon as estimated from otoliths.

Comprehensive planning and monitoring of abiotic (hydrology, land forms, energy and nutrients, and chemistry) and biotic (plants, fish, invertebrates, birds, mammals) attributes pre- and post-breach at a 150 hectare site in the Snohomish estuary. Water level, temperature, and salinity at project and reference sites.

NOAA has designed and is currently implementing a hyporheic monitoring plan for the Thornton Creek watershed in North Seattle. This work is being conducted for Seattle Public Utilities, who in 2015 completed two large-scale floodplain reconnection projects in the Thornton Creek Watershed. This study will evaluate restoration effectiveness by comparing control and treatment study reaches to each other and to forested references streams before and after restoration. NOAAs data collection focuses on hyporheic invertebrates, water temperature, and nutrient concentrations. Taxonomic and density data for aquatic invertebrates collected at project sites.

1) The purpose of this project is to measure changes in juvenile salmon habitat occurrence and health following restoration activities at the Mirror Lake Complex and Horsetail Falls in the Lower Columbia River and estuary. Parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 2) Lyndal Johnson (NWFSC FTE) is the project lead, and other primary staff involved are Sean Sol and Paul Olson (NWFSC FTEs) and Kate Macneale (NWFSC term employee), but the project also involves other NWFSC FTEs, other term employees, contractors, and staff from other programs (Environmental Chemistry) and Divisions (FE, CB), as well as staff from collaborating agencies (e.g., the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership). 3) The project involves field surveys in which parameters measured include habitat conditions such as vegetation, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen; salmon diet and prey availability; weight, length, growth rate, lipid content, genetic stock, and chemical contaminant exposure. 4) Specific products to be produced include annual reports for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, and manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. 5) Specific audiences include (but are not limited to) the Bonneville Power Administration and other federal, state, and local agencies involved with salmon recovery and environmental management in the Columbia Basin (e.g., EPA, Washington Department of Ecology, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the City of Portland), the NMFS regional office, and other agency and academic scientists. 6) This is a stand-alone project, but it is also a component of a larger action effectiveness monitoring program overseen by the Estuary Partnership. 7) This is an ongoing project with a soft completion deadline; however, there are specific tasks to be completed on a yearly basis. Chemical contaminants in chinook salmon bodies.

Comprehensive planning and monitoring of abiotic (hydrology, land forms, energy and nutrients, and chemistry) and biotic (plants, fish, invertebrates, birds, mammals) attributes pre- and post-breach at a 150 hectare site in the Snohomish estuary. RTK GPS point locations at project and reference sites.