An urbanized river disconnected from its floodplain

Project Title

Monitoring Restoration of Off-Channel Habitat for Juvenile Salmonids

Description

Off-channel habitats (such as sloughs, beaver ponds, wetlands and other permanently or seasonally flooded lands) are important rearing areas for juvenile salmonids. As floodplains have been routinely isolated or impacted by adjacent land use, off-channel habitats have been lost.

The objectives of this project are to determine the effectiveness of various off-channel habitat restoration techniques by

1. Gathering and summarizing known information on off-channel salmonid production.
2. Determining what physical, biological, and hydrological features characterize the most successful projects.

A weir used to trap and count outmigrating smolts

Project researchers are currently analyzing smolt-trapping data collected from over 30 off-channel sites in Washington State by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Skagit System Co-operative, and the Quinault Indian Nation. This information is being supplemented with additional spatial and geomorphological data for each site. Based on preliminary analyses, we found that constructed groundwater channels were particularly productive for juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch).

An example of a constructed groundwater channel on the Olympic Peninsula

We are also collecting temperature, nutrient, and invertebrate data so as to evaluate the specific relationships between these site characteristics and fish use parameters. Knowledge of these relationships will help to establish future guidelines for the design and construction of off-channel habitats.

Investigators

Sarah Morley, Todd Bennett, Phil Roni

Collaborators

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Skagit System Co-operative; Quinault Indian Nation; Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe; Patricia Garcia (Frank Orth), Andrea Pratt (Intern), and Brian Sodeman (Intern)

Support

NOAA Fisheries

Project Status

Project completed. Two manuscripts published

Relevant Publications

Morley, S.A., P.S. Garcia, T.R. Bennett, and P. Roni. 2005. Juvenile salmonid (Oncorhynchus spp.) use of constructed and natural side channels in Pacific Northwest Rivers. Canadian Journal of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences 62: 2811-2821.

Roni, P., S.A., Morley, P. Garcia, C. Detrick, D. King, and E. Beamer 2006. 2006. Coho salmon smolt production from constructed and natural floodplain habitats. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.135: 1398-1408

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