Fish Assemblage, Density, and Growth in Lateral Habitats within Natural and Regulated Sections of Washington's Elwha River Prior to Dam Removal

Establishing Baseline Information on the Geographic Distribution of Fish Pathogens Endemic in Pacific Salmonids Prior to Dam Removal and Subsequent Recolonization by Anadromous Fish in the Elwha River, Washington

“…Since the upper Elwha River is cooler than the lower and middle river (Connolly and Brenkman 2008), after dam removal water temperatures below Glines Canyon Dam are expected to decrease. In other watersheds, increased water temperatures have resulted in amplification of pathogens and increased disease.…”

Juvenile salmonid monitoring in the White Salmon River, Washington, post-Condit Dam removal, 2016

“…The rkm 12.3 site was just upstream of Husum Falls to investigate potential presence of spring Chinook or coho salmon. Methods for sampling the White Salmon at rkm 2.3 and 12.3 were similar to methods implemented by Connolly and Brenkman (2008) in the Elwha River system and used in the White Salmon River by Allen and Connolly (2011). At each location, a 4.5-m swath of the wadeable-margin was electrofished, with an attempt to sample at least one pool and one non-pool habitat.…”

Coastal habitats of the Elwha River, Washington- Biological and physical patterns and processes prior to dam removal

“…Similarly, recent monitoring of stream temperature noted an increase in mean annual stream temperature, and a decrease in diurnal temperature fluctuations, in the regulated reach downstream of Glines Canyon Dam compared with the unaltered upstream reach (Connolly and Brenkman, 2008). This warming of stream temperature downstream of the dams was attributed to heat storage in the Lake Mills reservoir (Wunderlich and others, 1994).…”

“…Other changes caused by the dams include increased armoring and channelization in parts of the river downstream of each dam; increased in median particle size others, 2008, Draut andothers, 2011); increased average age of riparian flood plain forests (Kloehn and others, 2008); and some decreased flood plain complexity and lateral migration of the main channel (Draut and others, 2008;. Geomorphic changes have affected instream benthic invertebrate assemblages and patterns of periphyton standing crop (Morley and others, 2008), as well as salmon populations (Wunderlich and others, 1994;Brenkman and others, 2008;Connolly and Brenkman, 2008;Pess and others, 2008). Another component of functioning flood plain river systems, large woody debris (Abbe and Montgomery, 1996;Latterell and others, 2006), also has been intercepted by the reservoirs (although dam operators regularly pass rafted logs through the dams), further changing flood plain dynamics and fish habitat downstream of each reservoir.…”

“…These animals play a central role as prey for salmon and are indicators of water quality that should be responsive to physical changes associated with dam removal. Other studies are being conducted on fish ecology by colleagues elsewhere in the watershed (for examples, see Burke and others, 2008;Connolly and Brenkman, 2008;McHenry and Pess, 2008;others, 2008, Brenkman andothers, 2008a, b;Duda and others, in press), in the nearshore proximal to the Elwha River, and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (for example, Shaffer and others, 2009). Juvenile Chinook salmon samples from these studies were obtained to assist in estimating several life history traits, including age and growth (otolith microstructure), feeding (stomach contents), and genetics (fin clips).…”