Winter Floods

While we haven't received the snow I'm still hoping for, the Elwha has definitely been busy, as it has had the highest flow over the past two weeks since ~1949ish, and it was an impressive show. A few visiting friends and I trekked through parts of the Whiskey Bend trail yesterday and saw this giant tree with a gnarly rootwad hinged on Goblin's Gate atleast 15 feet in the air (lower picture). A little further upriver, the trial was completely gone, atleast 10 feet of bank had been eaten up during the storm - which meant we had a little off-trail adventure up to the historical "Michael's Cabin" site. Needless to say, the storms were hugely influential as the Elwha illustrates and the whole scene is very humbling to observe, powerful dynamics at work...next time I hope to have a front row seat!

Rain, Snow and Sunshine

In true winter fashion, we here in PA received our first snow on December 1st and I loved it! Unfortunately, it didn't last too long as now we're snowless but the downpour of rain is going strong... I'm excited to see what kind of truly "winter weather" we will get here, let the snow fall down!

Currently, my actual research involvement is very slim; the hydrology project is beginning but my farm work schedule has conflicted with the outings, so I haven't done any actual research-related work in quite a while, but next week we're doing an NRCS snowpack data training which will clue me back into the project. Meanwhile, the mysterious wildlife group has yet to materialize - I'm not quite sure what to expect in that realm, but I'm guessing it has do with working in the appropriate season for data collection (and apparently it's not the Fall!).

So, as for now, I'm really enjoying my work at the farm and look forward to all of the snowy adventures (hopefully) that come our way here on the Peninsula.

Actual removal or perpetual postponement?

Glines Canyon Dam

Lower Elwha Dam

Recently a lot of folks have asked if I sincerely believe the Elwha Dams will be removed in 2013 like they are tenatively planned for currently...and I honestly have to approach the question with some of my own hesitancy because of the Elwha's outstanding record of pushing back the removal date for a wide range of reasons - last year the removal date was postponed from 2009 to 2013 because a water treatment plant needed to be relocated and construction contracts had yet to be determined...that has apparently been resolved and 2013 is the most recent proposal for demolition...

A friend just sent me an article from the Lewiston Tribune (Idaho) entitled "Officials say fish are not jeopardized by dam plans" (http://www.wildsalmon.org/pressroom/press-detail.cfm?docid=720). Revolving around the controversy of a very weak potential to consider dam removal for the Snake River and and even more benign consideration of the Columbia River dams, NOAA fisheries conducted a biological opinion that dam operations on these rivers do not jeopardize fish survival for 13 listed fish species (salmon and steelhead), given that the dams include 73 additional actions "costing hundreds of millions of dollars intended to protect the fish and lay the groundwork for their recovery." These additional actions include extra spill water time, improved riverine habitat and enhancing fish passage systems. According to a regional administrator for NOAA, dam breaching is not included in these actions because "removal of dams is not under authority of the federal action agencies." Maybe I'm confused here, but isn't the Elwha dam breaching project headed by federal agencies?

While there are no fish passage systems on either of the Elwha Dams, I know the option of retrofitting the dams was proposed as a possible option in response to anadromous fish concerns. Unlike the Columbia, where I can understand some of the concerns related to the "threatening" general discussions regarding dam breaching, the Elwha seems like a perfect small-scale area to remove the dams and see if anadromous fish numbers will really repopulate and thrive like the most optimistic forecasts suggest.

If action continues to be halted by repetitious litigation and loopholes, the Elwha will remain a stalemate instead of a model to either support or disprove great uncertainty regarding endangered fish populations. The uncertainty can dissipate and be applied to larger scale systems like the Snake or even the Columbia, so why not? Therefore, in response to questions of the likelihood of actual Elwha dam removal, I remain skeptically optimistic (oh yes, it does exist) that when the removal actually happens, we can eliminate some of the uncertainty that is bogging down the progress of other projects, whether that be to include 73 additional actions or consider dam breaching as a viable option.

Some clarification

My REU ambiguity was partially resolved last week thanks to a couple of meetings with a lot of local and regional folks involved in this hydrology project. I learned that a hybrid hydrological model is being used to better gauge and predict stream flow in the Dungeness River via annual snowpack accumulation and melt. Field data has been collected for both lower and high elevations, but it appears as though the middle elevations are lagging behind - and here's where our REU group enters...although the specific sites have yet to be determined, I'm pretty sure we're going to be in charge of collecting the mid-range data to "groundtruth" predicted conditions. Eventually this hybrid model will also be used on the Elwha, and more trekking around is in store for that watershed too. At the official NASA meeting, a representative from DC came and spoke about NASA's involvement and contributions to the project (including remote sensing data and available technology roaming in space). I also learned what a "Solutions Network" is (unfortunately as a consequence of failing the hotseat question) and its apparent foundational importance to this project - I'm sure there'll be more to come. As for the wildlife project - no signs of life yet, but we'll see what these next few weeks conjure up...

Royal Basin

Well, for my introduction to REU research, this hike was pretty amazing... I was actually told to hike- wow. The hydrology research project is examining the relationship between snowpack, forests, and stream flow, while adapting a modeling program that was used on a nearby watershed for the Elwha. Royal Basin is an area that houses a good size cumulative snowpack throughout the snow season, and we may return to this area in the winter for data collection (we were asked to check out the basin before the first snow). Chris and I got a bit of a late start to our trek because of my morning interview at the farm, so we knew that the hike was most definitely going to be a speedy one. Unfortunately we didn't get to leisurely enjoy all the new sights and sounds of this incredible area, but I think my camera did a pretty decent job of freeze-framing some of the beautiful scenery. Along the way we saw vibrant colors from the trees and glacier fed streams, some gnarly cougar prints, and rugged carved out channels. Royal Basin definitely has potential to hold snow; I'm interested to see what kind winter accumulation is standard over here on the Peninsula... with the incentive of good food and wine enticing us at home, we raced back down the trail and hobbled into the car. It was an awesome day and a great start to this hydrology project.

Whiskey Bend

Yesterday I made my first trek into the Elwha since moving out here, and it was ridiculously beautiful - the crisp Fall air was refreshing and the colors were stellar. Surprisingly, I ran into quite a few folks on the trail (one couple in particular was totally awesome, an inspirational alive-and-kicking, seniors' discount at Dennys' kind of couple...). After making a few "rookie to the park" loops, I eventually made my way to Goblin's Gate, a super-narrow canyon that funnels all the fury of the Elwha into a tiny channel -that'll be an incredible show in high flow season...cheers to the future salmon journeys!

Hello web-world, goodbye techno peasantry

Hey there, this is my blog to hopefully capture the highlights of my experience working on the Elwha River Restoration Project outside of Port Angeles, WA. I must admit that this is definitely the most techy thing I've ever done, and take complete pride in being a "techno peasant." With that said, this blog should be an adventure in itself...