Endangered Species Act Listings

The listing of plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) usually means that a balance must be struck between economic growth in an area and the protection and sustaining of natural resources. In Washington, the ESA listings of selected salmonid species, especially Chinook salmon in the Puget Sound region, means that for the first time an ESA listing affects a major, growing metropolitan area. The primary hydrologic issues related to the ESA listings of salmonid species are loss of critical habitat for salmon and diminishing water availability. The State of Washington has addressed these important issues by establishing the Governor's Statewide Strategy to Recover Salmon and passing the Watershed Management Act (ESHB 2514).

The Governor's Salmon Recovery Office identified instream flow, habitat, agricultural practices, and land use as critical issues the State needs to address in order to restore salmon. Addressing ESA issues in Washington involves obtaining the following key information.

Determination of biologically based instream flows and an understanding of the relation between ground-water withdrawals and instream flow
An understanding of the relations between fluvial processes and instream and riparian habitat
Biologically based monitoring of water and habitat quality
An understanding of the relation between land-use activities, contaminants, and fish health

A wide variety of USGS projects deal directly or indirectly with salmon and ESA issues. The USGS collects and provides streamflow, temperature, and sediment data from more than 250 sites in Washington, develops tools to study the effects of hypothetical ground-water withdrawal scenarios on surface-water bodies, and develops and applies tools to help manage river basins and reservoirs. USGS scientists develop methods and indices for measuring stream health. They evaluated salmon habitat on the Elwha River to assess salmon production potential in the river basin if and when dams are removed, and more recently conducted a habitat assessment in the Cedar River watershed. Numerous studies of water and habitat quality assess the presence and concentrations of organic compounds and metals in streambed sediments, benthic invertebrates, and fish and determined river-borne nutrient loads into Puget Sound. The USGS National Assessment of Water Quality (NAWQA) program is conducting assessments of surface-water quality and land use in the Columbia Basin, Puget Sound, and Yakima River Basin.

Links to projects related to: Endangered Species Act
Cedar River Watershed Cedar River Watershed Water-Quality Assessment - Completed FY2001 Cedar River Watershed Benthic Index of Biological Integrity (BIBI) - Completed FY2004
Chambers-Clover Model Characterization and Numerical Simulation of the Water Resources in the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed, Pierce County, Washington
Chimacum GW Model Evaluation of Potential Hydrologic Effects of Future Ground-Water Withdrawals in the Chimacum Creek Basin, Jefferson County
Central Columbia Plateau - Yakima River Basin NAWQA National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA), Central Columbia Plateau-Yakima River Basin
Colville River Basin Water Resources of the Unconsolidated Ground-Water System of the Colville River Basin - Completed FY2004 Numerical Simulation of the Ground-Water Flow System of the Colville River Basin, Stevens County, Washington - Completed FY2004
Cook and McCalla Basins Watershed Analysis of the Cook and McCalla Basins - Completed FY1995
Geomorphic Mapping, Dosewallips River High Resolution Geomorphic Mapping of the Dosewallips River Using Remotely Sensed Data: Method Development - Completed FY2004
Dungeness Aquifer Delineation in the Dungeness River Basin - Completed FY1995 Hydrogeologic Assessment of the Dungeness River Basin - Completed FY1999 Relation Between the Dungeness River and the Shallow Aquifer in the Sequim-Dungeness Area, Clallam County, Washington - Completed FY2002
Eastbank Aquifer near Rocky Reach Dam Assessment of Ground-Water Temperatures near Rocky Reach Dam, Douglas County
Probability Flows for Streams in Eastern WA Development of Equations for Determining 10-Percent Exceedence Probability Flows for Eastern Washington Streams - Completed FY2000
Elwha River Evaluation of Current Ecological Conditions with Respect to Nutrient Dynamics in the Elwha River, Olympic National Park - Completed FY1999 Transport of suspended sediment and its effect on aquatic habitat in the Elwha River, Olympic National Park - Completed FY2005 Development of a continuous, real-time suspended sediment monitoring system and its evaluation in the Elwha River, Washington - Completed FY2005
Howard A. Hanson Reservoir Estimating Runoff-Season Inflows to the Howard A. Hanson Reservoir, Green River - Completed FY2002
Urban Pesticide Pesticide Toxicity in Urban Streams, King County - Completed FY2004
Evapotranspiration at Klamath Marsh and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge Estimating Evapotranspiration at Klamath Marsh, Oregon, and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, California - Completed FY1999
Methow River Basin Surface-Water Hydrology in the Methow River Basin - Completed FY2003 The Unconsolidated Aquifer and its Interaction with Surface Water - Completed FY2003 Monitoring Water Resources and Simulating Water Management Alternatives - Completed FY2003 Analyzing Aquifer and Streamflow Characteristics for Artificial Recharge in the Methow River Basin - Completed FY2003
Mid-Columbia Habitat Mapping Inactive Side Channels for Habitat Protection and Enhancement of Tributaries in the Mid-Columbia River Basin
Water Resources Inventory Area 1 Watershed Management Water-Quantity Analysis of Water Resources Inventory Area 1, Nooksack River Basin- Part 1: Data Assessment - Completed FY2001
Pacific Northwest Tribal Water Resources Pacific Northwest Tribal Water Resources Technical Assessment - Completed FY2005
Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound (CHIPS) USGS Web page for the Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound (CHIPS) program to provide the science needed to restore and preserve Puget Sound
Water Quality in the Puget Sound Basin Puget Sound Basin National Water-Quality Assessment
Multispectral imaging, Puyallup River The integration of multispectral imaging and LIDAR to evaluate the geomorphic changes associated with a levee setback along the Puyallup River, WA - Completed FY2005
Puyallup River Basin Puyallup River TMDL Monitoring - Completed FY2002
Quilcene Bay Hydrologic Assessment of the Quilcene Bay Area and Chimacum Creek Basin, WRIA 17, Jefferson County - Completed FY2004
Quinault Indian Reservation Watershed Analysis of the Quinault River Basin - Completed FY1999 Channel and Floodplain Processes, Quinault Indian Reservation - Completed FY2002
Lake Roosevelt-Upper Columbia River Assessment of Trace-Element Concentrations in Sediment Cores and Rates of Sediment Accumulation in Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake - Completed FY2004 Occurrence And Distribution of Trace Elements In Air Along Lake Roosevelt: A Pilot Study - Completed FY2006 Occurrence and Distribution of Trace Elements in Lake Roosevelt Beach and Bank Sediments - Completed FY2003 Toxics-Related Water Quality of Lake Roosevelt - Completed FY1995 Bioaccumulation of Mercury in Walleye, FDR Lake - Completed FY1997 Organochlorine Compounds and Mercury in Fish Tissue from Lake Roosevelt and the Upper Columbia River - Completed FY1999 Development of Sediment-Quality Program for the Upper Columbia River and Lake Roosevelt - Completed FY1999 Biological effect of Trace Elements in Lake Roosevelt NRA - Completed FY2006
Salmon River Watershed Analysis Salmon River Watershed Analysis - Completed FY2003
Sammamish River Basin Water Quality of the Sammamish River, King County - Completed FY2002
Sources of Mercury in Sinclair Inlet Potential Sources of Mercury in Sinclair Inlet (Operable Unit B, Marine, Bremerton Naval Complex)
Swinomish Water Resources Water Resources of the Swinomish River Basin - Completed FY1999
Water Resources of the Tulalip Indian Reservation Water Resources of the Tulalip Indian Reservation, Snohomish County - Completed FY2004
Tule Lake Growing-Season Evapotranspiration from Selected Fallow Agricultural Lands of the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, California - Completed FY2002
Evapotranspiration Long-Term Evapotranspiration Network - Completed FY1997 Estimating Actual ET Using Bowen Ratio and Penman Combination Methods - Phase II, Washington - Completed FY1997
Hydrologic Urban Indicator Hydrologic Indicators of Urban Development in Western Washington Streams - Completed FY2002
Sediment Records Collection of Basic Sediment Records, Washington
Surface-Water Records Collection of Basic Surface-Water Records, Washington
Water-Quality Records Collection of Basic Water-Quality Records, Washington
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) EPA Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), benthic invertebrates in the Western United States - Completed FY2004
White River Videography Habitat Identification for the Upper White River Using Multispectral Imaging - Completed FY2002
Yakima River Basin Ground Water in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, and its Relation to the Surface-Water Resource
Yakima Watershed and River Systems Management Program Yakima Watershed and River System Management Program (WARSMP) - Completed FY2002