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USGS2024

River channel response to the removal of the Pilchuck River Diversion Dam, Washington State

In August 2020, the 3-m tall Pilchuck River Diversion Dam was removed from the Pilchuck River, allowing free fish passage to the upper third of the watershed for the first time in over a century. The narrow, 300-m long impoundment behind the dam was estimated to hold 4,000–7,500 m 3 of sand and gravel, representing less than one year's typical bedload flux. Repeat cross section surveys, stage sensors, and time-lapse cameras were used to document the physical channel response over the first year following dam removal. A total of 7,400 m 3 (effectively 100%) of impoundment sediment was eroded in the first year, with 25% accomplished by manual regrading during dam removal. Most river-caused erosion occurred during a sequence of modest flows in October 2020. Downstream deposition totaled 4,300 m 3 , predominately filling in the first 100 m downstream of the dam site. Deposition tapered below detectable levels within 350 m, and most downstream channel adjustments occurred before November 2020. Multiple high flows after December 2020 caused little upstream or downstream change. The physical river response to this dam removal then appears to have been largely accomplished within several months by modest flows, consistent with pre-removal modeling and observations from other regional dam removals. Efficient sediment evacuation was likely aided by the narrow and steep-walled impoundment geometry. Our observations support existing guidance that the physical river response to small dam removals is typically rapid and modest; the benefits of removal may then often be gained with minimal negative downstream geomorphic impacts.

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USGS2020

Streambed scour of salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) redds in the South Fork Tolt River, King County, Washington

Prior to emergence as fry, salmonid embryos incubating within gravel nests called “redds” are vulnerable to substrate mobilization and lowering of the streambed, a process termed “streambed scour,” during floods. Water managers regulating discharge in salmonid-bearing rivers need information about the magnitude of discharge during which the scour of substrate surrounding salmonid redds occurs. The time when scour occurs, however, is difficult to measure and usually poorly constrained. The South Fork Tolt River in western Washington supplies the City of Seattle with hydroelectric power and about 40 percent of its municipal water needs, while providing spawning habitat for two salmonid species listed under the Endangered Species Act: Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) and steelhead trout ( O. mykiss ). The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities, began a study in 2015 using accelerometer scour monitors (ASM) to characterize the timing of and hydrologic conditions associated with streambed scour at the depth of incubating salmonid embryos in the South Fork Tolt River. Prior to this study, operational thresholds for peak discharge on the South Fork Tolt River were 350 cubic feet per second (cfs) in the upper part of the river and 550 cfs in the lower part of the river as measured at USGS streamgages 12148000 and 12148300, respectively. These thresholds were developed from the peak discharge associated with observations of the flattening of redd structure and not from direct measurement of scour at the depth of egg pockets within redds. Accelerometer scour monitors were deployed at the level of salmonid egg pockets in spawning habitat of the South Fork Tolt River to record the temporal pattern of streambed scour at the depth of incubating salmon eggs during fall and winter flood seasons of water years (WY) 2016 and 2017. Thirteen of 48 ASMs deployed during the WY 2016 flood season recorded scour attributed to high streamflow when discharge measured at USGS streamgage 12148300 (the lower river streamgage used as an index gage) was between 969 and 1,360 cfs. Local discharge at individual scour sites varied depending on the timing of tributary inputs and downstream transport of water. During the subsequent flood season in WY 2017, peak discharge at the index gage reached 809 cfs. None of the 38 ASMs deployed recorded scour attributed to streamflow alone, although 10 ASMs recorded localized bed movement attributed to spawning activity of fish. Most scour at the depth of redds measured during WY 2016 occurred at or before peak flood discharge consistent with previous redd scour studies. The lack of scour measured in WY 2017 when peak discharge (809 cfs) was less than the minimum discharge when scour occurred in WY 2016 (969 cfs) suggests minimal to no scour of egg pockets in salmonid redds when discharge is less than 809 cfs.

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