Baseline hydrologic studies in the lower Elwha River prior to dam removal

Book excerpt: Chapter 4 of Duda, J.J., J.A. Warrick, and C.S. Magirl, eds., Coastal habitats of the Elwha River, Washington – Biological and physical patterns and processes prior to dam removal This report includes chapters that summarize the results of multidisciplinary studies to quantify and characterize the current (2011) status and baseline conditions of the lower Elwha River, its estuary, and the adjacent nearshore ecosystems prior to the historic removal of two long-standing dams that have strongly influenced river, estuary, and nearshore conditions. The studies were conducted as part of the U.S. Geological Survey Multi-disciplinary Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound (MD-CHIPS) project. Chapter 4 details a series of hydrological data collected by the MD-CHIPS Elwha project. These include groundwater monitoring, surface water-groundwater interactions in the estuary, an estimated surface-water budget to the estuary, and a series of temperature and salinity measurements.