Degrees Celsius

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DEGREES CELSIUS

Symposium Report Ecological Opportunities for Gravel Pit Reclamation On the Russian River Exploring ideas and research for reclaiming Old Gravel Pits adjacent to the Russian River. Assessing ecological opportunities for wetlands and fisheries. Sponsored by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and Syar Industries

Can we restore/ create/ rehabilitate ecosystem function of RIVER WETLANDS’ off channel habitat for orphan salmonid fry and parr?
PHASE I POND TEMPERATURES
35 30

25

SURFACE
20

10 FT DEPTH 20 FT DEPTH 30 FT DEPTH 40 FT DEPTH BOTTOM

15

10

5

0

7/9/2008

8/6/2008

5/28/2008

6/11/2008

6/25/2008

7/23/2008

8/20/2008

9/3/2008

9/17/2008

10/1/2008

10/15/2008

10/29/2008

11/12/2008

11/26/2008

DATE PHASE I POND WATER QUALITY

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
depth ft degreesC DO mg/l

CELSIUS/ MG/L

1 0 20.6 10.91

2 10 19.8 9.8

3 20 18.6 8.69

4 30 15.6 0.09

12/10/2008
5 40 11.6 0.05

6 50 11 0.18

Symposium Conclusions and Recommendations
1) 170 years of Euro-American settlement and development of the Russian River Watershed has resulted in the wholesale loss and elimination of river wetlands/ offchannel habitat. 2) Loss of this orphan fry/ parr salmonid life history stage habitat will limit the recovery-survival potential for ESA listed salmonids, critically for coho salmon. 3) The gravel pits could to be modified to re-create ecologically productive river wetlands/ off-channel habitats; 4) Seasonally and longterm evolving river wetlands of shallow emergent marsh and open water habitats surrounded by flooded woodlands and mature seralstage redwood, fir mixed deciduous north coast forest are the analogous natural design templates. 5) With the configuration of the Russian River channel and the adjacent terrace pit mines, pit capture of the river channel is not likely to occur. 6) Predation risks to salmonid populations using river wetlands/ off-channel habitat are outweighed by the benefit of accelerated growth rates enabling large numbers of parr/smolt to reach threshold size for marine survival. Differential temperature peak activity levels of species and habitat preferences limit predation risks. 7) Hydraulic connections between the river and pits need to accommodate and evolve for seasonal fish entry and egress, to be geomorphically stable, yet account for scenarios of river channel migration due to sediment transport and flood dynamics of lateral erosion/ meandering processes. 8) Water temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) requirements are key considerations in developing reclamation strategies, as cold groundwater and surface mixing with pit waters will increase and can be enhanced with design of hydraulic connections, depth, bank slope , bottom topography; submerged and emergent vegetation, & complex littoral edge. 9) To avoid anoxic conditions, pits may need to be filled to a depth and with a topography such that wind mixing, groundwater current upwelling, and mechanically driven mixing (windmills?) or other means limit thermal stratification and seasonal anoxia in lower strata of the water column. 10) Filling pits to achieve desirable topography and depth could be accomplished by pulling the isolation levees into the pits, and by natural overbank sedimentation and filling during floods, as has occurred between the 1980s and 1990s in the Passalaqua Pit of the Russian River ..downstream.

Physical Attributes of Russian River ponds:
Over 800 acres; Steep banks to depth; 30 to 50 foot depths into the aquifer; Significant cold groundwater inflow rates; Frequent – to infrequent main-channel river flood connections, i.e. 3 to 25 year events; High nutrient input of waste treatment facility releases; Seasonal spring-summer temperature stratification; Anoxic lower / bottom strata 10-30 ft thick; Seasonal ~ 10 foot surrounding groundwater level fluctuation; Potential methane gas release events stripping all strata of oxygen.

Documented River Wetlands/ Off-Channel Habitat attributes contributing to salmonid ecosystem productivity:
• Extensive shoals and shallows (less than 4 meters deep; • Complexity of morphologic features of coves, peninsulas, sloughs…bottom topography; i.e., complex and extensive “edge” habitat; • Areas of emergent vegetation along complex littoral edge; submerged (native) aquatic vegetation (SAV) to 4m depths; • Broad multi-story riparian zone with inundation-tolerant fringe of overhanging and/or trailing vegetation, pro-grading to gallery forest; • Submerged large and small woody structure; (with all of the above contributing to the “heterogeneity” of habitat) • Seasonal flooding; • Access to adjacent floodplain; • Return access to perennial water as floodwaters recede; • Perennial and stable temperature inflows provided by groundwater;

Biotic Attributes of Russian River ponds:
Low to no benthic productivity; Algal blooms, hyperoxic and hypoxic conditions / high CO2 levels likely causing seasonal hypercapnia in fish – reduced ability to respire CO2 , with build up of blood CO2 levels resulting in lethargy, surface swimming…; Minimal to no submerged, emergent , overhanging and/or trailing vegetation along the littoral edge and shorelines; Minimal submerged large and small woody structure; Potential for seasonal methylation of mercury under anaerobic conditions.

Symposium Presentations and Panel Discussion by: Peter B. Bayley Ph.D., Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331. Brian Cluer Ph.D., Fluvial Geomorphlogist, NMFS Habitat Conservation Division, Santa Rosa, CA.

• Seasonally appropriate extended-period, or perennial connections Guillermo Giannico Ph.D., to main channels of rivers and streams. Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331. Sean A. Hayes Ph.D., Research Fishery Biologist, NMFS Southwest Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA. Matt Kondolf Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Planning and Geography, University of California, Berkeley. John P. McKeon, Natural Resource Management Specialist, NMFS Protected Resources Division, Santa Rosa, CA. Mitchell Swanson P.E., President, Swanson Hydrology & Geomorphology, Santa Cruz, CA.

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