Water Temperature Dynamics in the Quillayute River Basin, Washington, 2021 - 2023
type: Dataset
description: The Quillayute River Basin in northwestern Washington consists of the Quillayute River and the river systems of its major tributaries, the Dickey, Sol Duc, and Bogachiel Rivers. With a drainage area of 629 square miles, the Quillayute River Basin provides important habitat for 23 distinct runs of anadromous steelhead and salmon, representing one of the largest and most productive watersheds on the Washington coast (Nelson, 1982; Hunter, 2006). The Quileute Tribe maintains treaty-protected fisheries at usual and accustomed areas in the Quillayute River Basin; however, these fisheries are currently at risk during the late summer as water temperatures within these areas may exceed the specific thermal tolerances of salmonids and other cold-water aquatic species. To inform the planning and prioritization of projects that aim to improve the availability of cold-water habitat in the Quillayute River Basin, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Quileute Tribe and Wild Salmon Center, utilized various methods to characterize the late-summer water temperature dynamics of the Quillayute River Basin. These study components and their corresponding objectives included the following: - Thermal infrared surveys to map and profile water surface temperatures and identify thermal points of interest in the Quillayute River and its major tributaries (126 river miles total). - Paired air-stream temperature analysis to evaluate the groundwater influence and thermal sensitivity of 11 sites within the Quillayute River Basin. Repeated longitudinal near-surface and near-bottom water temperature float surveys to locate temperature changes indicative of groundwater discharge and assess the tidal influence on water temperatures along the right edge, left edge, and center of the Quillayute River (20 surveys total) - Models of groundwater-surface water exchange using streambed sediment temperature data at 6 sites in the lower Quillayute River and 13 sites in the Quillayute Riv…
issued: 2025-09-29T14:48:13.251943
modified: 2024-07-08T00:00:00+00:00
spatial: Location
contact point: Organization
  fn: Daniel E Restivo
keyword: AmeriGEO
keyword: AmeriGEOSS
keyword: CKAN
keyword: GEO
keyword: GEOSS
keyword: National
keyword: North America
keyword: United States
keyword: aerial-photography
keyword: avulsion
keyword: biota
keyword: bogachiel-river
keyword: calawah-river
keyword: clallam-county
keyword: current-meander
keyword: data-release
keyword: dickey-river
keyword: downwelling
keyword: environment
keyword: field-inventory-and-monitoring
keyword: geolocation-measurement
keyword: geospatial-analysis
keyword: geospatial-datasets
keyword: groundwater-and-surface-water-interaction
keyword: hydrology
keyword: image-mosaics
keyword: infrared-imaging
keyword: inlandwaters
keyword: jefferson-county
keyword: la-push
keyword: partnerships
keyword: profiles
keyword: quileute-indian-reservation
keyword: quillayute-river
keyword: remote-sensing
keyword: scientific-investigation
keyword: sediment-temperature-modeling
keyword: sediment-vertical-temperature-profiles
keyword: sol-duc-river
keyword: specific-discharge
keyword: summer
keyword: surface-water-quality
keyword: tempest1d
keyword: thermal-imaging
keyword: united-states
keyword: upwelling
keyword: usgs-64e3d0cbd34e5f6cd554e989
keyword: washington
keyword: water-temperature
keyword: watershed-management
theme: {geospatial}

Digital Data
type: Distribution
description: Landing page for access to the data
format: XML
issued: 2025-09-14T13:03:27.250031
modified: 2025-09-29T14:48:13.207049
access URL: https://doi.org/10.5066/P9AXZ37H
media type: application/http

Original Metadata
type: Distribution
description: The metadata original format
format: XML
issued: 2025-09-17T06:13:10.874088
modified: 2025-09-29T14:48:13.206230
access URL: https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.64e3d0cbd34e5f6cd554e989.xml
media type: text/xml

US Migrating
type: Agent