Ecological Effects of Tide Gate Upgrade Or Removal: a Literature Review and Knowledge Synthesis
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Ecological Effects of Tide Gate Upgrade or Removal: A Literature Review and Knowledge Synthesis Institute for Natural Resources FINAL REPORT Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board February 2018 1 Ecological Effects of Tide Gate Upgrade or Removal: A Literature Review and Knowledge Synthesis Final Report February 2018 Submitted to Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) in fulfillment of grant #217-8500-14090. Principal Investigators Dr. Guillermo Giannico, Oregon State University Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife and Oregon Sea Grant Dr. Jon Souder, Oregon State University Dept. of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, and Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Technical staff Londi Tomaro, Fisheries Ecologist Jeff Behan, Science Research Policy Analyst, Oregon State University Institute for Natural Resources THE INSTITUTE FOR NATURAL RESOURCES Created by the Oregon Legislature through the 2001 Oregon Sustainability Act, the Institute for Natural Resources’ mission is to provide access to integrated knowledge and information to inform natural resource decision making and develop solutions in the context of sustainability. The Institute for Natural Resources is an Oregon public universities institute located at Oregon State University and Portland State University. OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY (headquarters) 234 Strand Hall, Corvallis, Oregon 97331 Recommended Citation Souder, J.A., L.M. Tomaro, G.R. Giannico and J.R. Behan. 2018. Ecological Effects of Tide Gate Upgrade or Removal: A Literature Review and Knowledge Synthesis. Report to Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. 136 pp. Submitted to Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board in fulfillment of grant #217-8500-14090. For more information about this report please contact the Institute for Natural Resources: [email protected]. Cover photo: Sam Beebe. (Sandy River, Oregon.) ii Acknowledgments First and foremost, we thank Ken Fetcho and Renee Davis with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) for the opportunity to work on this project, and for their patience during its completion. Feedback from them and their OWEB colleagues Jillian McCarthy and Katie Duzik significantly improved the content and organization of this report. Greg Apke (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) generously shared his experience and knowledge regarding fish passage. Ed Hughes (Coos Watershed Association) provided valuable information and graphics. Leo Kunz (Nehalem Marine) was very helpful with advice and unique insights on new tide gate designs. Our search for non-OWEB project reports was substantially enhanced by the assistance of Eric Beamer (Skagit River System Cooperative), Mike Wallace (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) and also Keith Marcoe and Matthew Schwartz (Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership). Jenny Baker and Dick Vander Schaaf (The Nature Conservancy), and Jenna Friebel (Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife) provided timely and useful responses to our requests for additional information regarding their estuary restoration work. Finally, we are grateful to Julie Bain and Lisa Gaines (Institute of Natural Resources, OSU) for their assistance with compiling and formatting the report prior to publication. This project was funded by OWEB through grant #217-8500-14090. Disclaimer This final report is submitted to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board as a final requirement of contract number grant #217-8500-14090. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are solely responsible for the facts and accuracy of the material presented. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. iii Table of Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms ......................................................................................................................vii Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... x Physical and ecological effects of tide gates ................................................................................. xiii Project scoping, prioritization, and planning ................................................................................ xiv Project implementation and effectiveness .................................................................................... xv Future monitoring ........................................................................................................................ xvi Phase II project opportunities ...................................................................................................... xvi Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1-1 Tidal hydrology and tide gate hydraulics ..................................................................................... 1-3 Purpose and organization of this report ...................................................................................... 1-5 Chapter 2 Methods ................................................................................................................................... 2-1 Task 1: Academic literature review ............................................................................................. 2-1 Review questions ..................................................................................................................... 2-1 Literature search ...................................................................................................................... 2-2 Task 2: Summary and review of completed OWEB-funded tide gate projects ............................ 2-3 Task 3: Summary and review of completed tide gate projects not primarily OWEB-funded ...... 2-3 Task 4: Summary and synthesis report ........................................................................................ 2-5 Chapter 3 Ecological Context of Tide Gates in Streams and Estuaries...................................................... 3-1 Review of Giannico and Souder (2005) ....................................................................................... 3-1 Recent studies on fish passage and water quality related to the presence of tide gates ............ 3-2 Coho salmon early life histories ................................................................................................... 3-4 Coho survival in tide gated streams............................................................................................. 3-5 Salmonid estuarine habitat preferences ..................................................................................... 3-7 iv Coho salmon ............................................................................................................................ 3-7 Chinook salmon ....................................................................................................................... 3-8 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 3-8 Chapter 4 Effects of Tide Gate Upgrades and Removal on Aquatic Organisms and Estuarine Environments .................................................................................................................................................................. 4-1 Effects of tide gate upgrade or removal on salmonids and other aquatic organisms ................. 4-2 Effects of tide gate upgrade or removal on environmental factors ............................................. 4-8 Long-term effects of tide gate removal and dike breaching ...................................................... 4-11 Conclusions................................................................................................................................ 4-12 Chapter 5 Regional Project Summaries .................................................................................................... 5-1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 5-1 Relationship to scope of work ..................................................................................................... 5-2 Project Descriptions by Estuary ................................................................................................... 5-4 Northeastern Puget Sound ..................................................................................................... 5-5 Lower Columbia River Estuary .............................................................................................. 5-10 Oregon North Coast Region .................................................................................................. 5-14 Spotlight on the Tillamook Bay Estuary ................................................................................. 5-14 Coos Bay and the Coquille River Estuaries ............................................................................ 5-21 Humboldt Bay Region ........................................................................................................... 5-25 Monitoring and evaluation of tide gate removals and upgrades ............................................... 5-31 Types of monitoring .............................................................................................................