Geology topics

Research about Yakima River

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Yakima River.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2022

Monitoring the movements of juvenile Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) in the Yakima River, Washington, using acoustic telemetry, 2019–20

Anthropogenic barriers to main-stem and tributary passage are one of the primary threats associated with declining populations of Pacific Lamprey ( Entosphenus tridentatus ) in the Columbia River Basin. Juvenile lamprey are of special interest because their downstream migration to the ocean may be affected by barriers such as dams or water diversions. Telemetry studies that describe the movement and passage of juvenile lamprey have not been possible until the recent development of a micro-transmitter specifically for use in juvenile lamprey and eels. Through a collaborative research approach, we used these prototype transmitters and acoustic monitoring arrays installed for a juvenile salmon ( Oncorhynchus spp.) migration study to evaluate juvenile lamprey movements in the Yakima River (river kilometer 179 to the river mouth) in 2019 and 2020. We tagged and released 152 juvenile lamprey from April 30 to June 5, 2019, and on June 9, 2020. Lamprey were released 6.9 kilometers (km) upstream from Wapato Dam, 1.2 km upstream from Prosser Dam, and into the canal and tailrace at Prosser Dam. Most tagged lamprey did not initiate downstream movements within the 18 days of tag life, as evidenced by our detections of lamprey in the highest numbers at the first monitoring site downstream from their release site, with limited or no detections at sites farther downstream. There was no evidence of missed detections (lamprey detected at a downstream site without corresponding detections upstream). Overall detections of tagged lamprey were low: 27.0 percent in 2019 and 48.0 percent in 2020. River flows were less than the 10-year average during the monitoring period and water temperatures were variable. Lamprey arrived at detections sites predominantly during periods of darkness (85.3–96.6 percent) following daytime releases. Travel rates through the study area ranged from 0.2 to 45.3 kilometers per day, and lamprey generally remained at each detection station for less than about 20 minutes. Groups of lamprey released together generally had similar travel rates with a small number of fish that moved more quickly or slowly than the remainder of the group. In addition to monitoring the migration and behavior of juvenile lamprey, we also assessed some assumptions of survival models (determining downstream drift of purposely killed fish and empirically measuring transmitter operating life) to benefit future evaluations focused on migration survival of juvenile lamprey.

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USGS2021

Evaluation of factors affecting migration success of adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the Yakima River, Washington, 2020

A study was conducted during June–October 2020 to evaluate factors affecting the migration success of adult sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) in the Yakima River, Washington. A total of 144 adult sockeye salmon were tagged and released during the study. Most fish (112 fish) were collected, tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT), and released at the mouth of the Yakima River. The remaining fish were tagged with a radio transmitter and PIT tag: 13 fish were collected, tagged, and released at Prosser Dam; 13 fish were collected and tagged at Prosser Dam, transported downstream, and released at the mouth of the Yakima River; and 6 fish were collected, tagged, and released at the mouth of the Yakima River. Radio-tagged fish released at Prosser Dam initially moved upstream and spread out in the river reach between Prosser and Sunnyside Dams, but all fish stopped moving and several transmitters were recovered. Detection records and temperature data from recovered transmitters were the basis for inferring that avian predators consumed at least 6 of the 13 fish. Fifteen of the 19 radio-tagged sockeye salmon released at the mouth of the Yakima River moved upstream in the Columbia River and were detected at Johnson Island in the Hanford Reach, or at Priest Rapids Dam. Two of these fish, tagged on August 7, eventually moved back downstream and entered the Yakima River when water temperatures in the lower Yakima River were 16–18 degrees Celsius (°C). One fish moved upstream to Sunnyside Dam where its tag was later recovered. The other fish moved farther upstream and was detected at Prosser Dam, but eventually moved downstream and its tag was recovered near Benton City, Washington. None of the recovered tags were found near a carcass. More than one-half of the sockeye salmon that were collected, tagged, and released at the mouth of the Yakima River were subsequently detected, and the greatest proportion of fish from groups released during June, July, and August entered the Yakima River. This finding suggests that adult sockeye salmon are present at the mouth of the Yakima River throughout the summer. Detection records for tagged fish at monitoring sites located near cool water inputs in the lower Yakima River suggest that sockeye salmon do not spend a substantial amount of time at these locations. Fish count data at Prosser Dam fish ladders showed that sockeye salmon had a bi-modal pattern of upstream migration with peaks in late June/early July and September when water temperature in the lower Yakima River was 20 °C or less. Sixty-one percent of PIT-tagged sockeye salmon detected at Prosser Dam were eventually collected at the adult fish trapping facility at Roza Dam where fish are collected and transported upstream to Cle Elum Reservoir. These data, in conjunction with results from other studies, suggest that a substantial proportion of Yakima River sockeye salmon fail to arrive at Roza Dam. Additional research will be required to better understand factors affecting Yakima River sockeye salmon.

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USGS2020

Evaluation of water temperature effects on adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) behavior in the Yakima River, Washington, 2019

A study was conducted in the lower Yakima River, Washington, during June–October 2019 to evaluate water temperature effects on adult sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) behavior. A total of 60 sockeye salmon adults were tagged with radio transmitters and monitored during the study. Fourteen of the fish were collected and tagged at Prosser Dam in late June and the remainder were collected and tagged at the mouth of the Yakima River in late July. Water temperature exceeded 20 degrees Celsius (°C), conditions shown to block upstream migration of adult sockeye salmon in other river systems, from June 9, 2019 to September 15, 2019. These elevated temperatures seemed to affect the behavior of tagged fish during this study. Fish that were collected and tagged at Prosser Dam left the Yakima River within days of release and tagged fish that were collected and released at the mouth of the Yakima River failed to enter and move upstream until mid-September when water temperature decreased to less than (<) 20 °C. Monitoring sites were located adjacent to several known areas of cool-water inputs that may provide thermal refuge for fish in the lower Yakima River to determine if tagged fish spent time in these areas. Although several tagged fish moved repeatedly past these sites, most fish spent <30 minutes at any given site, indicating that fish were actively migrating past the sites rather than holding near cool-water inputs. A single tagged fish moved upstream to Roza Dam and was collected for upstream transport to Cle Elum Reservoir during our study. Additional research in subsequent years likely will be required to better understand how water temperature affects adult sockeye salmon in the lower Yakima River.

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USGS2013

Development of a database-driven system for simulating water temperature in the lower Yakima River main stem, Washington, for various climate scenarios

A model for simulating daily maximum and mean water temperatures was developed by linking two existing models: one developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and one developed by the Bureau of Reclamation. The study area included the lower Yakima River main stem between the Roza Dam and West Richland, Washington. To automate execution of the labor-intensive models, a database-driven model automation program was developed to decrease operation costs, to reduce user error, and to provide the capability to perform simulations quickly for multiple management and climate change scenarios. Microsoft© SQL Server 2008 R2 Integration Services packages were developed to (1) integrate climate, flow, and stream geometry data from diverse sources (such as weather stations, a hydrologic model, and field measurements) into a single relational database; (2) programmatically generate heavily formatted model input files; (3) iteratively run water temperature simulations; (4) process simulation results for export to other models; and (5) create a database-driven infrastructure that facilitated experimentation with a variety of scenarios, node permutations, weather data, and hydrologic conditions while minimizing costs of running the model with various model configurations. As a proof-of-concept exercise, water temperatures were simulated for a "Current Conditions" scenario, where local weather data from 1980 through 2005 were used as input, and for "Plus 1" and "Plus 2" climate warming scenarios, where the average annual air temperatures used in the Current Conditions scenario were increased by 1degree Celsius (°C) and by 2°C, respectively. Average monthly mean daily water temperatures simulated for the Current Conditions scenario were compared to measured values at the Bureau of Reclamation Hydromet gage at Kiona, Washington, for 2002-05. Differences ranged between 1.9° and 1.1°C for February, March, May, and June, and were less than 0.8°C for the remaining months of the year. The difference between current conditions and measured monthly values for the two warmest months (July and August) were 0.5°C and 0.2°C, respectively. The model predicted that water temperature generally becomes less sensitive to air temperature increases as the distance from the mouth of the river decreases. As a consequence, the difference between climate warming scenarios also decreased. The pattern of decreasing sensitivity is most pronounced from August to October. Interactive graphing tools were developed to explore the relative sensitivity of average monthly and mean daily water temperature to increases in air temperature for model output locations along the lower Yakima River main stem.

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USGS2012

Tradeoffs between homing and habitat quality for spawning site selection by hatchery-origin Chinook salmon

Spawning site selection by female salmon is based on complex and poorly understood tradeoffs between the homing instinct and the availability of appropriate habitat for successful reproduction. Previous studies have shown that hatchery-origin Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) released from different acclimation sites return with varying degrees of fidelity to these areas. To investigate the possibility that homing fidelity is associated with aquatic habitat conditions, we quantified physical habitat throughout 165 km in the upper Yakima River basin (Washington, USA) and mapped redd and carcass locations from 2004 to 2008. Principal components analysis identified differences in substrate, cover, stream width, and gradient among reaches surrounding acclimation sites, and canonical correspondence analysis revealed that these differences in habitat characteristics were associated with spatial patterns of spawning ( p < 0.01). These analyses indicated that female salmon may forego spawning near their acclimation area if the surrounding habitat is unsuitable. Evaluating the spatial context of acclimation areas in relation to surrounding habitat may provide essential information for effectively managing supplementation programs and prioritizing restoration actions.

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USGS2000

Physiological status of naturally reared juvenile spring chinook salmon in the Yakima River: Seasonal dynamics and changes associated with smolting

Two year-classes of juvenile spring chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha from the Yakima River, Washington, were sampled from July (3-4 months postemergence) through May (yearling smolt out-migration). Physiological characters measured included liver glycogen, body lipid, gill Na+-K+ ATPase, plasma thyroxine (T4), and plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Distinct physiological changes were found that corresponded to season. Summer and fall were characterized by relatively high body lipid and condition factor. Winter was characterized by decreases in body lipid, condition factor, and plasma hormones. An increase in condition factor and body lipid was found in February and March. Finally, April and May were characterized by dramatic changes characteristic of smolting, including increased gill Na+-K+ ATPase activity, plasma T4, and IGF-I and decreased condition factor, body lipid, and liver glycogen. These results create a physiological template for juvenile spring chinook salmon in the drainage that provides a baseline for comparison with other years, populations, and life history types. In addition, this baseline provides a standard for controlled laboratory experiments and a target for fish culturists who rear juvenile spring chinook salmon for release from conservation hatcheries. The implications of these results for juvenile chinook salmon ecology and life history are discussed.

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USGS1995

The relationship of habitat characteristics to the distribution of chironomidae (Diptera) as measured by pupal exuviae collections in a large river system

Floating chironomid pupal exuviae were collected throughout the Yakima River (Washington, USA) and tributaries in 1989 and 1990. All samples were taken during the October-November low-flow season and most sites were visited once with a sampling effort of approximately 10 minutes. Sampled stream segments ranged from 3rd to 7th order and elevation ranged from 140–1200 m. The total number of taxa distinguished in 77 samples was 150 with a mean of 24 per site. Species richness was not highly correlated with stream order or elevation. An ecological gradient defined by ordinating the taxa by site data was highly correlated with site elevation (r=.93). Comparison with published attributes of chironomid genera suggested that temperature regime was a dominant environmental variable controlling chironomid distribution in this basin. However, since most measured habitat variables were associated with altitude, their effects could not be separated. Cluster analysis of taxa by site data resulted in groupings that distinguished montane from valley sites and agricultural drains from other valley sites. Differences in species composition between moderately enriched agricultural drains and less-impacted sites were minor compared with the underlying elevation gradient.

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USGS1985

Organophosphate insecticide (famphur) topically applied to cattle kills magpies and hawks

A systematic field study of a black-billed magpie ( Pica pica ) population revealed that magpies and red-tailed hawks ( Buteo jamaicensis ) were killed by famphur (=famophos, Warbex®) used as a pouron to control cattle warbles ( Hypoderma sp.). Magpie mortality began on treatment day and continued for more than 3 months (38 found dead); mortality peaked between Day 5 and Day 13. Estimates of magpie density (based on transects) decreased in both the control and treatment areas, but the decrease was greater in the treatment area. A red-tailed hawk found dead on Day 10 had eaten a famphur-contaminated magpie. Another red-tailed hawk was found alive but immobilized, and a third died outside the study area. Brain cholinesterase (ChE) activity was 70-92% depressed in all dead birds examined; famphur residues were detected in all 17 magpies and the 2 hawks analyzed. The amount of famphur obtained by the dead magpies was estimated at 5.2-6.1 mg/kg (based on residue concentrations in the gizzard), which was above the acute oral LD50 for several bird species. The cow hair portion (12%) of the pooled gizzard contents from 13 other dead magpies produced extremely high famphur residues (4,600 ppm). The residues persisted on cattle hair for more than 90 days post-treatment. Magpie populations in the far western states declined between 1968 and 1979, which corresponds with widespread use of famphur, although other factors may be involved.

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