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Cook Inletkeeper
Stream Temperature Monitoring Network
BACKGROUND
The Cook Inlet watershed is the
most populated and fastest-growing region in Alaska; it is also
home to the state’s renowned wild salmon runs, some of which are
at great risk due to climate and land-use change. Cook
Inletkeeper has documented warm water in local salmon streams
since monitoring began in 2002, with summer temperatures
routinely exceeding state water quality standards established to
protect spawning and migrating fish. Fisheries scientists
warn that high stream temperatures make fish increasingly
vulnerable to pollution, predation and disease. Yet
despite the association between warm water temperatures and
reduced salmonid survivorship - there is little or no
consistent, long-term temperature data for salmon streams in
Alaska. Without such basic information, it is impossible
to gauge the health of Cook Inlet’s salmon habitats and
resources, and equally difficult to develop management responses
to improve watershed resiliency to climate change.
INLETKEEPER STRATEGIES
Cook Inletkeeper has developed
the Stream Temperature Monitoring Network to build the
science-based knowledge needed to identify thermal impacts in
Alaska’s coastal salmon habitat. The Stream Temperature
Monitoring Network for Cook Inlet is 1) collecting consistent,
comparable temperature data for Cook Inlet’s salmon streams; 2)
increasing our understanding of the rate of rising stream
temperatures and areas of maximum exceedances throughout the
basin; and 3) providing the knowledge and data needed to
prioritize sites for future research, protection and restoration
actions.
In 2007, Cook Inletkeeper began
laying the groundwork for the Network by spearheading a novel
effort to create a standardized water temperature monitoring
protocol for Cook Inlet, which is easily transferable to other
watersheds in Alaska.
Water Temperature Data Logger Protocol for Cook Inlet Salmon
Streams includes a detailed description of
methods, equipment needed, and instructions on how to deploy
data loggers in the field, how to program and download data, and
how to perform maintenance and quality assurance measures.
Having this information written for a general audience will make
it easier for other Cook Inlet stakeholders and decision makers
throughout Alaska to implement temperature monitoring to
understand and respond to thermal change in local salmon-bearing
watersheds.
In 2008, Cook Inletkeeper led a
committee of state and federal agencies, NGOs, and community
groups to create a monitoring design for Cook Inlet’s Stream
Temperature Monitoring Network. This monitoring design
incorporates sites and priority areas from 1) a 2001 USGS report
that identifies sites within Cook Inlet with a predicted water
temperature change of 3oC or more based on air
temperature models, 2) the Nature Conservancy’s Cook Inlet
Basin Ecoregional Assessment, which identifies aquatic areas
of biological significance, and 3) the Alaska Clean Water
Actions (ACWA) database of priority waters. Additional
consideration was given to Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG)
fish weir sites. The process of prioritizing and stratifying
sites can be a template for temperature sampling designs in
other watersheds in Alaska.
In May 2008, Cook Inletkeeper
and its Partners began implementing the Stream Temperature
Monitoring Network. We now have two years of data at 48
non-glacial salmon streams in the Cook Inlet watershed. See map
for site locations.
FUTURE WORK
Cook
Inletkeeper will begin year 3 of the Stream Temperature
Monitoring Network this summer. Also in 2010, we will be working
with Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP) to get a
better understanding of climate predictions on a regional scale.
SNAP (http://www.snap.uaf.edu/)
will generate future scenarios of air temperature and
precipitation conditions across the Cook Inlet watershed. By
understanding these smaller-scale patterns, local communities
will be better prepared for changing conditions in the years
ahead.
The
quantifiable benefits of this work include:
·
Providing resource managers with
quantified thermal data on key Cook Inlet salmon systems to make
better habitat and management decisions;
·
Identifying salmon systems and
habitat requiring enhanced protection or restoration efforts due
to thermal stressors.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS
Kyle, R.E.
and T.B. Brabets, 2001. Water temperature of streams in the Cook
Inlet basin, Alaska, and implications of climate change. U.S.
Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigation Report 01-4109.
http://ak.water.usgs.gov/Publications/Abstracts/2001.Abstracts/CIBwatertemp.htm
The Nature
Conservancy. 2003. Cook Inlet Basin Ecoregional Assessment. The
Nature Conservancy of Alaska. Anchorage, Alaska. 118 p.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/alaska/preserves/art12944.html
Alaska
Department of Environmental Conservation. 2008. Alaska Clean
Water Actions FY09 Priority Waters and Identified Actions.
Online at:
http://www.dec.state.ak.us/water/acwa/acwa_index.htm
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