In the Siletz watershed of Oregon\u2019s North Coast, most coho spend their first year or so of life tucked away in small tributaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For vulnerable young salmon, these high streams are quite literally more chill than the Siletz mainstem\u2014particularly during low summer flows. But some young coho, apparently, like adventure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe call them nomads,\u201d says Cyndi Curtis, Wild Salmon Center\u2019s Nehalem-based North Coast Manager. \u201cThese are juveniles who move out of their natal streams pretty early on, and rear instead in the mainstem or even further down in the estuary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n The nomads, she says, are a great example of the many life paths that salmon make. Diverse life histories are a big part of what makes salmon so adaptable<\/strong>. But regardless of the life history path that a salmon chooses, one need remains constant: cold water<\/a>. The nomads, for example, will have greater success if they can nose into cold water pockets as they travel downriver: high-oxygen refugia where they can breathe easier, and find food and safety. <\/p>\n\n\n In rivers across the North Pacific, salmon are skilled at locating cold water, both as juveniles and as returning adults<\/strong>. But while humans closely monitor the air temperatures that so impact our daily lives, these data sets are often difficult to find for rivers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have the tools and tech to get this data, and it can be pretty inexpensive,\u201d Curtis says. \u201cThe bigger investments we have to make are in time, patience, and creativity. Without that commitment, we won\u2019t be able to see these rivers like salmon can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Curtis wants to know the overall temperature trends of rivers like the Siletz, particularly given heightened drought and heat across the Northwest. But she\u2019s also hunting for those secret cold spots: pools, seeps, and upwellings key to salmon\u2019s ability to weather volatile conditions. Protecting high-value salmon habitat is a cornerstone of our stronghold strategy<\/a>. And that\u2019s why finding and prioritizing these cold water refuges is a growing priority for WSC and our partners<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have the tools and tech to get this data. The bigger investments are in time, patience, and creativity. Without that, we won\u2019t be able to see these rivers like salmon can.\u201d<\/p>\nWSC Oregon North Coast Manager Cyndi Curtis<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know that water draws, clear-cutting, and extreme drought are reducing both stream flows and the groundwater table that feeds Oregon\u2019s coastal rivers<\/strong>,\u201d Curtis says. \u201cImagine what we could do if we knew where salmon find cold water. We could provide shade cover, deepen pools, and enhance the exact places fish use to survive in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n All it takes for an initial longitudinal survey of a river, Curtis says, is a few kayaks trailing temperature loggers. That\u2019s exactly what Curtis and two partners did over a few August days this summer. This field work is, as Curtis says, an investment; hot and logistically tricky. Extreme low flows meant the team portaged frequently, and completed fewer river miles than Curtis would have liked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s enough to create a temperature snapshot of a critical stretch of the Siletz mainstem: data that can inform a strategic action plan for coho recovery across the watershed with our partners in the Coast Coho Partnership<\/a>. Going forward, Curtis said, temperature data like this will be key to our coho recovery work across Orego<\/strong>n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRiver temperature data shows us where habitat restoration can be truly effective for salmon in a warming world,\u201d Curtis says. \u201cIt\u2019s extra legwork, sure. But we\u2019re starting to fill in these data gaps, and scaling in really cool ways. Like in the Olympic Peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cImagine what we could do if we knew where salmon find cold water. We could provide shade cover, deepen pools, and enhance the exact places fish use to survive in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\nWSC Oregon North Coast Manager Cyndi Curtis<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n HIGH-TECH, LOW-TECH, ROCKS AND CINDER BLOCKS<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before Curtis\u2019s hot August float on the Siletz, she sought out advice\u2014and borrowed a handheld temperature logger\u2014from Nicole Rasmussen<\/a>. Rasmussen is one of two WSC Fish Habitat Specialists based in Forks, in the Quillayute River drainage of Washington\u2019s remote, salmon-rich Olympic Peninsula. <\/p>\n\n\n In 2021, Rasmussen helped launch an innovative temperature monitoring project on the Quillayute River<\/a> on behalf of her former employer, the Quileute Tribe. Now, with WSC, she\u2019s continuing this work as a conservation partner. Her insights are helping partners at WSC and beyond to adapt this work for vastly different geographies<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Quillayute, like Curtis on the Siletz, Rasmussen\u2019s team captured annual snapshots of the river at its hottest. But they also installed dozens of fixed sensors at different depths in the riverbanks and thalweg (the deepest part of the river). Combined, these different data points enabled the team to generate a seasonal thermal picture of the river across two years<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re finding where the cold water is coming in, and also whether that cold water source seems to be reliable,\u201d Rasmussen says. \u201cThat\u2019s important because if we can confirm that a seep is active year-round, we can be even more confident of a payoff for fish if we deepen and protect that pool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Tribes and conservation partners like WSC, long-term river temperature data makes restoration work that much more effective. It\u2019s also more logistically complex to get<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we can confirm that a seep is active year-round, we can be even more confident of a payoff for fish if we deepen and protect that pool.\u201d<\/p>\nWSC Fish Habitat Specialist Nicole Rasmussen<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is definitely a lot of creativity involved,\u201d Rasmussen explains. \u201cIn the Quillayute, we need to keep the sensors away from boats, fishing nets, fishers, and swimmers. We need to account for flows and tides, and different activities across seasons. And later, you have to be able to find your sensors and get them back intact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But longer-term thermal detective work can also help unlock high-tech resources<\/strong>. Rasmussen and her colleagues, for example, scored access to a rare extra data layer for the Quillayute drainage: an infrared map of surface water temperatures captured from a 2021 FLIR flight by the U.S. Geological Survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe FLIR data lets you see where plumes of colder water reach the surface, and where things are heating up,\u201d Rasmussen says. \u201cWe can compare the thermal map with our more recent temperature readings and have a really precise picture of where to focus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is definitely a lot of creativity involved. We need to account for flows and tides, and different activities across seasons. And later, you have to be able to find your sensors and get them back.\u201d<\/p>\nWSC Fish Habitat Specialist Nicole Rasmussen<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/1486-littlefish-coho-r-1.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/17_SiletzWatershed_SmithCreek_DavidHerasimtschu.jpg\")
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_6712.jpg\")
\n
\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/IMG_2004-scaled-1500x1125.jpg\")
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/IMG_1497-scaled-1500x1125.jpg\")
\n