NEARSHORE : the critical, concentrated estuarine and shoreline interface between watersheds and

1. NearPRISM NEARSHORE: the critical, concentrated estuarine and shoreline interface between watersheds and Puget Sound

2. Nearshore PRISM Working Group (“NearPRISM”) Mission: develop information on estuarine environments that can be integrated into the emerging PRISM synthesis of the Puget Sound Basin • Spatially-explicit data and knowledge on the structure of Puget Sound shoreline ecosystems…how does the nearshore “work” • process information that will provide the interface between hydrology and other watershed processes and the Sound.

3. NearPRISM Working Group • Chair: Charles (“Si”) Simenstad Wetland Ecosystem Team, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences • Primary Working Group Members: • UW: Jeff Cordell, Alan Devol, Miles Logsdon, Linda Maxson, Chuck Nittrouer, Jan Newton • WDOE: Hugh Shipman, Cinde Donoghue • WDNR: Tom Mumford • WDFW: Kurt Fresh • PBNERR: Doug Bulthuis • METROKC: Randy Shuman, Jim Brennan • Battelle MSL: Ron Thom (red indicates PSNERP-NST involvement)

4. NearPRISM Goal Comprehensive: to develop a functionally discrete nearshore “module” to PRISM that represents the unique attributes and processes that constitute the dynamic land-margin interface between Puget Sound and it’s watersheds. Short-term: Design scientifically-sound management tools to assess cumulative impact of anthropogenic actions on integrity of nearshore, that are based on predictive understanding of nearshore dynamics

5. NearPRISM Objectives • formulate an estuarine/nearshore conceptual model for PRISM • geochemical processing of nutrients and organic matter, primary production, fish and wildlife habitat, etc. at the Puget Sound land margin • explore an ecosystem-based assessment methodology for nearshore processes • takes into account physical (e.g., geomorphological, sedimentological and hydrological controls on nearshore ecological and geochemical processes that occur on landscape scales rather than property line or other artificial/jurisdictional scales • promote acquisition of high-resolution nearshore spatial data • needed for PRISM nearshore model, the nearshore functional assessment, and evaluation of critical habitat for Puget Sound resources • provide coordination focus for UW research projects that are at the moment independently addressing many of these issues

6. NearPRISM Research Initiatives and External Funding • 2001-2003 Sea Grant support of general numerical model development • Ph.D. student to develop general numerical model of shoreline dynamics • Dedicated on-campus time involvement of state resource managers • 2001-2002 USGS Puget Sound study planning • Initiate dialogue from science/research perspective • Assist conceptualizing problem and approach • Plan NearPRISM involvement for calibration and validation of numerical model • Direct involvement in Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Program (PSNERP)—Nearshore Science Team (NST)

7. PUGET SOUND NEARSHORE ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION PROGRAM (PSNERP) Goal A process-based, scientifically-driven restoration program that could result in substantial improvement without return to pre-European settlement conditions Objectives Provide guidance for a process-based, scientifically driven restoration, preservation, and conservation strategy

8. PSNERP-NST • Tasks • 1) Evaluate significant nearshore ecosystem degradation of Puget Sound • 2) Formulate, evaluate, and screen potential solutions to these problems • 3) Recommend a series of actions and projects

9. PSNERP-NST 1) Emergent Properties of Estuarine-Nearshore Ecosystems • Physicochemical processes play a very strong roll in organizing and regulating estuarine-nearshore ecosystems. • Natural disturbance regimes sustain the structure and functions of regional estuarine-nearshore ecosystems. 2) Importance of Landscape Setting and Structure • Ecosystem function and performance is contingent upon landscape setting. • Estuarine/nearshore ecosystem functions are explainable in landscape ecology concepts. 3) Role of Population Ecology and Life History Diversity • Spatial and temporal dynamics of animal and plant metapopulations are dependent upon the integrity of estuarine/nearshore landscapes. • Landscape structure is an important factor sustaining life history diversity within and between populations that are vulnerable to stochastic ecosystem change.

10. OVERARCHING HYPOTHESIS PSNERPConceptual Model Development Alterations of natural hydrologic and sediment patterns, inputs, and transport linkages alter important nearshore ecosystem structure and processes.

11. PSNERPConceptual Model Development Operating strategy model is intended to capture important nearshore processes, rather than structure: primary objective is not to simply characterize fish habitat, but to identify the processes that form and sustain that habitat model will not describe ecosystem state or health; rather it will model processes and interactions that explain structure, e.g., “how the nearshore works” we will not model historic, existing, restored ecosystems per se, but develop a model that should with appropriate shifts in processes be able to capture any condition we are not going to generate a model that discretely represents the total range of nearshore conditions found in Puget Sound; rather, it will represent in sufficient detail to capture the variability in all the natural and anthropogenic processes that create the range of nearshore ecosystems

12. PSNERPConceptual Model Development Operating strategy (cont.) incorporates two very important aspects of nearshore ecosystems--(1) landscape context and (2) temporal variation—that are seldom incorporated into such models while inherently a conceptual model, the model is designed to be transferable to a functional (e.g., simple numeric) model in the future most important application is to understand the relative importance of the various ecosystem processes and external forcing, and how the resulting ecosystem responses change with natural and anthropogenic change

13. PSNERPConceptual Model Development Hierarchical strategy: Design model that incorporates increasing complexity and accommodates variability in spatial, temporal and natural/anthropogenic change Level 1: Generic process  structure relationships Level 2: Expanded detail of all processes linking ecosystem elements to encompass stressors Level 3: Expanded detail to encompass different landscape scales and cases Level 4:Expanded detail to encompass different temporal scales, including seasonal, interannual, long-term processes and frequencies; stochastic, catastrophic events; different time steps; persistence

14. PSNERP Conceptual Model-Level 1 “wet” Physiographic Setting social, economic setting ATMOSPHERIC FORCING, INPUTS WATERSHED FORCING, INPUTS AIR LATERAL AND OFFSHORE EXCHANGES Nearshore Domain UPLAND INPUTS BIOLOGY SEDIMENT WATER • structure, process & energy

15. PSNERP Conceptual Model-Level 1 with stressors Internal stressors structure, process & energy anthropogenic stressors & extraction ATMOSPHERIC FORCING, INPUTS WATERSHED FORCING, INPUTS AIR LATERAL AND OFFSHORE EXCHANGES UPLAND INPUTS • Prominent Stressors: • Shoreline armoring • Nutrient loading / eutrophication • Wetland diking • Fish migration (barriers) • Exotic species • Water regulation (dams) • Extraction/Harvest • Contaminants • Sea level rise • Dredging • Boat wakes • Tectonic events • Sediment loading BIOLOGY SEDIMENT WATER

16. Nearshore Puget Sound PSNERP Conceptual Model - Level 2.0 State Conditions Composition, Spatial Distribution, Concentration STRUCTURE Structure Processes Flux Transformation (examples) Energy (Impact-dissipation) ATMOSPHERE (FORCING, INPUTS) WATERSHED (FORCING, INPUTS) Heat Wind Particles H2O H2O Animals Sediments Chemistry Flow AIR Biota Sediment Chemistry H2O Shade LATERAL (Within Nearshore) UPLAND O2 E.T. Particles Heat Sediments Chemistry O.M. Biota Heat Wind BIOLOGY Chemistry Sediment Biota Heat Evaporation Nutrients O2 O.M. Nutrients O2 O.M. Nutrients Sediments Chemistry Biota Currents, Turbulence SEDIMENT WATER OFFSHORE Tides Currents Chemistry Biota

17. PSNERP Conceptual Model - Level 3.0 (Landscape/Spatial) Exposed Marine (rocky) Tidal Freshwater Brackish- Oligohaline Estuarine Delta Nearshore Estuarine • 1. Within ecological units: m’s to 100’s m • cross beach, short lateral beach, tidal slough • 2. Within domains: 100’s m to km’s • along-beach within geomorphic units/salinity regimes • e.g. Montgomery’s “process domains”? • 3. Between domains: km’s-10’s km • estuarine gradient, head of tide – PS boundary • emphasis on interactions among “domains” OCEANIC WATERSHED macro-scale meso-scale micro-scale

18. Mixed Sediment Beaches • Multiple Grain Sizes • Morphologically distinct • Similar to nourished beaches • Common only in paraglacial environments • Pervasive in Puget Sound

19. Ecological Importance of Mixed Sediment Beaches • Interface between Puget Sound and non-riverine influence from land • Highly diverse and productive; important to key species • Potentially significant influence on Puget Sound water quality and biota

20. Open Questions: • How sensitive are beach profiles to variations in sediment distributions? • How do we predict long- and offshore losses of recharge material over time? • What are the responses to coastal structures? • What is the importance of seepage through barrier beaches?

21. Modeling Sediment Transport • No existing model has been designed or validated specifically for mixed sediment beaches • Steep beaches change critical components of standard models • Course beaches introduce new components

22. Revised Nearshore Goals • What Processes most influence sediment transport on mixed sediment beaches? • Can existing models be adapted for this environment? • What direct role does biology play in sediment transport

23. Year 2001 Objectives • Review of Existing Work in Puget Sound • Selection of Field Study Sites • Collect Baseline Environmental Data

24. Study Sites • South Beach and West Point (Discovery Park) • Camano Island State Park to Cama Beach • Crescent Harbor NAS Whidbey?

25. Stone Soup Research

26. PRISM Integration • Wave model needs environmental data! • wind & precipitation • tides & currents • We are producing site specific data (Do you want it?) • Topography • Air Photos • Weather station data • Can’t go real-time ($$$) ?

27. Year 2002 Objectives • Deployment of weather station • Establish survey-grade benchmarks • SWAN wave model for Saratoga Passage • Continue collection of environmental data (current measurements, storm events) • Begin work on Sediment Model

28. Implications and Future Directions? • Link to PRISM, e.g., MM5 wind data, PS wave predictions, POM extension into shallow water • Links to PSNERP, e.g., use of nearshore restoration as experiments to test model(s) • Site-specific biology, both effects on beach processes and influence on biology • Beach (subsurface) hydrology • Long-term changes, e.g., climatic, event, anthropomorphic