Flow & Level Monitoring

The Yakama Nation uses automated measurement of Klickitat River flow and level to help maintain healthy fish runs

Background:
 The Klickitat River, a tributary of the Columbia River, flows for approximately 75 miles in south-central Washington State, and is one of the defining features of the 1.2 million-acre Yakama Indian Reservation.  Salmon continues to be the lifeblood of the nearly 8,400 Yakama tribal members, and the Yakama Nation helps co-manage the Klickitat along with eight other rivers to assure continued access to this vital resource.

Problem Statement:
The Yakama Nation is concerned about the health of salmon runs on various rivers including the Klickitat.  Sand and sediment is building up at the confluence of the Klickitat with the Columbia River.  If the buildup continues at the current pace, problems with fish passage to the Klickitat River could develop.  To understand more about this sedimentation process, and what is happening, they need to monitor some site variables over the course of a few years as documentation of the problem, and to develop some long term solutions.

Solution Description:
The Yakama Nation utilized MeasureTek to set up four monitoring locations surrounding the Klickitat River Delta to monitor water levels, wind speed, wind direction and fast-burst wave action.  Each monitoring location utilizes a Campbell Scientific data logger and communicate via radio.  Data from the solar-powered stations are accessed via the a Verizon internet modem.  The system gathers and records data from each of the four stations every 15 minutes, and this data is logged for later use and analysis.  In addition to the data polled from the stations every 15 minutes, the system also logs hourly and daily average data.   A real-time data display (shown above) is also available and is updated with every 15 minute data poll.

Result:
The system provides the Yakama Nation with the real-time and historical data that it needs to monitor and analyze the sediment buildup on the Klickitat River.  The real-time data permits instantaneous monitoring of current conditions and the logged historical data provides them with the raw data necessary to analyze and better understand the sedimentation process on the river.

For more information on this or other applications, please contact MeasureTek at (541) 924-8988 or visit our website at www.measuretek.com.