The primary objective for the Lone Tree Creek and Lagoon Pocket Estuary project is to increase the size and ecological capacity of the Lone Tree pocket estuary by restoring tidal hydrology to the historic lagoon and freshwater hydrology and sediment dynamics (transport and deposition) in Lone Tree Creek. The plans to restore tidal hydrology to the upper wetland of Lone Tree Lagoon primarily is removal of an undersized, perched culvert and replace it with a bridge, thus increasing the tidally influenced area of the lagoon (Figure 1). In the wetland area upstream of the culvert (referred to as the restoration project area) we hypothesized the following immediate (i.e., within one year after the culvert is removed) responses to restoration.
Hypothesis 1 – The tidal prism will increase above the culvert, as indicated by an increased frequency and area of tidal inundation.
Hypothesis 2 – The frequency and degree of estuarine mixing, as demonstrated by increased salinity above the culvert, will increase.
Hypothesis 3 – The fish community will change from a sparse to absent freshwater community to a more abundant and diverse community dominated by estuarine species.
This report describes pre-restoration water surface elevation, salinity, and fish use conditions. These data will be used to test the restoration hypotheses described above. We followed the protocols and schedule presented in the Lone Tree Pocket Estuary Restoration Fish Sampling Plan written by E. Beamer and others, February 2004. This report also includes recommendations for future monitoring based on this first year of data collection
Beamer, E., McBride, A. and Henderson, R., 2004. Lone Tree Pocket Estuary Restoration 2004 Fish Sampling and Pre-restoration Project Monitoring Report. Skagit River System Cooperative, La Conner, WA. pp. 13.
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