The restoration effectiveness monitoring program at CoqWA began with the Winter Lake Restoration Effectiveness Monitoring (2019), a 3-year project that monitors the new tide gate infrastructure and the 400 acre ODFW wetland and channel restoration project. This led to the larger Lower Coquille Tide Gate and Fish Passage Monitoring project encompassing 4 upgraded tide gates and 5 habitat restoration projects to determine how these types of projects can aid in the Oregon Coast Coho Recovery efforts. Currently all restoration effectiveness monitoring occurs in the estuary of the Coquille River.
This project monitors the largest tide gate replacement project along the Oregon Coast, pairing agricultural production with improved coho salmon overwintering habitat. There are 14 different parameters being monitored to determine how the restoration project has impacted water quality and quantity and the response of salmonids to the tide gates and improved habitat. You can find descriptions of all 14 parameters and a map on the Projects Element Table link below.
The first two years of monitoring data has been synthesized and presented in the annual progress reports, link below. As the project continues and more data is collected and analyzed future progress reports will be posted on this page. This project is funded by OWEB grant # 218-2042-15946.
The overarching goal is to work collaboratively to examine not only the functionality of individual tide gate projects but how their compounded uplift promotes recovery of the Oregon Coast ESU coho and the Coquille fall Chinook population. It is important to complete this effectiveness monitoring at the forefront of the tide gate replacement movement that is growing along the Oregon Coast to ensure we are maximizing ecological benefits and return on investment.
The Lower Coquille Monitoring relies on an extensive fish trapping effort and the collaboration with multiple offices of ODFW. The collaboration is imperative for the installation of Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) antennas at the tide gates of Winter Lake, Seestrom, Cochran and Coaledo project sites, seining in the mainstem Coquille River and in-depth statistical analysis of the results. A summary of the monitoring can be found in the LCTGFPM White Paper and greater detail can be found in the LCTGFPM Monitoring Plan
Lower Coquille Tide Gate and Fish Passage Monitoring Year 1 (2020-2021)
Lower Coquille Tide Gate and Fish Passage Monitoring Year 2 (2021-2022)
Lower Coquille Tide Gate and Fish Passage Monitoring Year 3 (2022-2023)
Lower Coquille Tide Gate and Fish Passage Monitoring Year 4 (2023-2024)
Winter Lake Effectiveness Monitoring Year 1
Winter Lake Effectiveness Monitoring Year 2
Winter Lake Effectiveness Monitoring Year 3
Supplementary Information:
Winter Lake Monitoring Project Elements
