Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Amy C. Foxgrover
Originator: Amy E. East
Originator: Andrew C. Ritchie
Publication_Date: 2025
Title:
River margin and braid shapefiles for the lower, middle, and upper reaches of the Elwha River, Washington, 2006 to 2022
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data (polyline)
Series_Information:
Series_Name: data release
Issue_Identification: doi:10.5066/P13RXGHA
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA
Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P13RXGHA
Online_Linkage:
Larger_Work_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Amy C. Foxgrover
Originator: Amy E. East
Originator: Andrew C. Ritchie
Publication_Date: 2025
Title:
River margin and braid shapefiles digitized from aerial images of the Elwha River, Washington, 2006 to 2022
Series_Information:
Series_Name: data release
Issue_Identification: doi:10.5066/P13RXGHA
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA
Publisher: U.S. Geological Survey
Other_Citation_Details:
Suggested Citation: Foxgrover, A.C., East, A.E., and Ritchie, A.C., 2025, River margin and braid shapefiles digitized from aerial images of the Elwha River, Washington, 2006 to 2022: U.S. Geological Survey data release,
https://doi.org/10.5066/P13RXGHA.
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/P13RXGHA
Online_Linkage:
Description:
Abstract:
This dataset provides GIS shapefiles of river margins and braids derived from 30 aerial imagery datasets of the Elwha River, Washington spanning June 2006 through September 2022. The extent of the river's recently active flow zone, or margins, and river braids was manually digitized in a GIS using aerial orthoimages to capture changes in the river prior to, during, and after the removal of the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams, which started in 2011 and ended in 2014. We used aerial orthoimages collected by the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Washington State Department of Transportation, and the National Agriculture Imaging Program, including 24 orthoimages derived from Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry using a plane-mounted camera system designed for the Elwha River Restoration Project (Ritchie and others, 2025). Five of the image sets were collected before dam removal (2006-2011) and 25 represent conditions during and after dam removal. To document changes associated with dam operations and dam removal, river margins and braids are provided for three separate reaches of the Elwha River: 1) the lower river, downstream of the historic Elwha Dam site, 2) the middle river, located between the former Lake Aldwell reservoir and the historic Glines Canyon Dam site and 3) a control reach located upstream of the former Lake Mills reservoir, at the downstream end of Geyser Valley where there is no influence of dams or dam removal on channel evolution.
Purpose:
Two large dams were removed from the Elwha River in Washington, starting in 2011 and ending in 2014. The Elwha and the Glines Canyon dams were located approximately 7 kilometers (km) and 20 km upstream, respectively, from the Elwha River's mouth on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Dam removal changed the river's sediment budget and water flow, which affected the river's morphology. Variability in channel width and river braiding derived from 30 aerial imagery datasets collected from 2006 to 2022 are provided here to document geomorphic change before, during, and after dam removal. These data are intended for science researchers, students, policy makers, and the general public. These data can be used with geographic information systems or other software to assess spatial and temporal variability along the lower, middle, and upper reaches of the Elwha River.
Supplemental_Information:
Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant metadata file is intended to document the data set in nonproprietary form, as well as in Esri format, this metadata file may include some Esri-specific terminology.
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 2006
Ending_Date: 2022
Currentness_Reference: ground condition at time data were collected
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -123.618082
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -123.536187
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 48.154180
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 47.940374
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Thesaurus
Theme_Keyword: time series datasets
Theme_Keyword: river systems
Theme_Keyword: river reaches
Theme_Keyword: field inventory and monitoring
Theme_Keyword: image collections
Theme_Keyword: image mosaics
Theme_Keyword: aerial photography
Theme_Keyword: remote sensing
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: Marine Realms Information Bank (MRIB) keywords
Theme_Keyword: river channel
Theme_Keyword: river bank
Theme_Keyword: sediment deposition
Theme_Keyword: geographic information systems (GIS)
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: elevation
Theme_Keyword: inlandWaters
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: U.S. Geological Survey
Theme_Keyword: USGS
Theme_Keyword: Coastal and Marine Geology Program
Theme_Keyword: CMGP
Theme_Keyword: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Theme_Keyword: PCMSC
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS Metadata Identifier
Theme_Keyword: USGS:67102a7ad34edd269209626c
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Geographic Names Information System
Place_Keyword: Elwha River
Place_Keyword: Lake Aldwell (historical)
Place_Keyword: Lake Mills (historical)
Place_Keyword: State of Washington
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: Elwha Dam (historical)
Place_Keyword: Glines Canyon Dam (historical)
Place_Keyword: Olympic National Park
Access_Constraints: No access constraints
Use_Constraints:
USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator(s) of the dataset and in products derived from these data. This information is not intended for navigation purposes.
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization:
U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Contact_Person: PCMSC Science Data Coordinator
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 2885 Mission Street
City: Santa Cruz
State_or_Province: CA
Postal_Code: 95060
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 831-427-4747
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: pcmsc_data@usgs.gov
Browse_Graphic:
Browse_Graphic_File_Name:
Browse_Graphic_File_Description:
Sample map of Elwha River margins and braids overlying 2013 NAIP imagery.
Browse_Graphic_File_Type: PNG
Native_Data_Set_Environment:
The datasets were created in a Windows 11 Operating system using Esri ArcGIS Pro 3.3.1
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Amy E. East
Originator: Josh B. Logan
Originator: Mark C. Mastin
Originator: Andrew C. Ritchie
Originator: Jennifer A. Bountry
Originator: Christopher S. Magirl
Originator: Joel B. Sankey
Publication_Date: 2018
Title:
Geomorphic evolution of a gravel-bed river under sediment-starved versus sediment-rich conditions: River response to the world's largest dam removal
Other_Citation_Details:
East, A. E., Logan, J. B., Mastin, M. C., Ritchie, A. C., Bountry, J. A., Magirl, C. S., and Sankey, J. B. (2018). Geomorphic evolution of a gravel-bed river under sediment-starved versus sediment-rich conditions: River response to the world's largest dam removal. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 123, 3338-3369.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004703
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004703
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Amy E. East
Originator: George R. Pess
Originator: Jennifer A. Bountry
Originator: Christopher S. Magirl
Originator: Andrew C. Ritchie
Originator: Joshua B. Logan
Originator: Timothy J. Randle
Originator: Mark C. Mastin
Originator: Justin T. Minear
Originator: Jeffrey J. Duda
Originator: Martin C. Liermann
Originator: Michael L. McHenry
Originator: Timothy J. Beechie
Originator: Patrick B. Shafroth
Publication_Date: 2015
Title:
Reprint of: Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: River channel and floodplain geomorphic change
Other_Citation_Details:
East, A. E., Pess, G. R., Bountry, J. A., Magirl, C.S., Ritchie, A.C., Logan, J.B., Randle, T.J., Mastin, M.C., Minear, J.T., Duda, J.J., Liermann, M.C., McHenry, M.L., Beechie, T.J., and Shafroth, P.B., (2015). Reprint of: Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: River channel and floodplain geomorphic change, Geomorphology, 246, 687-708.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.04.027
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.04.027
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Andrew C. Ritchie
Originator: Christopher A. Curran
Originator: Christopher S. Magirl
Originator: Jennifer A. Bountry
Originator: Robert C. Hilldale
Originator: Timothy J. Randle
Originator: Jeff J. Duda
Publication_Date: 2018
Title:
Data in support of 5-year sediment budget and morphodynamic analysis of Elwha River following dam removals
Other_Citation_Details:
Ritchie, A.C., Curran, C.A., Magirl, C.S., Bountry, J.A., Hilldale, R.C., Randle, T.J., and Duda, J.J., 2018, Data in support of 5-year sediment budget and morphodynamic analysis of Elwha River following dam removals: U.S. Geological Survey data release,
https://doi.org/10.5066/F7PG1QWC
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/F7PG1QWC
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Andrew C. Ritchie
Originator: Jonathan A. Warrick
Originator: Amy E. East
Originator: Christopher S. Magirl
Originator: Andrew W. Stevens
Originator: Jennifer A. Bountry
Originator: Timothy J. Randle
Originator: Christopher A. Curran
Originator: Robert C. Hilldale
Originator: Jeffrey J. Duda
Originator: Guy R. Gelfenbaum
Originator: Ian M. Miller
Originator: George R. Pess
Originator: Melissa M. Foley
Originator: Randall McCoy
Originator: Andrea S. Ogston
Publication_Date: 2018
Title:
Morphodynamic evolution following sediment release from the world's largest dam removal
Other_Citation_Details:
Ritchie, A.C., Warrick, J.A., East, A.E., Magirl, C.S., Stevens, A.W., Bountry, J.A., Randle T.J., Curran, C.A., Hilldale, R.C., Duda, J.J., Gelfenbaum, G.R., Miller, I.A., Pess, G.R., Foley, M.M., McCoy, R., and Ogston, A.S., (2018). Morphodynamic evolution following sediment release from the world' largest dam removal. Sci Rep 8, 13279.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30817-8
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30817-8