Cook Inlet Watershed Salmon Stream Monitoring

Application

The Cook Inlet watershed covers 47,000 square miles and is where almost two-thirds of Alaska’s population lives. Wild salmon runs are being impacted by the changing climate and increased land use in the most populated region in the state. Stream monitoring, collected since 2002 by Cook Inletkeeper (a community-based non-profit organization), has shown that the water temperature during the summer often exceeds the state’s water quality standards. The result impacts spawning and migrating salmon as they are more vulnerable to pollution, predation, and disease in these temperatures.

Despite some historic data, in general, there was very little long-term temperature data for streams across the state. The data is vital to assess the health of the streams and to develop mitigation strategies in the face of a changing climate. In 2007, Cook Inletkeeper started to develop its Stream Temperature Monitoring Network and data collection standards which could be applied to other watersheds within the state. The network now collects data from 48 non-glacial salmon streams.

 

beadedstream Solution

Between 2013 and 2017, four stations were installed at important rivers within the Cook Inlet watershed using beadedstream technology. At each river monitoring location, one Digital Temperature Cable with a single sensor is assembled inside a sand-filled PEX conduit and installed on the stream bed. The site is completed with an air temperature sensor and a D405 or D505 Data Logger with remote satellite telemetry to transmit data to beadedcloud.

 

 

beadedstream Solution Benefits

The installations are located off-the-grid areas. The D405/505 Data Loggers are low maintenance because they provide remote telemetry of data to the cloud via the Iridium network and charge their batteries via the integral solar cell. This allows the researchers access to their data without visiting the sites.

By having access to stream temperature data in the beadedcloud web application in real-time, the data is also accessible to other stakeholders and can be used to understand temperature patterns and to aid in long-term planning efforts. Stakeholders include both decision-makers and local Alaskans and so the data collected is published publicly on Cook Inletkeeper’s website, making it accessible to all Alaskans.