Environmental Assessment - Upper Elwha Snow Telemetry Project

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in conjunction with the National Park Service (NPS), is considering the installation of a snowpack telemetry site (SNOTEL) in the upper Elwha watershed of Olympic National Park. The four primary objectives of this project are as follows:

1.Provide accurate snow and precipitation measurements from the upper Elwha watershed.
2.Improve daily runoff forecasts for the Elwha and Dungeness Rivers.
3.Provide emergency managers, meteorologists and avalanche forecasters with real-time climate data from the upper Elwha to better predict timing and extent of flood, winter storm and avalanche events.
4.Provide long-term climate data from a high elevation site in the park interior for the purpose of interpreting NPS long-term monitoring efforts, understanding the impacts of global warming on park resources, and increasing knowledge for the purpose of understanding the health and improving the management of park wilderness.

An environmental assessment (EA) has been prepared and is now under public review. The EA analyzes three alternatives, including no action (alternative A). Alternative B proposes the installation of a full SNOTEL on Buckinghorse Ridge in the upper Elwha drainage. A full SNOTEL installation would require the following infrastructure: a pressure sensing snow pillow, a storage precipitation gauge, an instrument tower, soil moisture and soil temperature sensors and a communication shed.

Alternative C would use an experimental, modified SNOTEL with a slightly smaller footprint at the same location as alternative B. Under this alternative, a modified SNOTEL installation would be placed on Buckinghorse Ridge in the upper Elwha drainage. A modified SNOTEL would require installation of similar infrastructure as a full SNOTEL installation; however it replaces the communication shed with mounted boxes on the communications tower.

Document Content:

EA for the Upper Elwha Snow Telemetry Project   (3.2 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of Acrobat Reader from Adobe Systems.