U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2006–3081

May 2006

USGS SCIENCE FOR PUGET SOUND RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION:

Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound (CHIPS)

Printed on recycled paper

A Pacific Northwest icon, Puget 

Sound is the second-largest estuary in 

the United States. Its unique geology, 

climate, and nutrient-rich waters 

produce and sustain biologically 

productive coastal habitats. These 

same natural characteristics also 

contribute to a high quality of life that 

has led to growth in human population 

and urbanization. This growth has 

played a role in degrading the Sound, 

including declines in fish and wildlife 

populations, water-quality issues, and 

changes in coastal habitats. Natural 

resource managers look to the USGS 

as a critical science resource needed 

to solve problems in this important 

ecosystem.

Partners Focus on the Nearshore

The deterioration of the Puget 

Sound nearshore is of special concern 

– the area from the high-tide shorelines 

out to where sunlight does not reach the 

bottom, and upstream in estuaries to the 

head of tidal influence. It includes bluffs, 

beaches, mudflats, kelp and eelgrass beds, 

salt marshes, gravel spits, and estuaries. 

Because the nearshore is one of the most 

productive parts of the Sound, improved 

understanding of it is vital to restoration 

and preservation of the entire Sound. To 

develop a restoration program, Federal, 

State, Tribal, and local governments; 

NGOs; universities; and private industry 

joined in 2001 to create the Puget Sound 

Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration 

Project (PSNERP). In December 2005, 

protection and restoration of Puget Sound 

was expanded in scope with the creation 

of the Puget Sound Partnership. As 

a task force within the Governor of 

Washington’s Puget Sound Initiative, 

the Puget Sound Partnership’s goal is to 

develop recommendations to restore the 

Sound by 2020.

The Critical Need for Science 

Coastal Habitats in Puget 

Sound (CHIPS) is an interdisciplinary 

collaboration to coordinate, integrate, and 

link USGS studies with PSNERP goals 

and objectives. Current studies have three 

themes: 

Effects of urbanization on nearshore ecosystems

Restoration of large river deltas

Recovery of nearshore ecosystems

The primary focus within these 

themes is on developing information 

on the physical, chemical, and 

biological processes—as well as 

human dimensions—associated with 

the restoration or rehabilitation of the 

nearshore environment. Puget Sound 

partners and citizens will receive USGS 

results through databases, geospatial 

models and analyses, technical reports, and 

formal publications. As the Puget Sound 

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Elliott Bay, Seattle. Population growth and urbanization have changed the nearshore habitat.

COASTLINE

Upland

Back

Shore Beach Face Low-tide terrace

COASTAL ZONE

BEACH (SUBTIDAL ZONE)

INTERTIDAL ZONE

Stream Mouth - Before Development

PHOTIC

ZONE

Produced bVisual C y: ommunication and GIS Unit, King County Department of Natural Resources

File Name: Diagram of the nearshore. Courtesy of King County Department of Natural Resources. 9901 Stream Mouth.eps
Partnership expands the scope of Puget 

Sound problem-solving, USGS—through 

CHIPS—stands ready to provide the 

necessary scientific foundation for 

decisionmakers.

Effects of Urbanization

Urban development can alter the 

complex interaction of geological, 

biological, and hydrological processes 

that maintain nearshore ecosystem 

health. Urbanization is known to alter the 

flows of water, sediments, nutrients, and 

contaminants from coastal watersheds, 

which then may impact nearby nearshore 

ecosystems. In addition, human 

alterations adjacent to the shore, such 

as armoring and removal of riparian 

vegetation, may impact nearshore 

ecosystems even in areas far removed 

from population centers. Effective 

restoration of impacted nearshore 

processes within Puget Sound requires 

an understanding of how ecosystems 

function in a variety of nearshore settings 

with and without urban impacts. 

Current work is focused on 

quantifying the processes that influence 

physical and chemical aspects of 

nearshore habitat and how these affect 

general nearshore ecosystem health. 

Ecosystem health will be measured by 

indicator variables including population 

structure, growth, reproduction, and 

survival of native species; presence and 

abundance of exotic and invasive species; 

and the presence and distribution of 

contaminants in sediments and indicator 

species. Geospatial measures will be 

developed to better define watershed 

urbanization and shoreline modifications 

that impact nearshore ecosystem health.

Restoration of Large River 

Deltas:

The Skagit Delta/Whidbey Basin 

Ecosystem

Deltas serve many ecological 

purposes, including estuarine habitats 

for fish and wildlife. But during the 

past 150 years, 70 to 80 percent of the 

marshes and wetlands of Puget Sound 

have been lost. These changes reflect 

human impacts associated with a variety 

two dams. These dams have interrupted 

the normal flow of sediment and debris 

to the shore and prevented anadromous 

salmon from accessing pristine habitat in 

the park. The Department of the Interior 

is planning to remove the dams in 2009 

to restore the physical and biological 

integrity of the river ecosystem. 

Restoration of the river will be a 

significant and unprecedented Federal 

contribution to salmon recovery in the 

region, but many questions remain about 

the river’s response to dam removal and 

the recovery process for salmon. 

A unique opportunity exists to 

examine the ecosystem response to the 

dam removals. Studies of the physical 

and biological effects of dam removal 

will be grouped into three general 

categories: ecosystem responses, flow 

modification and sediment transport, and 

cultural resources. Ecosystem processes 

will be monitored along the river before 

and after the removal of the dams. Work 

under consideration includes mapping 

of shelf, nearshore, and beaches as 

well as salmon habitat; monitoring of 

coastal processes; and river sediment and 

nearshore computer modeling.

Estuaries like the Skagit River delta are 

used by many species of fish and wildlife 

throughout their life cycle.

of agricultural and residential activities 

that have ultimately altered streamflows, 

transport of coastal sediments, water 

quality, and a myriad of other processes 

that are responsible for habitat creation, 

maintenance, and biological productivity.

 In the Skagit River delta, activities 

such as damming, diking, land clearing, 

draining, deforestation, and agriculture 

have caused significant changes in 

lowland habitat. In addition to habitat 

losses, existing margins of the coastline 

have lost their connections to other areas 

through ecosystem fragmentation created 

by physical barriers and altered tidal 

flows.

Current work is centered on 

the ecology of eel grass beds and 

other coastal and wetland habitats. 

Investigators are compiling and 

evaluating historical information and 

collecting baseline data about sediment 

transport and other hydrographic 

processes to help characterize the 

physical and biological environments 

of the Whidbey Basin nearshore. The 

importance of coastal habitats to 

endangered Chinook salmon and bull 

trout are a special focus of biological 

study. 

Recovery of Nearshore 

Ecosystems: 

The Elwha River

The Elwha River drains the largest 

basin in Olympic National Park and has 

huge potential for salmon recovery in 

the Puget Sound region. For more than 

90 years, the natural flow of the Elwha 

River has been altered by the presence of 

USGS scientists examine the Elwha River 

bed to monitor the biological effects of dam 

removal.

For more information, contact:

Frank Shipley, (206) 220-4600

frank_shipley@usgs.gov

John Haines, (703) 648-6422

jhaines@usgs.gov