GIS 323 Assignment #1

 This map is of the Spokane River and the Spokane Aquifer. The colored sections denote the gaining and losing reaches, with the blue showing the gaining reaches and the red the losing reaches. The gaining reaches can be defined as sections where the Spokane aquifer actually flows into the Spokane river. The losing reaches is where the river flows back into the aquifer and recharges the aquifer. My thesis will be on the Spokane River and the influence the Spokane aquifer has on the redband trout population densities throughout the summer.

The second map is of Steptoe Butte in Washington. Steptoe butte was donated by my family to the state in 1946. Virgil McCroskey was my great, great, great grandfather and donated the 120 acres that make up Steptoe Butte park and the park was increased to 150 acres of the land surrounding the butte. Steptoe Butte is a significant landmark in the Palouse area and is a quartzite mountain that stands above the farmlands that surround the Palouse. Steptoe butte is currently recognized as a National Natural Landmark because of its unique geological significance.



This is a map of the Elwha River watershed. The Elwha river shed is a major site of environmemntal issue because there has to been two major dam's removed in the past 8 years. This damn removal project is the largest to date so far in the United States and will be a major monitoring environmental project for the federal and state governments. This watershed used to have all 7 of the pacific salmon species and once the dams were put in the salmon were no longer able to travel to their natal spawning grounds since no fish ladders where installed in the initial build of the two dams. Since the damn removal there have been a number of documented salmon that have returned past the dam removal sites. This allows for a hopeful future for the Elwha watershed and gives more insight into future dam removal.