Hydrodynamic Modeling Analysis of Tidal Wetland Restoration in Snohomish River, Washington

To re-establish the intertidal wetlands with full tidal interaction and improve the salmonid rearing habitat in the lower Snohomish River estuary, a diked wetland along Union Slough of the Snohomish River was restored by breaching the existing dike and constructing bridges across the breaches. However, post-restoration monitoring indicated that the restored project site could not drain as efficiently as desired. To improve the drainage conditions at the restoration site during low tides, a modeling study was conducted to evaluate additional restoration scenarios and to provide recommendations for finish-grade ground elevations to achieve the desired drainage. To accurately simulate the drainage of the project site, an unstructured-grid hydrodynamic model with fine-grid resolution down to a few meters was used in this study. The model was first validated with observed water level data collected in the project site, and then applied to assess the feasibility of different proposed restoration scenarios. A spatial varying bottom roughness option in the model is also implemented to better represent the high roughness due to the presence of dense vegetation in the project site. The methodology, error statistics of model validation, and uncertainty of the modeling analysis are presented and discussed.