Table 1. — Precipitation and mean maximum and Tniniimim temperature at Olsen Bay 

 and Cordova, ■"■ July, August, and September. 1960 and 1961 



Year 



July 



Olsen Bay 



Cordova 



August 



Olsen Bay Cordova 



September 



Olsen Bay 



Cordova 



1960. 

 1961. 



1960. 

 1961. 



Precipitation (inches) 



8.19 

 3.88 



Max. Min. 



60 



50 



9.10 

 9.77 



Max. Min. 



8.<;9 



13.20 



13.65 

 13.43 



Temperature F. 



60 

 62 



A6 

 A9 



Max. Min. 



64 



57 



45 

 45 



Max. Min. 



61 

 59 



48 

 43 



15.47 

 12.75 



Max. Min. 



56 

 51 



42 

 38 



26.33 

 13.51 



Max. Min. 



55 

 56 



43 

 37 



■"■ Cordova data from Climatologlcal Data, Alaska, published by Weather Bureau, Department of 

 Commerce. 



2 Beginning July 10. 



Table 2 — Average intertidal length, width, 

 and area of streams in Olsen Creek drainage 

 between 3- and 12 -foot tide levels 



Streamflow .-- Stream level recorders were 

 operated on the East Fork in 1960 and 1961, 

 and on the West Fork in 1961. Rating curves 

 for stream discharges of each fork were de- 

 veloped using a Price current meter (Welch, 

 1948). Gage height and volume-of-flow data 



are presented in appendix figures 1, 2, and 3. 

 Discharges varied from 10 to about 500 cubic 

 feet per second (c.f.s.), with the summer 

 averages for each fork about 33 c.f.s. Olsen 

 Bay streams are typical of the short coastal 

 streams in Prince William Sound; they are 

 subject to rapid fluctuations in flow, depending 

 on the annount of rainfall. Frequent floods 

 occur and at times cause minor changes in 

 the riffle areas because of gravel shift, 

 especially in the lower part of the stream. 



Tidal movements .-- We used tide predictions 

 for Cordova (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

 1960) to estimate tidal movements at Olsen 

 Bay. Differences in time and tide height be- 

 tween the two points, if any, are not known 

 and no corrections were made. The mean 

 tidal range is 10 feet, and the diurnal range 

 is 12.4 feet. In 1961 the lowest predicted tide 

 was -3.3 feet and the highest was 15.4 feet. 

 One-foot elevations from the 2-foot to the 

 12-foot tide level were surveyed by transit 

 and permanently marked. Using the predicted 

 tides for 1961, we calculated the percent of 

 time that each elevation from the 3-foot to 

 the 12-foot tide level was covered with tide 

 water (fig. 2). 



Salinity . --During summer 1961, we began 

 preliminary investigations of the salt-water 

 intrusion into the intertidal area of the creek. 

 Salinity deternninations were made with a 

 hydrometer calibrated in parts per thousand. 

 At high tide water samples were taken at the 

 water surface and gravel surface at each 

 1-foot level between the 4- and 12-foot tide 

 levels. A few samples were also taken from 



