Since 2018, DEA Marine Services has provided hydrographic surveying and geoscientific consulting services as part of the Upper Columbia River Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study — a complex, multidisciplinary project being conducted with multiple partners under the oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For this large-scale effort, DEA has acquired multibeam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter with bank-to-bank coverage of approximately 40 river miles. The project team also utilized underwater photographs and measurements of river current velocity to characterize riverbed substrate and produce high-resolution sediment maps of the study area with centimeter-scale accuracy. This is the first study of its kind to not only map and identify sediment types, but also estimate specific sediment grain-size fractions from acoustic data.

Prior to beginning hydrographic fieldwork, surveyors from DEA’s Marine Services Division and Surveying and Geomatics Center of Excellence worked together to establish a geodetic control network along the river to support real-time precise positioning of the survey vessel. This involved extensive collaboration with Washington state agencies as well as private landowners and cultural resources experts.

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