WRIA 18 Salmonid Habitat Limiting Factors Analysis
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SALMON AND STEELHEAD HABITAT LIMITING FACTORS WATER RESOURCE INVENTORY AREA 18 WASHINGTON STATE CONSERVATION COMMISSION FINAL REPORT Donald Haring 12/27/99 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completion of this report would not have been possible without the support and cooperation of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG). Their expertise and familiarity with the sub-watersheds within Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 18, and their interest and willingness to share their knowledge, allowed us to complete this report. Two TAGs, one for the Dungeness Watershed (Bell Creek to Bagley Creek), and one for Morse Creek to the Elwha River, were utilized through much of the information collection phase of report development, with several of the members participating in both groups. The TAG participants from both groups are consolidated in the following list: Kevin Bauersfeld Department of Fish and Wildlife Lloyd Beebe Resident, owner of Olympic Game Farm Walt Blendermann Resident, City of Sequim John Cambalik North Olympic Lead Entity Coordinator Randy Cooper Department of Fish and Wildlife Pat Crain Elwha Klallam Tribe Steve Evans Department of Fish and Wildlife Joel Freudenthal Clallam County Dick Goin Resident, City of Port Angeles Mark Haggerty U.S. Forest Service Paul Hansen Clallam Conservation District Donald Haring Conservation Commission Randy Johnson Department of Fish and Wildlife Ray Johnson Department of Fish and Wildlife Eloise Kallin Protect the Peninsula’s Future Mike McHenry Elwha Klallam Tribe Cynthia Nelson Department of Ecology Linda Newberry Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Kerry Perkins Natural Resource Conservation Service Roger Peters U.S. Fish ad Wildlife Service Mike Reed Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Byron Rot Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Tim Rymer Department of Fish and Wildlife Ann Seiter Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Ted Schmitt Clallam Conservation District Brad Sele Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Ann Shaffer Department of Fish and Wildlife Dave Shreffler Battelle Labs Carl Ward Department of Transportation Brian Winter Olympic National Park I extend particular appreciation to several people. Special thanks to Mike McHenry (Elwha Klallam Tribe) for assistance with coordinating the west WRIA 18 TAG and assisting with the development of the draft sub-basin chapter for those watersheds; to Randy Johnson (WDFW) for contributing his estuary analyses and photos used in the text; to representatives of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe (Ann Seiter, Linda Newberry, Pam Edens, and Mike Reed) for their assistance in coordination of the Dungeness River Work Group that served as the east WRIA 18 TAG, for providing access to their extensive library of Dungeness watershed literature, and for use of their 2 facilities for meetings. I also extend special appreciation to Dick Goin, who so generously provided his time and expertise, and who provided valuable historic insights to watershed conditions that put current habitat condition in perspective. I also thank Ed Chadd and the local Streamkeepers for sharing their sampling data and reports for WRIA 18 streams. I thank those TAG participants that contributed a great amount of time and effort in reviewing preliminary report drafts and providing comments that improved the content, accuracy, and readability of the report. In particular, several TAG participants (Randy Johnson, Ann Shaffer, Joel Freudenthal, Mike McHenry/Pat Crain, Ann Seiter, Byron Rot, Kevin Bauersfeld, Randy Cooper, Paul Hansen and Cynthia Nelson) provided text segments that have been included directly in the report. Their contributions were critical to the thoroughness, accuracy, and completion of the report, and are greatly appreciated. In addition, special thanks to Tom Burns and Chuck Baranski (WDFW) for their review of the species distribution maps, and to Ron McFarlane (Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC)) for preparation of the GIS maps included in this report. I also express thanks to Carol Smith for providing the text included in the Role of Healthy Habitat chapter, Devin Smith (NWIFC) for coordinating the development of the Habitat Condition Rating Criteria, Kurt Fresh (WDFW) for developing much of the language in the Introduction chapter and for providing technical assistance to all of the Regional Technical Coordinators, and to Ed Manary for coordinating the Habitat Limiting Factors Analysis process and providing the extensive resources and support necessary to complete these reports. Completion of this report was truly a collaborative effort. Unfortunately, the extent and variety of contributions cannot be adequately captured in the authorship reference for this report. 3 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT The following list provides a guide to acronyms or abbreviations used in this report: BMP Best Management Practices cfs cubic feet per second (a measure of water flow) CSO Combined Sewer Overflow CWA Clean Water Act DAWACT Dungeness Area Watershed Analysis Cooperative Team DQ Plan Dungeness-Quilcene Water Management Plan ESA ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT IFIM Instream Flow Incremental Methodology LWD Large Woody Debris mg/L milligrams/Liter mi mile mi2 square miles NRCS Natural Resource Conservation Service NWIFC Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission ONP Olympic National Park PSCRBT Puget Sound Cooperative River Basin Team RM River Mile SASSI Salmon and Steelhead Stock Inventory SSHIAP Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory Assessment Project SSI Salmonid Stock Inventory TAG Technical Advisory Group USFS U.S. Forest Service WDFW Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife WRIA Water Resource Inventory Area WWTIT Western Washington Treaty Indian Tribes yd3 cubic yards yr year 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................. 2 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT ............................................. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ 5 APPENDIX 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................... 13 LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... 14 LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... 15 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 17 BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................... 22 THE RELATIVE ROLE OF HABITAT IN HEALTHY POPULATIONS OF NATURAL SPAWNING SALMON ................................................................................................................ 23 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 29 Discussion of Habitat Limiting Factor Elements....................................................................... 29 Fish Passage Barriers............................................................................................................. 29 Functions of Floodplains ....................................................................................................... 30 Impairment of Floodplains by Human Activities .................................................................. 30 Streambed Sediment ..............................................................................................................31 Effects of Human Actions on Sediment Processes................................................................ 31 Riparian Zone Functions........................................................................................................ 32 Effects of Human Activities on Riparian Zones.................................................................... 33 Water Quantity....................................................................................................................... 33 Estuarine Habitat ................................................................................................................... 35 WATERSHED DESCRIPTION.................................................................................................... 36 WRIA 18 General Watershed Description ................................................................................ 36 General................................................................................................................................... 36 Bell Creek .............................................................................................................................. 36 McDonald Creek.................................................................................................................... 42 Siebert Creek ......................................................................................................................... 42 Morse Creek........................................................................................................................... 42 Lees Creek ............................................................................................................................. 43 Port Angeles Urban Watersheds............................................................................................ 43 Elwha River ..........................................................................................................................