Water Resources

Chapter 4 Water Resources Section 1 A Precious Commodity By Christopher Dunagan Large pipes cany rushing -water fromthe impounded Skokomish Riverto thepowerhouse below Cushman Dam. TheNorth Fork of the Skokomish Cushman, the river rushes swiftly down a River begins its journey from a hillside of boulders. massive snowfield on the slopes In late May, the roaring waters are so of Mount Skokomish in Olympic fresh and clear that it is difficult to perceive National Park. As surrounding the swiftness of their flow. A ripple sparkles forests surrender their store of in the noonday sun, but is quickly gone, rain water — creek by creek, stream by rushing downstream in the blink of an eye, stream — the North Fork becomes a surging following the water's course toward Hood river, a force to be reckoned with. Canal. At Staircase Rapids, reached by hikers Experts measuring the flow in the along a picturesque trail above Lake North Fork say 7,000gallons pass this point •23* 24 • The Ecosystem in a single second. That's enough water to this indisputable fact have already begun to flush every toiletin Bremerton,then do so engage in a tug-of-war over its future use. again and again every 30seconds. Downstream from Staircase Rapids, a Water is so plentiful in this green land shaft of sunlight breaks through a heavy surrounding Hood Canal that it seems growth of fir and cedars. The sunbeam impossibleto ever run out. The wild and illuminates a deep pool of cold water, which free-flowing rivers provide what seemslike glows likea giant green emerald. The roaring an endless bounty of water as they flowout Nearby, in the shallows, water glides smoothlyover shaded gravel,an ideal rivers are never of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains. Duckabush, Hamma Hamma and nesting spot for salmon and trout. heard in the Skokomish. Their Indian names suggest an Somewhere in these waters, a unique city, which ancient history of never-ending flows. population of juvenile salmon has begun an makes it easy Dosewallipsand Quilcene, Dewattoand instinctive journey downstream. These for people to Tahuya. young chinooksalmon are the descendants ignore subtle You might think there would be plenty of an ancient race of salmon that grew to of water for all uses — for drinking and for ponderous size in the ocean. ways that flushing toilets, for generatingelectricity and But these juvenile fish will never see humans can for diluting industrial pollution. And there the ocean.They remain trapped forever, like tilt the balance ought to be water left over for fish,birds and their parents, by Cushman Dam, a massive of nature. all sorts of wildlife we treasure. concrete structure that has blocked the But as Will Rogers might say of water, normal flow of the North Forth since 1926. as he once said of land: 'They ain't makin' "I've always been intrigued by those any more of it." fish," said Frank Haw, a former Department In Bremerton and Port Townsend, of Fisheries expert and now a private when somebody turns on a water faucet, he consultant. expects to get clean drinking water. A Gig Haw first became aware of the land Harbor resident expects that his lights will locked salmon more than a quarter-century go on when he flips a switch. ago when he saw the silhouetteof a big These people who live miles from salmon painted on a board, which was Hood Canal can be thankful for its mighty hanging in a bar near Cushman. Someone rivers. told him the imprint was from a king salmon Bremerton water customers can thank taken out of the lake. the Union River. "In 1967,1 caught one, a 12-pounder," Port Townsend residents and employ said Haw. 'That was the first one I'd actually ees at the town's paper mill can thank the seen in there." Quilcene. Haw was fascinated by the realization Gig Harbor residents can thank the that these salmon are being born in the North Fork of the Skokomish (as well as a stream above Lake Cushman, but they live power swap among electricutilities). most of their lives in the lake, never able to The roaring rivers are never heard in get past the man-made structure. the city, which makes it easy for people to Since then, fall chinook have been ignoresubtle ways that humans can tiltthe planted in Roosevelt Lake behind Grand balance of nature. Coulee Dam as well as in Lake Chelan, both Even families on private wells cannot in Eastern Washington. escape the water equation. They, too, are "But the interesting thing about dependent on rainfallto replenishthe Cushman," said Haw, "is that it appears to groundwater supply. Hydrologists some have gotten going without anybody's help." times worry that this hidden store of water is The numbers ofCushman chinook are more vulnerable to depletion because people never very high, and these fish grow more cannot observe it. slowly than they would in the ocean.Lakes Water is the common denominator are not the most suitable habitat for salmon. among all living things,but it is easilytaken But the mere survival of these fish, says for granted — especially in the wetter years Haw, is a tribute to their adaptability. when people jokeabout growing webbed While the unique land-locked chinook feet. are at least a curiosity, another issue at Despite heavy precipitation, despite Cushman is brewing into a multimillion- ever-flowing streams, the amount ofwater is dollar controversy. indeed limited. And people who understand The Cushman Project, built by the city Water Resources • 25 of Tacoma,consistsof two dams and power- officials agree to release,about 225gallons generating facilities, producing a total of 124 per second. Original flows in that stretch of megawatts of electricity,enough to power river ranged from 1,500 to 12,000 gallons per 20,000average homes. second. The project, which is due for a new To compensate for lost fish habitat, federal license, is being examined by Tacoma Tacoma built a fish hatchery on Purdy officials, the Skokomish Tribe and various Creek, a tributary to the Skokomish River. resource agencies for its continuing impacts The George Adams Hatchery, now run by 7,000 gallons on the environment. the state, produces substan of water pass a The dam not only tial numbers ofcoho and blocked migration of salmon Lake Cushman chinook. But fishery experts point on the into the upper reaches of the say it has contributed to the North Forkof North Fork, but it essentially depletion of wild salmon the Skokomish dried up four miles of prime runs in the Skokomish River River every fish habitat downstream system. second. That's from the dam. The Skokomish Tribe, enough water Water from the North which traditionally depended Fork flows into Lake on the Skokomish and its to flush every Cushman, then through a tributaries, plans to seek toilet in power plant before returning increased streamflows in the Bremerton, to the stream channel. A mile North Fork as well as addi then do so downstream, the water tional compensation as again and enters a second manmade Tacoma City Light seeks its lake, known as Lake Ko- new operating license. again every 30 kanee, a fraction of the size of A similar licensing seconds. Lake Cushman. The 4,000-acre lake program on the Elwha River Tacoma City Light feeds a Tacoma near Port Angeles has led to a operates the two dams in City Light well-considered proposal to concert to produce far more hydroelectric power remove a pair of dams and power than a single dam plantcapable of attempt to restore one of the could alone. most productive salmon runs As it leaves Lake powering 20,000 in the history of the Olympic Kokanee, the water takes a typical homes. Peninsula. controversial left-hand turn. Nobody proposes Instead of returning to the stream channel, tearing out the Cushman dams, but Tacoma the flow is diverted through three 10-foot-tall City Light acknowledges its responsibility to pipes, which slope down the side of a hill care for the environment if the city is to overlooking Hood Canal. continue enjoying power from the North From a technical viewpoint, the project Fork. is marvelous. The falling water produces maximum output from a second power plant constructed at the bottom of the hill A new way ofthinking about water is next to Highway 101. evident today, argues David Fluharty of the The water gives up its energy to a Institute for Marine Studies at the University whining turbine, which spins a generator, of Washington. sending electriccurrent down a high-voltage "Before,we thought only about how power line toward Tacoma. Its hydro- water could be put to beneficial use," he potential expended, the water is then said, "but now we realize that even in areas dumped directly into Hood Canal. of abundance, water is already allocated to Somehow forgotten in the design of something." this power project was the original stream State law is based on the notion that channel of the North Fork. Eight miles of the the first person to remove the water and river suffered massive depletion of water; at "use" it has first rights to own it, said least four of those miles became unsuitable Fluharty. But that way of thinking could for spawning, a major blow to the salmon change. resource. Under a pact signed at Lake Chelan in Today, the only flow in the North Fork November 1990,every group interested in below the two dams is that which Tacoma the future of water resources agreed to a 26 • The Ecosystem step-by-step process that could alter state electricity.

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