Draft Palouse Subbasin Summary February 23, 2001 Prepared for the Northwest Power Planning Council Subbasin Team Leader Trevor Cook Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District Contributors (in alphabetical order): Paul Ashley, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Jody Brostrom, Idaho Department of Fish and Wildlife Rob Buchart, Palouse Conservation District Jerry Hickman, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Jim Johnson, Natural Resources Conservation Service Bob Peck, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Rich Riehle, Natural Resources Conservation Service Mimi Wainwright, Washington Department of Ecology John Whalen, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife DRAFT: This document has not yet been reviewed or approved by the Northwest Power Planning Council Palouse Subbasin Summary Palouse Subbasin Summary Table of Contents Palouse River Subbasin Description ..................................................................................... 3 General Location ............................................................................................................ 3 Fish and Wildlife Resources................................................................................................ 14 Fish and Wildlife Status ............................................................................................... 14 Habitat Areas and Quality ............................................................................................ 34 Watershed Assessment................................................................................................. 44 Limiting Factors ........................................................................................................... 44 Existing and Past Efforts.............................................................................................. 48 Cooperative Habitat and Access Agreements .............................................................. 49 Backyard Bank Stabilization / Revegetation Projects.................................................. 57 Present Subbasin Management............................................................................................ 61 Existing Goals, Objectives, and Strategies................................................................... 67 Conservation Districts Goals , Objectives, and Strategies ........................................... 84 Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Activities ......................................................... 86 Statement of Fish and Wildlife Needs.......................................................................... 88 Fisheries (WDFW) ....................................................................................................... 88 Needs of the Palouse River Subbasin and its Wildlife (Conservation Districts) ......... 90 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................... 91 Palouse Subbasin Summary i Figures Figure 1. Palouse Subbasin location map............................................................................. 4 Figure 2. Palouse Falls, February 2001 ................................................................................. 5 Figure 3. General geology within the Palouse Subbasin. ...................................................... 6 Figure 4. Land ownership map of the Palouse Subbasin....................................................... 8 Figure 5. Subwatersheds in the Palouse Basin .................................................................... 13 Figure 6. WDFW Sharp-tailed Grouse Management Zones. .............................................. 25 Figure 7. Palouse Subbasin Priority Habitat Species map................................................... 29 Figure 8. Historic cover types in the Palouse Subbasin....................................................... 35 Figure 9. Present cover types in the Palouse Subbasin........................................................ 36 Figure 10. Typical Channeled Scablands shallow, rocky, soil type. ................................... 49 Figure 11. Rock Creek at the Revere Property, February 2001........................................... 50 Figure 12. Location map for the Revere property. .............................................................. 51 Figure 13. Mule Deer in Channeled Scablands, Feb. 2001 ................................................. 51 Tables Table 1. A comparison of water quality standards ............................................................. 10 Table 2. Class A Stream Beneficial Uses............................................................................ 11 Table 3: River and stream pollutant identification table ..................................................... 12 Table 4. Fish species present in the Palouse Subbasin, Washington.................................. 16 Table 5. Wildlife species of interest within the Palouse Subbasin..................................... 19 Table 6. 1999 deer harvest by species and sex in Game Management Unit 139................ 26 Table 7. Bat species found in the Palouse Subbasin. ......................................................... 30 Appendix Tables Appendix Table 1A1. Summary of Fish Stocked in the Palouse River Subbasin, Idaho... 95 Appendix Table IA2. Species list of breeding wildlife in the Idaho portion of the Palouse Subbasin. ..................................................................................................................... 98 Palouse Subbasin Summary ii Palouse River Below Palouse Falls, 2001 Palouse River Subbasin Description General Location Approximately 17% (353,625 acres) of the Palouse River subbasin lies in Idaho (USDA 1978) primarily within Latah County. In Washington, the bulk of the subbasin lies in Whitman County with lesser amounts (less than 25 percent) occurring in Adams County on the west and Spokane County to the north (Figure 1). Palouse Subbasin Summary 3 Figure 1. Palouse Subbasin location map. Drainage Area The Palouse River drains an area encompassing 2,113,970 acres that includes 398 miles of stream, which have an average annual water yield of 455,000 acre feet per year (Figure 2). The Palouse River originates in the Palouse Mountain Range within the St. Joe National Forest northeast of Moscow, Idaho, and then flows in a westerly direction into eastern Washington, south of the City of Spokane. The river then winds through the rolling farm ground of Latah and Whitman Counties before it enters the Snake River at the Whitman\ Franklin County line. Pine Creek, Rock Creek, and Cow Creek drain large areas within the Whitman County portion of the subbasin. The part of the subbasin that lies in Spokane County drains the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. Climate The climate in the Palouse Subbasin consists of generally mild winters and summers punctuated by occasional high or low temperatures. The recorded temperatures in the basin range from 36 degrees below zero to 110 degrees F. These extreme temperatures tend to last no more than a few weeks. The soils of the basin can freeze to 30 inches of depth during the more extreme winters. Summers are generally hot with very little precipitation. Most of the precipitation is received from October to May. Precipitation in the basin ranges from 12 inches annually in the west to 46 inches annually in the mountains of Idaho (USDA 1978). Frost events can occur during any month of the year. Palouse Subbasin Summary 4 Figure 2. Palouse Falls, February 2001 Topography/Geomorphology High, massive mountains and deep intermountain valleys characterize the eastern portion of the subbasin that lies in the Northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho. The topography is fairly rugged with heavily timbered, steep sided ridges and rounded peaks (Sappington 1989) Precambrian metasedimentary and metamorphic rocks underlie the mountainous portions. Intrusions of granitic deposits in the headwaters of the subbasin attracted gold exploration and mining activities. Major valleys in the eastern part of the subbasin are filled with alluvial deposits, while the majority of the rest of the subbasin is composed primarily of basalt covered by a thick layer of wind blown loess soil up to 200 feet thick, which forms a ‘sand dune’ rolling, hilly terrain. The hills are characterized by gently sloping south and west facing slopes, and short steep north and east slopes. The soils of the Palouse are subject to serious erosion problems. This is due to the steep hilly topography and cultivation. In 1976, it was estimated that 360 tons of soil had been lost from every acre in the Palouse through soil erosion, and that 14 tons of soil would continue to be lost per acre per year unless land use practices change (USDA, 1978). The western portion of the basin contains the channeled scablands. These lands were formed when large ice dams in Montana broke releasing massive torrents of water that crossed the Palouse Region approximately 100,000 years ago. These huge flood events scoured the soil from the land, leaving behind channelized exposed basalt with islands of loess soil not swept away by the floods (USDA 1978). General geological characteristics of the Palouse Subbasin are shown in Figure 3. Palouse Subbasin Summary 5 Figure 3. General geology within the Palouse Subbasin. Palouse Subbasin Summary 6 Hydrology The Palouse River and its tributaries flow freely to the Snake River with no major man made impoundments. (USDA, 1978) There are a few minor impoundments for irrigation purposes, mostly