The Effects of Placed Wood on the Physical Habitat and Thermal Conditions in the Raging River, WA January 2017 Alternate Formats Available The Effects of Placed Wood on the Physical Habitat and Thermal Conditions in the Raging River, WA Prepared for: The Snoqualmie Watershed Forum and the King County Flood Control District Submitted by: Kate Macneale King County Water and Land Resources Division Department of Natural Resources and Parks Funded by: This study was funded by the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum through Cooperative Watershed Management grant funds and by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cooperative Water Program. The Effects of Placed Wood on the Physical Habitat and Thermal Conditions in the Raging River, WA Acknowledgements We thank Ray Timm for developing the original proposal, for obtaining grant funding for King County, and for providing support throughout the study. We thank the following King County Water and Land Resources Division staff for their technical or field help: Bob Pendergast, Josh Kubo, Andrew Miller, Dan Lantz, Chris Gregersen, Chris Knutson, Jo Wilhelm, Kay Kitamura, and Ken Rauscher. We thank Andrew Gendaszek of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for securing matching funds from the USGS Cooperative Water Program. We also thank Andrew Gendaszek and Chad Opatz for their collaboration, and for the operation of the fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor. We thank Josh Kubo, Josh Latterell, Andrew Miller, Beth leDoux, Kate O’Laughlin, and Deb Lester of King County Water and Land Resources Division for their helpful discussions and careful reviews of the report. Citation King County. 2016. The effects of placed wood on the physical habitat and thermal conditions in the Raging River, WA. Prepared by Kate Macneale, Water and Land Resources Division. Seattle, Washington. King County Science and Technical Support Section i January 2017 The Effects of Placed Wood on the Physical Habitat and Thermal Conditions in the Raging River, WA Table of Contents Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................ vii 1.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Log additions and context for 2015 study................................................................................ 1 1.2 Goals, research questions and objectives of 2015 study .................................................... 3 2.0 Study area Description and Summer 2015 conditions ............................................................ 5 3.0 Methods ....................................................................................................................................................11 3.1 How did placed logs move and redeposit between 2009 and 2015? ..........................11 3.1.1 Surveying and characterizing the placed and natural logs ........................................11 3.2 Did the wood increase complexity and improve fish habitat? .......................................12 3.2.1 Qualitative assessment of individual logs and their effect on sediment and fish habitat ....................................................................................................................................12 3.2.2 Assessing habitat and hydrologic complexity .................................................................12 3.2.3 Survey of fish presence ............................................................................................................16 3.3 Did placed wood alter hyporheic exchange, and if so, were stream temperatures reduced? .................................................................................................................16 3.3.1 Survey of upwelling and downwelling with piezometers ..........................................16 3.3.2 Fine scale stream temperature measurements ..............................................................17 3.3.3 Assessing summer temperatures along the mainstem and within a side channel ...........................................................................................................................................17 4.0 Results .......................................................................................................................................................19 4.1 How did placed logs move and redeposit between 2009 and 2015? ..........................19 4.1.1 Distribution and movement of placed logs ......................................................................19 4.1.2 Characterization of placed and natural logs ....................................................................21 4.2 Did wood increase complexity and improve fish habitat? ...............................................21 4.2.1 Qualitative assessment of individual logs and their effect on sediment and fish....................................................................................................................................................21 4.2.2 Assessment of habitat and hydrologic complexity .......................................................21 4.2.3 Fish Distribution .........................................................................................................................26 4.3 Did placed wood alter hyporheic exchange, and if so, were stream temperatures reduced? .................................................................................................................26 4.3.1 Local upwelling and downwelling .......................................................................................26 4.3.2 Fine scale temperature measurements along the reach .............................................29 King County Science and Technical Support Section ii January 2017 The Effects of Placed Wood on the Physical Habitat and Thermal Conditions in the Raging River, WA 4.3.3 Temperatures in the mainstem and side channel throughout the summer .......34 5.0 Discussion ................................................................................................................................................38 5.1 How did placed logs move and redeposit between 2009 and 2015? ..........................38 5.2 Did wood increase complexity and improve fish habitat? ...............................................38 5.3 Did placed wood alter hyporheic exchange, and if so, were stream temperatures reduced? .................................................................................................................39 6.0 Conclusions and Next steps ..............................................................................................................42 6.1 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................42 6.2 Next steps ............................................................................................................................................43 7.0 References ...............................................................................................................................................45 Figures Figure 1. Photograph of some of the logs added to the Raging River in 2009. ....................... 1 Figure 2. Map of Raging River watershed in central King County and the 2015 study reach. ................................................................................................................................................ 2 Figure 3. This stump is a reminder of the size of trees that would have provided shade and the large woody debris that would have recruited to the river prior to logging. ............................................................................................................................ 5 Figure 4. Raging River discharge from October 1, 2008 - September 30, 2015, and long-term median daily discharge (USGS gage 12145500). ........................................ 6 Figure 5. Raging River discharge from March 1, 2015 – September 1, 2015, and long- term median daily discharge (USGS gage 12145500). .................................................. 7 Figure 6. Daily air temperature and discharge (USGS gage 12145500) in the lower Raging River basin near the Snoqualmie River (adapted from King County 2016). ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Figure 7. Water temperature in the lower Raging River basin near the Snoqualmie River confluence , relative to state water quality criteria (adapted from King County 2016).....................................................................................................................10 Figure 8. Sub-reaches, and location of piezometers and logs along the surveyed reach of the Raging River. ...................................................................................................................14 Figure 9. Fish survey units, and location of temperature loggers and logs along the surveyed reach of the Raging River. ...................................................................................15 Figure 10. Distribution of placed logs (n=93) in 2009 and 2015, and natural logs (n=105) in 2015, within the surveyed reach in the Raging River. ..........................20 Figure 11. Patches within sub-reach 1 of the Raging River. ...........................................................23