Puyallup Watershed Assessment Lorin Reinelt King County Water and Land Resources December 6, 2013 PRWC Annual Meeting Watershed Assessment Overview • Historical Watershed Conditions • Historical Conditions –Pre‐European • Post – 1850 European Settlement • Socio‐economic, Cultural and Land Use Conditions • Geology, Geomorphology, and Human Changes • Hydrology and Water Use • Aquatic Habitat and Fish Populations • Water Quality • Flooding and Floodplain Management • Resource Lands –Forests and Agriculture • Key Watershed Features PRWC Retreat Puyallup Watershed Overview • Area = 1040+ square miles • Major Basins: White, Carbon, Puyallup, South Prairie, Greenwater • Highest Elev. = 14,411 feet • Largest trib. ‐ White River = 475 sq. miles; 25% in King County • Chinook populations: – White River spring – Puyallup River fall PRWC Annual Meeting Historical Watershed Conditions • Mt. Rainier Osceola mudflow – 5,600 years ago • Great floods reworked the river valleys and deltas • 3,000 to 5,000 years ago – “changing habitat and evolving Pacific salmon converged into ecological harmony” • Puyallup (S’Puyalupubsh) people – “generous and welcoming” • Commencement Bay mudflats and salt marshes PRWC Annual Meeting Historical Conditions –Pre‐European • Puyallup and Carbon River valleys had complex networks of sloughs, ponds, wetlands, and tributary streams, and extensive riparian forests • Puyallup estuary at Commencement Bay – 2600 acres of tidal marshes and mudflats • Chinook salmon population –estimated at up to 78,000 (~ 690,000 in Puget Sound) Hamma- Elwa Cedar Dose-Duck 4% 2% 3% Stilla- Dungeness guamish 2% 8% Duwamish / Green Snohomish 5% 20% Nisqually 8% Skokomish Nooksack 3% 9% Puyallup / Skagit White 25% 11% Watershed Area PRWC Annual Meeting Historical Conditions –Pre‐European • “The fundamental concept of the immortality of the salmon and the related desire not to offend it and endanger its return was a driving force in the spirituality of the Puyallup people.” 1877 • The First Salmon Ceremony was a major celebration • Salmon made up 80‐90% of the Puyallup Indians’ year‐round diet • Tribes developed techniques and methods to efficiently harvest and sustainably manage available food resource PRWC Annual Meeting Historical Conditions: 1850 – 1900s • European settlement began ~1850 • Puyallup became farming center because river valley provided flat, rich farm land • Puyallup, Orting, Sumner, and Fife were located in the floodplain • Carbonado and Wilkeson develop around coal mining operations in upper basin • Timber industry centralized in Tacoma where port enabled easy transport of logs • 1865 – Meeker family planted hops • 1875 –Coal discovered in Wilkeson • 1884 – Railroad reached Sumner PRWC Annual Meeting Historical Conditions: 1850 – 1900s • 1890 –Tacoma population = 36,000 • 1904 – Hydroelectric plant (Electron) • 1906‐7 –White River diverted to Puyallup • 1909 –Puget Sound Power and Light Co. diversion of White River • 1918 –Port District of Tacoma formed • 1919 – Puyallup River Channelization • 1933 –Major flood on Puyallup River • 1937 –U.S. Congress Flood Control Act • 1948 –Mud Mountain Dam on White Ri. • 1960s –Major levee construction PRWC Annual Meeting Habitat Degradation/Fish Population Decline • Extensive urban growth, heavy industry, a large modern marine port, an extensive revetment/levee system and agriculture combined to significantly alter the natural landscape. (Kerwin 1999) • Since 1967, run sizes of Chinook, coho, pink, chum, and winter steelhead have been highly variable • White River Chinook bottomed out in mid‐1980s; Tribal Chinook recovery program initiated PRWC Annual Meeting Geology and Geomorphology • Puyallup Watershed formed by tectonic, glacial and volcanic activity • Volcanic activity in Cascade Range began 27 million years ago • Mt. Rainier formed between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago • Vashon stage of Fraser Glaciation – 16,000 years ago • Alpine glaciers carved U‐shaped valleys that form upper and middle reaches of the White, Puyallup, and Carbon River valleys PRWC Annual Meeting Geology and Geomorphology • Three geomorphic variables that contribute to character of rivers in the Puyallup watershed: (1) gradient, (2) sediment supply, and (3) hydrology • Mt. Rainier creates high slopes for watershed draining mountain • Physical and chemical weathering result in abundant sediment supply • Rate of sediment transport linked to climate, rainfall, and runoff • High runoff and flood flows transport large amounts of sediment • Glacial Rivers: Puyallup, White, Carbon; Non‐glacial rivers: Greenwater, Clearwater and South Prairie PRWC Annual Meeting Major River Basins PRWC Annual Meeting Hydrology and Water Use • Hydrologic conditions, instream flows and water supply/use • Amount and timing of runoff and stream flows –influenced by precipitation, groundwater and surface water runoff and interactions, glaciers and meltwater, and seasonal conditions that affect evapotranspiration, and soil and vegetation conditions • Annual precipitation: 30‐40 inches near Tacoma; 120 inches in Cascades • Puyallup River = 3000 cfs MAF • Largest flood (1933) = 57,000 cfs • Three dams: – Mud Mountain Dam –RM 29.6 White Ri. – Buckley Diversion Dam –RM 24.3 White – Electron Diversion Dam – Upper Puyallup PRWC Annual Meeting Mud Mountain Dam PRWC Annual Meeting Electron and Buckley Diversion Dams PRWC Annual Meeting Instream Flows • Purpose of instream flow rule: to retain perennial rivers, streams, and lakes in the Puyallup River basin at instream flows and levels necessary to provide protection for wildlife, fish, scenic‐aesthetic, environmental values, recreation, navigation, and to preserve water quality standards (WAC 173‐510, 1988) • Instream flows in Puyallup River Basin (WAC 173‐510) – Puyallup River (Alderton): 500 – 1050 cfs – Puyallup River (Puyallup): 1000 – 2000 cfs – Carbon River: 350 – 900 cfs • White River Management Agreement between Cascade Water Alliance and the Puyallup and Muckleshoot Tribes – Established minimum flows in White River and limited diversions into Lake Tapps – Minimum flows range from 500 – 875 cfs, depending on month of year PRWC Annual Meeting Water Supply/Use • Puyallup watershed is one of most intensely populated and farmed basins in western Washington, and much of the water in the Puyallup‐ White watershed has already been spoken for (Ecology 2011) • Little water available for new uses, given that river levels need to be maintained to ensure adequate water quality and fish migration • Major surface water uses are irrigation, municipal and domestic supplies • Major groundwater uses are public water supply and single exempt wells Pink = closed basin Green = instream flow basin PRWC Annual Meeting Aquatic Habitat and Fish Populations • Fish stocks in the Puyallup river watershed demonstrate a wide range of population variability and abundance • Two species typify this range: – Pink salmon stocks that have reached peak abundance in the past three return cycles (2009‐2013) – Steelhead which have hopefully bottomed out Steelhead Puyallup Escapement by Sub-basin 2,500 2,000 1,500 Puy Carbon White 1,000 500 0 2011 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012 PRWC Annual Meeting Aquatic Habitat and Fish Populations • Chinook have received greatest degree of recovery attention in terms of enhancement efforts and harvest management restrictions • Coho have declined overall, but wild coho returning to the White River are doing quite well Recent Trends in White River Chinook Returns to Buckley Trap 6000 Buckley Trap Coho Returns (1941‐2012) 25,000 5000 20,000 4000 Hatchery Jacks 15,000 Fish of Acclimation Pond Jacks Chinook of 3000 Wild Jacks Number Hatchery Adults Number 10,000 Acclimation Pond Adults Total Wild Adults 2000 5,000 1000 0 0 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 Month 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 PRWC Annual Meeting Aquatic Habitat and Fish Populations • Bull trout research in the Puyallup watershed is being done by the Puyallup Tribe and the National Park Service. 100% Bull Trout Return Timing to Buckley Trap 1999 90% 2000 2001 2002 80% 2003 2004 70% 2005 2006 2007 60% 2008 2009 50% 2010 2011 2012 40% 30% NUMBER OF BULL TROUT OF BULL NUMBER 20% 10% 0% March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov PRWC Annual Meeting Water Quality • Water is essential for life and clean water ensures that fish and wildlife, drinking water and other human uses for water are supported • Degraded water quality conditions can result in some portions of the watershed being incompatible with human, fish and wildlife needs • Water quality parameters of concern include elevated water temperatures, low dissolved oxygen, excess nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), suspended sediment, bacteria, metals (e.g., copper), and trace organics (e.g., pesticides, combustion by‐products) • The Watershed Assessment examines water quality conditions based on: – 303d listed (impaired) water bodies – Benthic index of biotic integrity (B‐IBI) – Pierce County Surface Water Health Report Card PRWC Annual Meeting Water Quality – 303d Listing • Numerous stream systems in watershed are listed on State’s 303(d) list of impaired water bodies (see red lines) • Listed