Topography and Geology
The Humptulips River is the westernmost tributary of the Chehalis system. The East and West Forks of the Humptulips River originate in the Olympic National Forest and merge 4.5 miles above the Town of Humptulips. It does not flow directly into the Chehalis, but joins the waters of Grays Harbor on the North Bay side. The drainage area of the Humptulips basin is 276 square miles. Annual precipitation at the headwaters is over 220 inches. High intensity and long duration storms are frequent. Soils are derived from marine basalts with some minor inclusions of marine net a sedimentary bedrock. These soils are highly erodible (Franklin, 1981). The high, sub-alpine Quinault Ridge divides the Humptulips drainage from the Quinault with dramatic ridges, many of then logged and eroded severely.
The average discharge is 1,344 cfs. The maximum recorded discharge was 33,000 cfs in January 1935. The minimum recorded discharge was 82 cfs in September 1944 (USGS, 1992).
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Climate
Climate information for this subbasin is presented in the basin overview section of the Watershed Characterization report.
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Existing Population
Using 1990 U.S. Bureau of Census data and maps for the area, and relating census block numbers to the watershed boundary of the Humptulips Basin, the population appears to be 3,600, a figure that includes 1,200 units from Ocean Shores.
Based upon an average for the entire Chehalis River Basin of 2.29 people per household, there are close to 1,100 households in this subbasin.
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Beneficial Uses of Water
The City of Hoquiam has a water right permit for 100 cfs from the Humptulips.
Two hundred and twenty acres have irrigation water rights, but only an estimated one-third of the acres are actually irrigated (Ecology, 1980).
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Water Quality Trends
Erosion of streambanks is nothing new to this mountain-born river. Today it is estimated that the river actively erodes 20 miles of its banks, washing away about nine acres of bottomland annually. The most severe erosion is found below the town of Humptulips, as the river enters an alluvial plain. Mass wastage of glacial gravel-based river banks has been severe, with the minimal buffer strips left after clear-cut logging unable to prevent slope erosion during high rainfall periods. The winters of 1989-1991, for instance, have seen some severe bank degradation, particularly on the more heavily logged East Fork.
Forest land erosion in general is the main source of sediment in our rivers. An estimated 85% of this fine silt and sand come from upstream logging, ground clearing, and road construction. Approximately 15% of our streams' suspended sediment load comes from streambank erosion. Other significant impacts result from attempts at erosion control, which can cause channel migration and disruption of the biologically productive riffle-pool systems in the rivers, and the destruction of gravel bars (GHRPC, 1974).
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Existing Land Use Patterns
Land in the Humptulips Basin is predominantly commercial forest, with some pasture and cropland. Uses of the basin include fishing, gravel extraction, logging, water supply, some farming, and recreation.
The Quinault Ranger District of the Olympic National Forest has been one of the last sources of quality old growth timber available in the Chehalis Basin. Lower elevation timber is mostly "between crops"--young, second-growth timber, which is principally planted Douglas fir, but includes naturally regenerated western hemlock, alder, redcedar, and cottonwood. The canyons and cascades of the West Fork of the Humptulips are particularly notable, as many of the steep streamside margins have been too difficult to log, and old growth remains. Like the Wynoochee drainage in the Olympic National Forest, the re-evaluation of forest management practices, first initiated by the listing of the spotted owl as an endagered specie, has momentarily brought timber harvest to a virtual standstill. Watershed and sub-watershed management considerations have been elevated to priority status by the Forest Service.
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Anticipated Population and Land Use
Based upon projections from the Washington State Office of Financial Management, Forecasting Division (OFM, 1992), the entire Chehalis River Basin is experiencing growth. Using data from the three major counties (Thurston, Lewis, and Grays Harbor) this growth rate between now and the year 2000 could be 2.7% (low), 26% (high), or 11% (average).
Applying these figures to today's population and housing units results in the following estimates for the Humptulips Basin:
By the year 2010, the growth rate could be 6.1% (low), 53% (high), or 23% (average).
While this subbasin has not experienced high or even average growth rates, high rates of growth in nearby population centers are encouraging residential development in rural areas. This spillover effect could cause growth to exceed traditional norms.
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Historical Uses Impacting Watershed
Probably the most profound effect on the river's course in historic times has been the nearly 30 splash dams built along it. Constructed by such companies as the Humptulips Driving Company (engaged in splash dam construction and operation for over 40 years), these dams decimated salmon runs. Even in the days of wide-open, unregulated logging, this disaster was recognized (after the fact), and the Humptulips Driving Company, for instance, was forced to construct four salmon hatcheries to help mitigate the damage. One of these, on Stevens Creek, was located just upstream from a modern fish hatchery now located near the confluence of this tributary with the main Humptulips.
Early fish hatcheries were "fry stations", which collected eggs and released salmon at a young age. Most of these experimental efforts were unsuccessful, and salmon runs continued to dwindle. The combination of disturbed or destroyed habitat, lack of hatchery experience, and over fishing all led to dramatic decline of a world-class fishery.
Hatcheries today still have an uphill struggle to get fish to survive and return to the rivers of the Chehalis and other watersheds. The Washington Department of Fisheries has completed a study to try and determine the causes of the high rate of death of young coho in Grays Harbor. Humptulips stock, with their much higher survival rate, are being studied for understanding of their relative success. In this, the Humptulips is the least impacted river of the Chehalis Basin (Schroder, 1992).
While gravel removal from the Humptulips has historically been an easy enterprise during summer low water, the destruction of spawning habitat and the effects of quarries on river course change have been significant. Commercial gravel removal from river bars has now been eliminated, but some private permitted individuals still harvest river bar gravel. One former gravel pit (Loomis Ponds) has recently been re-engineered to allow a channel between the abandoned pits and the river, allowing a natural chum salmon spawning area to develop. A cooperative effort between interested groups has now added a steelhead fry implanting component, helping the former borrow pit to become part of a Humptulips fisheries enhancement program that is attracting the attention of conservationists, commercial and sports fishermen, and government agencies.
Eighty-eight square miles of the upper drainage is administered by the Olympic National Forest. The headwaters are administered by the Olympic National Park. The Olympic National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, 1990, rates the Humptulips River drainage in a high sensitivity condition class which requires special enhancement or mitigation considerations for watershed protection. This drainage has been less intensively managed than the Wynoochee or Satsop drainages. Road densities averages 2.79 linear miles per square mile and most subbasins have about 34% of stands in ages less than 35 years. Older unstable roads are less frequent in this drainage than the Wynoochee and Satsop drainages. Since 1990, timber harvest has been dramatically reduced in this drainage. Most of the drainage is included in a Northern spotted owl Critical Habitat Area.
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Water Quality Plans
Water quality plans for this subbasin are reviewed in the basin-wide overview section of the Chehalis River Basin Characterization and the Water Quality Assessment.
Back to top or back to Action Plan home page or back to Action Plan Vol II Index Revised and corrected, April 2000 -
1990 Pop. in 2000 Units in 2000
Pop. Units low hi avg low hi avg
3600 1600 3697 4536 3996 1643 2016 1776
1990 Pop. in 2010 Units in 2010
Pop. Units low hi avg low hi avg
3600 1600 3820 5508 4428 1698 2448 1968