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By Brian Peck, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Looking up, I can barely discern the droplets condensing and dripping off the boughs of the fir tree. Upstream, the river emerges from the heavy fog, splashing in a perfect shade of jade green. Looking down, the gravel bar has an infinite array of hues, from gray to silver to brown and gold. I soaked all of this in recently during an enjoyable day fishing on the river.
But what is that over there? There's something shiny amidst the subtle rocks. And over there, what's hanging in that bush? Oh, yeah, that's trash. Beer and soda cans, fishing line, styrofoam coffee cups. This stuff doesn't decompose quickly; it'll be there for a long time, unless it gets washed downstream during the next heavy rains. Then it's out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong!
Unfortunately, trash has become a routine part of the visual experience along most of our streams and rivers. Some spots are virtual dumps. Aside from the unappealing visual aspect, there are other consequences. Let's see, that ball of twisted monofilament fishing line? To a bird that looks like the ideal nest building material. Until the bird gets entangled, can't move or fly, and either dehydrates, starves, or is eaten by a predator. I wonder what the monofilament does to the predators' stomach? Or what about that empty plastic sandwich bag? It may take awhile, but eventually that bag could get washed downstream, through Grays Harbor, and out into the ocean. To a sea turtle it looks exactly like a jellyfish, a tasty snack, until it gets lodged in its intestinal tract. No doctors out there. But maybe those who litter don't understand the impact of their actions, or care much for wildlife or other people who enjoy the outdoors. So, how about that beer can? I've put a nick in a good pair of waders from such a crushed and sharp - edged can. Or, what about that broken bottle? A barefoot kid skipping stones at the waters edge could easily get a gash from it.
Why do people litter? Why would someone throw trash onto an otherwise pristine gravel bar moments before getting into their vehicle? Is it really that much easier than bringing it home? Do they not want empty beer cans in their car in case they get pulled over? What are these people thinking?
Yes, trash ticks me off.
So, what can be done about trash littering our streams and woods? Obviously, if folks didn't litter, it wouldn't be a problem. So don't litter!
I try and pick up as much as I can whenever I'm enjoying the woods and rivers, putting whatever can fit into a plastic bag. This barely makes a dent. I hope that others watching me may do the same, or if they were the litterbugs-to-be, maybe they will stop and think of the consequences of their actions and bring their junk home. They could even recycle it. At the very least bring it home and throw it away.
Brian Peck is the coordinator of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program, 360-753-9560 or brian_peck@fws.gov.
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Teacher Kasia Booth of Boisfort Elementary School sends along articles written by her students.
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by Olivia Martinez, Science
A whirligig is a beetle. The whirligig is a shiny and black beetle that floats over the water. Its legs are short and they work like paddles. It zips around in crazy circles.
The whirligig beetle has four eyes. It uses them to see up, down, and along. They also are useful for finding food that the beetle eats.
Their antennas are short and thin like threads. They help the beetles feel around. They eat insects.
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Connecting Chehalis basin students with their place in the watershed
By Kathy Jacobson, Coordinator, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium
The world around us is a place of endless inspiration, fun and wonder. Learn new ways to explore your backyard, schoolyard, neighborhood, parks, watershed and other wild places with the help of "River of Words." "River of Words" is an international poetry and art contest for children in kindergarten through twelfth grades. Students are invited to explore their own watershed, discover its importance in their lives, and express what they have learned, felt and observed in words and images. Robert Hass, founder, and poet laureate, 1995-1997, noted that "Learning about your watershed should be an adventure and so should expressing it in poems and art. It doesn't matter if you live in the city or in the country; water runs through it ... and your imaginations also run through the place where you live like the water does."
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Summary of Contest Rules and Guidelines:
Entries must be postmarked by February 15, 2003.
For a complete listing of contest rules and guidelines, visit the "River of Words" website at: riverofwords.org/contest.html.
Chehalis Basin Education Consortium teachers: If you would like to borrow a copy of the "River of Words" K-12 Educators' Guide, please give me a call at (360) 586-3538. In the future, we hope to be able to offer a "River of Words" Teacher Training.
Kathy Jacobson, Coordinator, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium
The following is a "River of Words" winning poem from a previous year:
he Songs of Nature
By Jeremy Tsai Kohlenberg, age 8
Evergreen School, Seattle, WA
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By Lee Napier, Project Manager for the Chehalis Basin Partnership
The important thing is not to stop questioning. - Albert Einstein
In 1999 when I became the Project Manager for the Chehalis Basin Partnership (Partnership), I found myself surrounded by a project that demanded a lot of answers and introduced countless new faces. As I began to organize the work and sort out the faces, some common themes continued to rise to the top. I realized that the workload was substantial, so I could not do it alone Fortunately, the Partnership is comprised of many, both agency and citizen volunteers, who are eager to lend a hand and are very knowledgeable. This became the team to accomplish the task, and to those folks I send out my appreciation for their dedication to the Chehalis Watershed.
Another dominant theme dealt with bringing together enough information to allow the Partnership to make educated decisions. I continually heard a voice saying, "In order to make informed decisions, we need data available to us. We need to be able to access it, share it, and it needs to be common across our watershed." That is when I first heard about the data viewer project and met J Roach.
For over twenty years, J kept watch at Black Lake. During his tenure, he watched the salmon come and go and go and go. As the returning numbers dwindled, he became concerned and curious. He set out on a mission to understand the reason(s) why the salmon were not returning to Black Lake. When he started out, he believed he would walk into an office or two, ask a few questions, make a request for some information, and walk out with his questions answered. What he found was that the information was not accessible in a common location, nor was the information available in a standard format.
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J began asking questions in the early 1990s. As J asked more questions that went unanswered, the issue gained more attention. Soon other citizens, businesses, and bureaucrats joined forces to create a solution to this data/information access and data management problem.
Today, 10 years later, a substantial amount of data (data sets from many agencies) is available upon request for a GeoData Viewer. The efforts of J and the many supporters of this project resulted in many state and local entities coming together to produce a data viewer (compact disc) for the entire Chehalis Watershed. Now interested individuals have a considerable amount of data available at the click of a mouse!
Some of the contributing agencies include: Department of Natural Resources (the Lead Agency for the project), Department of Transportation, Department of Ecology, Department of Health, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Information Services, Chehalis Basin Partnership's Citizen Advisory Committee, and United States Geological Survey. The contributing agencies provided spatial/tabular data that was disseminated and exported into an Arcview Geographical Information System (GIS) Project using Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) development software. The GeoData Viewer contains over 90 data sets and includes information such as aerial photography, local government boundaries, congressional boundaries, fish presence, local and state roads, public lands, and water course types.
Using the GeoData Viewer, a person begins with a base map and then selects any combination from the 90 data sets to create a personalize "project" map. The result is a product that allows people to graphically portray and better communicate issues that are relevant to the citizens of the Chehalis Watershed.
The software allows the user to zoom in or out from the subject area, or to pan across the entire Chehalis watershed, which is bound on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by the Deschutes River Basin, on the north by the Olympic Mountains, and on the south by the Willapa Hills (2,520 square miles). The GeoData Viewer is a self contained compact disc, which means that a user receives the data and the application software (including a version of ArcView). The minimum requirements to operate the program are a computer with at least Microsoft Windows 95.
J's perseverance resulted in a positive outcome for many in the Chehalis Basin and beyond. If you are interested in more information regarding the GeoData Viewer, please contact J Roach at 360.357.9662.
Thank you to J and citizens like him who dedicate a considerable amount of time and energy to make the Chehalis Basin a better place to live for both people and fish. Without your contributions, the work in the Chehalis Basin would be stagnant.
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By Annie Phillips, Department of Ecology
The Chehalis, a significant river in southwestern Washington, winds slowly for 123 miles through a relatively undeveloped watershed that covers more than 2,700 square miles and empties into Grays Harbor on the Pacific coast. In fact, the river is so sluggish that studies show it couldn't meet standards for temperature and dissolved oxygen in some reaches, even without human influence.
Two previous TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Load studies) in the upper Chehalis identified sources of low dissolved oxygen, high fecal coliform, and high summer temperatures. Approximately 40 percent of the bacteria in Grays Harbor comes from the upper watershed, above the town of Porter. Shellfish growers in the outer harbor have experienced repeated temporary closures due to both point and nonpoint sources of bacteria. Point sources include city sewage treatment plants; industries; and stormwater from Aberdeen, Hoquiam, and Centralia storm drains. But before 1998 most of the bacteria -- more than 90 percent --came from nonpoint sources such as faulty home septic systems up and down the waterways, livestock and dairy operations, agriculture and hobby farms, and wildlife.
With all these diverse problems, the Grays Harbor Conservation District's focus in the lower Chehalis has been on keeping livestock away from streams where they can directly contribute fecal coliform and also cause erosion by trampling the streambanks. The District knew of livestock problems along the Satsop and Humptulips, tributaries to the giant Chehalis and began fencing out cattle as early as 1994. As of October 2002, 152 miles of fencing and 2.5 million square feet of riparian planting have helped to lower fecal counts in monitored streams and have stabilized streambanks. The riparian buffers are already beginning to filter out polluted runoff, keeping it from entering streams.
Careful management of dairy waste has also helped reduce bacteria entering the rivers. New fencing along the Satsop River alone, installed with assistance from the Conservation District, totals 11.5 miles. Bacteria levels in the Satsop have dropped 75 percent below what the TMDL actually calls for. The reduction can only be attributed to lots of hard work by the landowners, the Conservation District, the County, Department of Natural Resources, State and Federal Fish & Wildlife agencies, the Conservation Commission, and Columbia Pacific Resource Conservation & Development.
Despite this progress, it is impractical to predict when the entire watershed will meet water quality standards. Future success will require vigilant efforts throughout the basin. Assuming that Best Management Practices (BMPs) are implemented for animal management and on-site sewage systems, and that urban stormwater controls are implemented, bacteria loading from the nonpoint sources should steadily decline. The current best estimate to achieve standards in the Chehalis is October 2005.
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Kelly Verd, Resource Technician, Lewis County Conservation District
Culverts, if improperly installed or having deteriorated over time, can prevent or limit the ability of adult and juvenile salmon to pass through. A culvert is considered a blockage to fish if it has an outfall drop greater than .24 meters, is undersized, and/or is set at too great a slope. It is important that fish have access to all habitats to spawn, elude predators, find food, and escape high flows.
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The Lewis County Conservation District (LCCD) is currently working in the Upper Chehalis Watershed to locate and evaluate all culverts on fish bearing streams. Private landowners will be contacted by letter explaining our goals and when we will be in their area. Information that was previously gathered by other entities will be used along with newly gathered data to create a map showing both passable and impassable culverts. Along with habitat surveys, this map will help to locate the streams that would most benefit from culvert replacements. The LCCD can then pursue grant funding for culverts that are identified as blocking the most habitat.
Participation is voluntary but greatly appreciated. For more information please contact Kelly Verd at 748-0083 extension 114 Monday-Thursday.
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By: Ron Wisner, Grays Harbor Conservation District
Balancing salmon and human needs are a critical part of the holistic approach concerning functioning riparian areas. When a storm hits western Washington (specifically Grays Harbor County), we usually experience some amount of erosion to our riparian areas. As river levels rise and rains pound the earth, soils become saturated. Saturated soils become heavy and, depending upon the soil type (silt loam, clay, etc.), some movement along the riparian area--the area where trees and vegetation grow along the riverbanks--can occur. Nature decides that a river needs change, turning a fully functioning riparian area in a matter of hours into a vertically eroded bank with no vegetative cover.
Hardwood trees usually have a root mass equivalent to the diameter of its canopy. For example, a cottonwood at maturity can be 200 feet high, giving its root mass structure an equivalent 200-foot diameter spread. The picture [above, right] depicts the massive horizontal root structure of a four-foot diameter cottonwood tree along the Chehalis River. If this tree was at the edge of the riverbank and a storm hit, the following scenario might develop.
The first thing to happen would be that the riverbank would crumble away as raging water erodes the heavy, saturated soil, effectively undermining the tree. When enough soil has been removed, the tree's roots become exposed; the tree is then too top heavy to support itself. As the tree falls over from its own weight, the roots would rip loose the surrounding soil, washing away more soil. When one tree goes, and another, and so on, the "domino effect" takes hold. Why? Because tree root masses are interconnected.
When water mixes with the soil, gravel and silt (fine soil) are carried away by the mechanics of water flow, both downstream and towards the opposite bank. As water flow slows, silt settles in the space between the gravel (siltation). The accumulation of gravel and silt can move a river's course--sometimes to a great degree--within a couple or years or less. When the next storm hits, the whole process can start all over again, shifting the recently deposited gravel bar and undermining the adjacent trees, causing further damage to riverbanks. The build-up of gravel bars and of silt deposits from more soil washed into the river creates problems: A river's main channel starts to fill up. As this occurs, the river channel has less capability to carry additional water from a storm or heavy rain. Hence, the water will overflow the banks, and the result is more frequent flooding as more of the channel fills up.
An analogy would be to take a gallon bucket full of water. Remove half of the water and replace it with sand. With half of the normal one-gallon capacity for water now displaced by sand, any additional water would simply spill out of the bucket. In other words, the bucket cannot handle any additional water capacity. If our hypothetical bucket were the river, the river would therefore not be able to handle any additional amount of water: If the river was "half-filled"--the main channel displaced by the effects of siltation--the river would overflow its banks. This explains why the Chehalis River now has a "100-year flood" every three to four years.
A landowner in 1995 on the Satsop River approached the GHCD about fencing his livestock out of the river. Through a grant from US Fish & Wildlife Service (which paid for the materials) and another grant from DNR Jobs For The Environment (which paid for the labor), 8,000 feet of permanent power fence was installed. At that time, the fence was 90 feet from the river, with an additional 300 feet of riparian area between the fence and the field. During the first winter after the fence was installed, the river removed 1,200 feet of fence and three acres of land. The fence was then moved a 100 feet from the river's "new" edge. At the present time, the location of the original fence was across the river on what is now a gravel bar. The river has migrated a total of 320 feet eastward through the original riparian buffer. The only buffer remaining is 800 linear feet long and, at the widest point, is 70 feet wide. Since the initial installation of the fence, the fence has been moved three times; a total of 26 acres has been lost.
The original riparian buffer when the GHCD first started this project consisted of 100-year-old cottonwood trees, 40-year-old alders, and numerous smaller trees and shrubs. The landowner has now enrolled his property into the CREP program with an average 180-foot buffer. Ten thousand trees and shrubs will be planted this spring (March) to establish a new riparian buffer.
The following is an e-mail dated November 20, 2002 from landowner Terry Willis, whose property is located at the mouth of the Satsop River, concerning the Satsop River:
"The waters of the Satsop River have now raised to about 3/4 bank full. The soils are dry except the top 12 inches due to drought conditions experienced this summer and fall. The raging water never overflowed the bank, but spent the last 48 hours roaring past our home. Greg and I could only stand by and watch while 80-foot alders were ripped from the shoreline and dumped into the river. At least ten were lost yesterday alone. What a sad sight and sound as they hit the water. With every tree falling, the ground is loosened by the root mass and sets the next stage for the dirt and littler trees to vanish a few minutes later. These are trees that grow on the west bank of the river. The ones needed to cool the waters for good fish habitat.
"Two things that exacerbate this situation are the speed at which the water gets here and the gravel bars. We've had a very dry summer, these are the first rainstorms, and yet the water came all the way from the hills to the bottom of the valley in mere hours. What's missing in the upper reach to slow that water down?
"And when it does get here it collides with huge gravel bars that are as high as the opposite dirt bank forcing the main channel up against the less ridged soils. Gravel bar maintenance that had been provided by landowners for decades was halted years ago in order to provide better habitat for fish. How can any of this chain of events possibly be good for fish? Think about it. Terry."
[Editor's note: Ron Wisner explained to me that he did not want to imply that he was against riparian plantings but he hoped to instill a more realistic awareness of the limits of people's activities if nature decides that the river needs to change.]
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By Chris Page, Triangle Associates
Watershed planning (also called water resources planning) in the Chehalis Basin continues to be quite busy, with the Chehalis Basin Partnership (CBP) currently:
Details about each of these efforts are below.
In-Stream Flows
Initial results are available from the recent in-stream flow monitoring. Gauges were installed and regularly checked for the following streams, from May 2002 through October 2002: South Fork Chehalis River; Chehalis River, Elk Creek to Newaukum River; Cedar Creek; Decker Creek; Middle Fork Satsop River; Chehalis River below Satsop River; Wishkah River; East Fork Wishkah River; West Fork Hoquiam River; Middle Fork Hoquiam River; East Fork Hoquiam River; Elk River; Johns River; Newskah Creek; Charley Creek; Black River.
During the recent dry summer and early fall, stream flows for all these streams were usually lower than the levels recommended by the State Department of Ecology. The CBP will learn how those recommended flows were set and then consider whether or not to recommend new flow levels for these streams to the Department of Ecology. The deadline for this is June 30, 2003.
Water Quantity Evaluation
The most significant data gap in previous Chehalis Watershed studies is the magnitude and distribution of water use considered "consumptive," meaning water actually consumed, rather than used and then returned to the river somehow (e.g. via septic system drainfields, wastewater treatment plant outfalls). Available information shows that water allocations within the Chehalis Basin total more than the actual stream flows in the river annually between April and October. Since the river does not dry up each year during these months, it appears that the magnitude of actual consumption is less than the amount legally appropriated to consumptive uses. A study is now underway to estimate surface and groundwater available for further appropriation in the group of Chehalis sub-basins consisting of the Newaukum (main, south and north forks), Skookumchuck River, Mainstem Chehalis River near Centralia/Chehalis, and Salzer Creek.
This study will take into account the minimum in-stream flows adopted (or to be adopted) by rule, and necessary flows for fish. The study will also address water rights issuance questions such as:
Results from this study should be available by February 2003. Even though this effort focuses only on a relatively small area of the entire Chehalis Basin, the methodology will be available as a model to apply over the larger Basin or other important sub-areas.
Water Quality Monitoring
The Water Quality Committee of the CBP is working with consultants to bring together Chehalis Basin community and regulatory agencies to develop a water quality monitoring evaluation and tracking process that is locally supported and can be jointly implemented. The resulting monitoring program will incorporate issues such as setting priorities for monitoring within the Basin, sampling methodology, water bodies considered "impaired" from pollution by the State, and monitoring of the State's Total Maximum Daily Load (or TMDL) process and results. Existing water quality conditions will be documented for the Watershed Plan, and a process established for ensuring coordinated monitoring of water quality in the Basin in the future. As part of this project, the CBP anticipates holding two public workshops to obtain input on developing coordinated water quality efforts.
Water Storage
The goal of this project is to identify and assess the feasibility of multipurpose water storage projects within the Chehalis River basin that could be used to enhance low stream flows and/or provide water for both consumptive and non-consumptive uses. The types of projects to be evaluated include traditional surface water storage (reservoirs), wetland creation/enhancement, groundwater artificial storage and recovery, and others addressing the factors influencing surface runoff and groundwater recharge such as regional stormwater facilities, the role of agricultural drainage tiles, and different land management practices (such as low-impact development). This assessment of water storage possibilities will be completed in June 2003.
Issues to be Addressed in the Plan
The Steering Technical Committee (STC) worked hard to determine the top priority water resource issues in the Chehalis Basin. That group developed a list that was then confirmed by the CBP, included below. The next task is to begin drafting an Issue Paper for each issue that will describe existing conditions, recommend actions, and discuss funding and implementation. The list:
2003 will be quite busy for the CBP and STC as they work to assess and understand these complex water resource issues, then make recommendations on solutions to problems and reach agreements on how to implement these solutions. All this must be pulled together into the final Watershed Plan, which will be recommended by the CBP for approval by the counties involved in the planning process (Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Thurston, Jefferson, Pacific, and Wahkiakum). The CBP has indicated that the plan should be completed by October 31. 2003. For more information, please contact Lee Napier, Project Manager @ 1.800.230.1638 or e-mail Lnapier@co.grays-harbor.wa.us.
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by Sarah Schanz, Science/Writing
Great diving beetles may be small to us but not to other river creatures. In fact it happens to be the fiercest, fastest, and hungriest river insect. They eat water boatmen, back swimmers, damselflies, nymphs, tadpoles, small fish and even its own young! These beetles catch insects and bugs with their sharp, fearsome jaws. I certainly am glad that I'm bigger than the great water beetle!
I would love to have eyes like a damselfly! They have big eyes to help them see. The things seen as food by those eyes are caddis lies, crane flies, small moths, and aphids. They look for these food sources along the river bank and among the grass stems. I would not like to be a damselfly because they may be prey to other animals.
A dragonfly would be a very interesting thing to be. They can fly at a speed of 18 m.p.h. They have perfect hunting eyesight, but they don't have a large variety of things that they eat. They eat midges, moths, and blowflies by grabbing them with the hooks in their mouth and then sucking out the liquids. The dragonfly's legs make a handy basket to put their food in while they eat it. But before there is a dragonfly, there's a nymph. When the nymph turns into a dragonfly, it has to harden. When you see a dragonfly, try to see the size of its eyes. Their eyes are huge!
Animal Eaters of the Pond or River
by Abby Watt, Science/Writing/Reading
A hydra is a small animal that lives in the pond. They are hard to spot because they are green and are mistaken for little plants. Like the jellyfish or sea anemone, the hydra has stinging tentacles attached to it. When an animal swims by and touches the hydra it will become paralyzed. Then the hydra is able to eat the animal. It mainly eats water fleas and small worms. You can usually find hydras living on leaves under the water.
There are two names for the back swimmer. They are the back swimmer and the common water boatman. The back swimmer eats lots of things such as tadpoles, lesser water boatmen, small fish, moths, and other insects. They catch their food with their two front legs. Then, it inserts poison into the animal with its beak, and sucks all the liquids out of it. To me that's pretty gross! The back swimmer uses its two back legs as oars, and swims upside down. To me that would get pretty boring.
The dragonfly nymph catches its food by waiting motionless until an animal swims by. Then, it catches it with two sharp hooks on the side of its mouth. Then, it pulls the food into its mouth and sucks all the juice out of it. Dragonflies eat midges, moths, and blowflies. That doesn't sound like a very varied diet. Dragonflies are wonderful hunters because of their great eyesight and fast flying speed. They seem very lucky for that!
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