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Issue 6 March 1997 |
This newsletter appears monthly in 45,000 households throughout the watershed. Printing is done by The Chronicle, and distribution is by the Chronicle, the Olympia Daily Olympian, the Tenino Star and the Aberdeen World. This is an early edition available only to WWW users. Please send us your feedback.
The first people to find errors in spelling or word structure receive a free map of the Chehalis watershed. Send us an e-mail note telling us about the error.
Inside this edition!
Calendar of Events Find out about local meetings here!
Youth Corner Quiz Challenge your spelling skills
CBFTF Satsop Springs Carcass Study Learn about some fish science
Flood Information Feedback What you told us about flood news
Reader's Write Some of your concerns
Salmon: Seeking Shelter From The Storm Where do they go?
Habitat Problems and What They Mean to the Fish Some of the issues
Youth Corner Quiz Answers: Don't peek!
CRC or CWC, What's the Difference? Answers about CRC and CWC
This is an early electronic copy of Drops of Water. Drops of Water is distributed monthly to newspaper receiving households throughout the basin. It goes to print December 18 and will be distributed during the following week. Watch for it in the Tenino Star, The Olympian, The Chronicle and the The Daily World.
The newspaper insert is funded with a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This electronic edition is sponsored by the CRC.
Letters to the Editor, contributed articles and contributing partnerships are encouraged.
Comments via email to The Chehalis River Council
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Here are some sentences with scrambled words.
Check your answers with the answers found someplace in this issue.
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Objective
The primary objective of our work at Satsop Springs was to analyze variations in juvenile salmonid populations with and without the presence of naturally spawning coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chum salmon (O. keta). We intend to incorporate our findings at Satsop with results from other similar carcass studies that we have conducted on Forks Creek in the Willapa Basin, Salmon and Big Creeks in the upper Chehalis, and Grizzly Creek on the Snoqualmie. It is our hope that this work will help to develop a better understanding of the contribution spawning salmon make to stream productivity.
Site
The study was conducted in a pair of man-made spawning/rearing channels on the East Fork Satsop River, located near the Satsop Springs Fish Hatchery (Diagram 1). The channels are groundwater-fed with no surface flow input. Water level, temperature, and clarity remain relatively stable year round, minimizing the influence of variable weather and flow patterns on fish populations in the channels. The stability of the habitat in the spawning channels provides an opportunity to focus more directly on the response of fish to the presence of spawning salmon.
Methods
Chum and coho salmon spawning adults have, in previous years, utilized habitat in both channels. Past observations, however, suggested that spawner density was higher in the middle channel, and it was therefore selected as our treatment channel.
On October 15, 1995, a wire mesh fence was placed on the downstream end of the control channel. This fence allowed for passage of juveniles in and out of the control channel, but prevented spawners from utilizing the available spawning habitat above the fence. No fence was placed on the treatment channel.
In late October, an electrofishing sample was conducted to collect initial size and density data on fish in each channel. All sampled fish were measured (mm) and weighed (0.00 g). A representative subset from each sample was selected for stomach content analysis, and stomach samples were obtained using a nonlethal gastric lavage technique. Stomach samples were then aggregated by species and age class, preserved, and taken back to the lab for analysis. All fish caught during the initial sample were marked with a slight caudal clip (upper caudal for treatment channel and lower caudal for control channel) to help monitor fish movement between channels, and immigration of other fish into the study site. Sampled fish were returned live to their respective channel.
Following the initial sample, population estimates were obtained by snorkeling. Good water clarity and low current velocity make this an ideal site for snorkel surveys, and we feel that our counts were accurate. As spawners were present, a small seine was used to obtain fish samples for growth data and stomach contents through the remainder of the study.
Invertebrate samples, specifically caddis fly larvae (genus Ecclisomyia), were collected from each channel over the course of the study. The caddis were analyzed for growth (head capsule width) and representative samples were taken for stable isotope analysis.
Other parameters that were monitored include water temperature and quality, and the number of spawning individuals and carcasses present in the treatment channel.
Results
Spawners first entered the study site in late October and densities remained low through the first four weeks of the study. In mid-November we saw a peak in spawner densities in the treatment channel with 50+ coho and chum individuals present. Though sufficient for our study, densities were much lower than anticipated.
We were unable to demonstrate a growth response in fish to the availability of spawner derived materials (i.e., eggs, carcass, fry, alevins) in the treatment channel. Average weights collected over the study period were highly variable, suggesting, perhaps, that there was a significant amount of immigration and emigration of fish to and from the site. It is possible that larger fish smolted and left the channels earlier than smaller fish. At the same time, smaller fish from the East Fork Satsop may have sought refuge in the channels from high river flows. These thoughts are supported by the fact that few marked fish were recaptured from either channel.
Another possible explanation for the high variability in growth data could be related to our observations that fish in the channels appeared to school together based on size. If, when obtaining a growth sample, we only sampled fish from one school (i.e., a school of smaller fish), then our growth estimates would not be representative of the entire population.
We were also unable to demonstrate a response in population abundance to the presence of spawners. Early snorkel surveys revealed that most fish had moved out of the channels and into a large pool below the confluence of the study channels. It appeared that fish migrated to this area to take advantage of cover provided by dense aquatic vegetation. Juvenile salmonids tended to avoid areas where there was insufficient cover coupled with the presence of spawning adults.
Another factor that suggests fish moved between channels regularly was that spawner derived material was found in the stomachs of fish from the control channel. This implies that fish were, perhaps, seeking cover in the available habitat in the control channel during day, and then moving into the treatment channel at night to feed. This hypothesis, however, was not tested.
Our assumption that fish populations within the channels were relatively isolated, and that they would remain so, was invalid.
Stomach contents from the Satsop have yet to be analyzed. Observation made during sampling, however, confirm that all fish species at the Satsop (including coho salmon, cutthroat trout (O. clarki), steelhead (O. mykiss), torrent sculpin (Cottus rhotheus), and riffle sculpin (C. gulosus) directly consume spawner-derived food resources when available. Observations also indicate that stomach data from the Satsop will agree with similar data collected at our Forks Creek carcass study site this year. Forks Creek stomach data shows a strong preference by all species for spawner-derived food items when those items are available. A sample taken from several age 1+ steelhead at the Forks Creek site in November of 1996, for instance, shows that 96% of stomach content, by weight, was derived from spawners.
An interesting result from our work at Satsop deals with the utilization of carcasses by invertebrates, particularly Ecclisomyia. Ecclisomyia were observed on carcasses, in extremely high numbers, throughout the duration of the study. Although no effort was made to calculate densities, our observations suggest that the availability of carcasses had a positive impact on Ecclisomyia numbers. Thus, fish may benefit not only from directly consuming spawner-derived material, but also from an increased invertebrate population that may be attributed, at least in part, to the presence of carcasses.
Data collected on Ecclisomyia growth in both channels did not demonstrate a response to carcass availability. Isotope samples, however, which are currently being analyzed will give some indication as to how nutrients from carcasses are being incorporated into the system through invertebrates. Results from these tests are expected later this year.
Summary
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Last month you were asked to comment on where you get flood information, and is it useful or valuable.
Radio was the predominate source. The usefulness was questionable. One reader complained that updates stopped when the flood crested, even though it takes hours for the flood to move downstream.
The internet was another popular source. It was not seen as reliable. One reader reported that access ot 4:30 p.m. on 1/1/97 showed no readings for the Chehalis at Centralia, even though a flood was in progress.
The CRC will follow up on these comments and report on any progress.
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I would like to share a few thoughts with you after reading DROPS OF WATER Issue 5-February 1997.
My family first came to the Rochester area in 1910. My grandparents lived in the Independence Valley before moving to a home near the mouth of Scatter Creek and the Chehalis River. The "pavement" was the only hard surface area when I was living there as "little tyke" in the late 30's and early 40's. The pavement was a strip of roadway to keep the roadway from washing out during flooding. In later years the roadway was built up in many places without putting in culverts to disperse the water. Two of these places were behind the TRIANGLE STORE. I'm sure there are other old timers in the area who know about these changes, just to name two.
My second point is that the banks of much of the Chehalis River are sand. Each spring my brother and I and the other kids in the neighborhood patrolled the banks of Scatter Creek and the Chehalis along the back of our property to see how much land we had lost during the most recent flood. In some earlier years trees had tipped over into the river to make a wonderful swimming hole (due to the water action). I remember the disappointment when the high water carried away those fallen trees and filled in our swimming hole, thus ending our reason for getting together almost every warm summer evening. A tough lesson in growing up.
I'm sure your intentions are good, but remember nature in the end determines where the water will flow. Which also points out the irony of the location of your next board meeting. Who approved the location for that facility? When I was a kid the water flowed over the highway where it intersects with the Gate Road. Do all of us just turn our backs and laugh when such decisions are made or is our system designed to let the unsuspecting newcomer to the area make a decision so we can't be blamed?
The whole issue of responsibility of the flooding in the Twin Cities, in my estimation is a problem that is shared by the west county. If you look on the map and see where the Chehalis River begins and follow the path it takes, it covers a lot of the West Lewis County area. It begins south of Pe Ell and if it were to continue south, it would go to Skamokawa instead of winding down the mountain to Pe Ell north and then flow east to the Twin City area and then wind north again and then west to Aberdeen. A strange path for a river to take. Any one who has a creek, stream, ground run off, etc. that makes its way to the Chehalis River should share in the costs to remedy the problem in our area. The monies spent to repair, replace, restore and insure those in what is considered the flood plain -is tremendous.
I have had to have flood insurance since I purchased by house because the lender requires it. Because of the expense, I declined to insure my personal belongings. I did not flood in 1990, but was not so fortunate in February. My flood insurance is $500 on a moderately priced house, this is in addition to all of the other insurance, taxes, etc. My personal uninsured loss was over $20,000. By making only the flood area responsible for the problem, really makes it very hard on those of us who are already over taxed. We really don't want our taxes raised anymore either, but we have no choice if we want to quit rebuilding our homes and businesses after each of these episodes. God help you if any of you who don't feel you are involved with the flooding have it happen to you. It is so devastating and long lasting. It has cost us some very good local businesses as well.
If one takes into consideration all the water that has to go somewhere!!! and realize that the water is going to flow to a creek, stream, river and eventually lead to excess water, it encompasses a larger area than Centralia-Chehalis.. You who have creeks on your property, but do not have a flooding problem, would you please dam up your creek or stream to keep it from adding to the problem of the rivers? Would you who are along the various Newaukums and the Skookumchuck, please do the same thing, so we here are not inundated by all of the run off? Will you who do not have a stream, but have alot of run off from ground water caused by the water table rising, please keep the water at your place? Pretty ridiculous isn't it? Folks, this is a large west county problem.
We here not only have the personal loss, and high stress that is frightening beyond words, we also have the loss of property value which does not get decreased by the county so we are paying the same taxes on our property that has lost value, while you have an area free of the problem, have your property values actually become more valuable because they are more desirable for purchase. This flooding is a huge monster that doesn't seem to get any better. If the burden could be shared by all so the impact on a few of us would not be so great, would that be too much to ask? We cannot give you our share of lost property, insurance premiums, we carry that alone. You can't imagine what it is like to come back to your home when you can get there and find everything in the house floating, including large appliances. It is unbelievable the destruction an asset like water can create. Yes, water is an asset that we cannot live without until it gets out of control.
One question I have for the people trying to solve this problem, how much discharge do the water treatment plants at Chehalis and Centralia add to the problem and can they be shut down when rising waters are becoming a threat. One other observation is that the coverage of the river levels is very poor--at least with the last one. I had to call my son in Olympia to get the current river readings. Why can't CH 3 on the TV be utilized with reports across the bottom of the screen. This last time when it was getting to the crucial stage, I went out and drove the area to see where the Chehalis and Skookumchuck Rivers were. In talking to others, their lack of information was just as frustrating. This should not have to be. If we knew what the depth was at Doty and how long until we would feel the rise Here, it would ease some of the stress. I know it is on the Internet, but I do not have the availability of that service and would guess the majority of the people involved do not have access either. Don't we pay enough taxes to help relieve the worry and stress by giving us current updates for instance on the CH 3? The radio stations can only give the information they receive by fax and I guess because the last one came on a holiday, there was no one to give out the updates. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the rivers that it was a holiday.
Thank you for taking the time to hear my thoughts, now I maybe able to sleep better until the next river crises becomes imminent. Sincerely
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For people, being stuck in a back water is something undesirable. For salmon, it can be the key to survival.
Like all creatures in the wild, salmon need refuges from the harshest winter weather. For salmon, the greatest threat is high water flows during the winter. This is especially true for coho (or "silver") salmon, which tend to rear as juveniles in small tributary streams where the effects of floods can be more dramatic.
In undisturbed stream systems, coho seek shelter from high flows in back water areas such as side sloughs, wetlands, beaver ponds and "alcove pools" off the main channel. They also seek shelter behind log jams and downed trees, habitat that scientists call "complex woody structure." The jumble of downed trees, broken branches, rootwads, and streamside vegetation that are found in undisturbed stream environments provide hiding spaces that enable salmon to protect themselves from the full force of rushing water. At the same time, these habitats produce large numbers of the invertebrates that young salmon eat.
One reason that salmon (especially coho) are in decline throughout much of the Northwest is the loss of these critical winter havens. The majority of streams have been altered by logging, agriculture, road-building and waterside development. Most streams are now deficient in woody material and many of the backwater oxbows, wetlands and floodplains have been filled and straightened. Meanwhile, where forests and wetlands have been removed, storm run-off is greater and peak flows are higher. Coho are particularly vulnerable to this double whammy, because the effects are magnified in the smaller streams where they reside. Research in Oregon shows that in a typical stream with limited winter habitat, only 10-20% of the juvenile coho present at the end of the summer survive until the following spring.
Efforts are under way to improve the winter habitat situation in many watersheds. In the short term, the missing "woody structure" is being replaced manually in some streams, through the addition of large logs and smaller material (such as old Christmas trees). In the longer term, projects are being undertaken that involve digging side channels that will fill during winter floods, planting new trees and fencing livestock away from stream banks.
A project that has been underway in the watershed of Oregon's Coquille River since 1988 illustrates the possibilities. Directed by the Coquille Watershed Association, a voluntary group which reflects all major resource users in the valley and which is funded through a variety of state, local, federal and private sources, the project is aimed squarely at improving winter habitat for coho. A total of 12 off-channels ponds have been dug, some of which hold water year-round and some of which are designed to fill only at high water flows. A creek which had been imprisoned in a culvert has been 'day- lighted' and allowed to flow into an artificially created wetland. Many other culverts which had blocked fish from entering small tributary streams, have been altered to allow salmon to pass through into good habitat areas. Logs and other woody debris have been placed in the river to create pools and shelter. And the results have been dramatic. "As we do these projects, they immediately fill with coho in the wintertime," says Paul Heikkila, a county extension agent and the watershed association's president.
Landowners can participate in efforts such as this. They can also help by preserving wetlands and beaver ponds on their property, leaving streamside vegetation intact, and fencing out livestock. Landowners willing to help might wish to contact their local watershed association, soil and water conservation district, or county extension office.
To find contacts for groups working to help salmon restoration efforts in your area or for more information on what you can do, please contact the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, 45 SE 82nd Drive, Suite 100, Gladstone, OR 97027-2522.
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"Habitat" can be defined simply as "the place where something lives." Your habitat might be a house where you have food, shelter and water. A young salmon's habitat might be a beaver pond where it too has food, shelter and water. If your roof blows off in a storm, you have a habitat problem. The little salmon has a habitat problem if its beaver dam is removed or blows out.
The following list describes some common problems that we found in the Chehalis River Basin during our 1992 habitat survey.
There are many miles of stream in the Chehalis Basin that were once open to salmon, but are now blocked. Culverts (those tubes that allow streams to flow under roads), dams, and some other structures can block fish from moving into desirable habitat. Perhaps you or your family remember seeing salmon in your local stream, but not anymore. There may be an impassable culvert or other barrier downstream.
Culverts can block fish for several reasons. They can be placed too high above the stream so salmon can't swim or jump into them. The culverts can be too small or too steep, which can cause the water to flow too fast for fish to swim against. They can also become clogged by debris. We can often remove or replace a problem culvert, and open a stream to salmon once again.
Sediment is the silt, sand, rocks, wood and other solid material that gets washed out (eroded) from some places and deposited in others. A certain amount of sediment input and movement is natural. The erosion and deposition of sediment is a large part of what builds the stream channels and creates habitat. Human-caused changes in the way sediment "behaves" can cause many problems for fish, wildlife, plants and even humans.
One of the most common problems for salmon is too much fine sediment. This fine sediment (like clay, silt and sand) often washes off of dirt roads, erodes out of devegetated stream banks or comes down from clear cut land and construction sites. Fine sediment can fill the spaces in the gravel where fish have deposited their eggs, causing the eggs or newly hatched fry to die.
The trees, shrubs, grasses and other plants along a stream play an important role in creating and maintaining quality habitat. The "riparian zone" is that area along a stream that has a direct influence on the stream, so we call these plants "riparian vegetation." Construction, logging, farming and grazing often remove or damage riparian vegetation.
Loss of riparian vegetation causes several habitat problems. The sun can warm the water too much if there is not enough vegetation to shade the stream--and most of the naturally occurring fish in the Chehalis River rely on cool water. The plants' roots hold the stream banks together, so loss of riparian vegetation can cause increased erosion. Both the vegetation on the banks and that which grows or falls into the stream are used by many insects as habitat and food. A loss of vegetation results in a loss of insects, which means a loss of food for fish.
Large pieces of wood, whole trees and log jams in our naturally forested streams create great fish habitat. We call this wood "large woody debris." Large woody debris creates pools--habitat that many fish need. Large wood helps trap the gravel in which salmon spawn. Roots and branches provide cover and hiding places for fish. Large woody debris can also help slow the water during high flows, thereby lessening flooding of downstream areas (and helping to protect your habitat).
Lack of large wood in our Chehalis Basin streams causes them to be less "complex." It's this complexity--the nooks, crannies, pools and plunges--that make a stream really nice habitat for the fish. If you see a stream with a serious lack of large wood, it often looks boring. In extreme cases the stream can have no pools for fish to live in and no gravel for fish to spawn in--and no fish. As crazy as it seems, not too many years ago we thought that the wood in streams was a problem. We thought that it made it too difficult for salmon to swim upstream. So folks worked hard to pull it out of the streams. Now folks are working hard to put it back in. Live and learn, I guess.
Pollution in our Chehalis Basin streams comes in many forms. There is obvious pollution like illegal garbage dumps, and less obvious pollution like excess nutrients in the water. You know where the garbage heap came from--some bonehead dumped it there. The excess nutrients in the water come from many sources including the fertilizer on your lawn, chemicals in some laundry detergent, wastewater discharge and runoff from manure.
The term "nutrients" here refers to chemicals like nitrogen and phosphorus. They are nutrients in the sense that they are food for plants. When there are excess nutrients in the water, plants like algae can become very thick. Some amount of algae in the stream is natural, but when it becomes too abundant it can die and decay. The decay of this plant material uses up the oxygen in the water and can harm or even kill the fish and other critters in the water. There are many more examples of pollution problems in our streams. How many can you name?
These are just some examples of the more common habitat problems in the Chehalis River Basin. It should be clear that we are all part of the problem. Fortunately, we can all be part of the solution. There are many people helping to protect and restore the River's habitat. If you'd like to find out how you might help, please call Mike Kelly of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 360-753-9460.
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Here are some things which might be interesting: There isn't a sewer system in Oakville. Much of Centralia-Chehalis is old floodplain. One county seat is Montesano. Tenino and Aberdeen are at opposite ends of the watershed. Rainfall is the source of all our water in this watershed. Trees by rivers help fish by keeping water temperature cooler. Ground water and surface water are limited resources. Wetlands are important natural methods of storing water. About 85% of the watershed is forest lands. About 257 square miles of the watershed is agricultural land. The town of Porter is almost in the middle of the watershed.