Setting

hydrograph

USGS data

well profiles

Challenges

Opportunities

Potential Parcels for development outside WSAs

742

Estimated Demand in cfs

@ 350 gpd .402

@ 175 gpd .201

Reserve based on 1% loss of habitat in cfs

.019

Recommended reserve minus consumptive demand

- 0.172

number of home reserve would supply

107

Reserve homes minus parcels

-635

Challenges

Opportunities

Returning Adults And Released Fry 1989-2003

In 1996/97, 28,000 fry were released into the Chimacum creek esturary

A local high school teacher, Ray Lowrie, coordinated an extensive survey of the creek throughout the 70s and early 80s. Late summer chum spawned above the estuary only in the first 6000 feet of the creek, diminishing substantially after the first 2000 feet near the location of the recent beaver dams where there was a log jam. If it was a barrier, recent failure of the beaver dams opens the possibility that chum may more fully utilize the creek. Coho spawned above the agricultural lands on both forks.

Poaching was extensive. A common activity for kids at the time was to "bash" fish with a machete. Various people recall bashing as many as 100 fish in a day. This activity was slowly curtailed as Ray brought kids into the fisheries class and they learned to count coup in new ways.

Fish runs became larger into the early eighties. Fall 1982 was the huge year for chum and coho. Ray’s class tagged 1000 coho at Center in two days. State fisheries estimated 1000 chum and 5000 coho, based on the idea that surveyors see 1/3 of dogs and 1/6 of silvers. Then disaster struck . . two major washouts occurred during the early eighties. In January 1983 the Irondale road washed out depositing 10,000-20,000 cubic yards of fill into the creek just above the chum spawning grounds. A reddish brown plume covered lower Port Townsend bay for weeks. A major slide occured in the upper basin toward eaglemount depositing another 15,000 cubic yards of material.

In August 1983, Chimacum students went down and looked things over. Sediment did not appear bad but on closer inspection the creek bed was very, very hard. Sediments had cemented the gravel together. Despite a substantial number of returning fish (though less than the previous year) there were no visible signs of redds that year. The second year after the wash out there were even less fish.

A thousand returning late summer chum were counted in 1982. Wild Olympic Salmon installed a weir in the creek during 1989, 1990 and 1991. After three years of monitoring the weir, the late summer chum run was determined to be extinct. Sediment is by far the most likely primary reason for the demise of the chum.

Challenges

Opportunities

http://www.wiserearth.org/organization/view/c94dcffcdead067ab461bc9d529b1f86

 

The mission of Wild Olympic Salmon is to inspire sustainable human community and culture by nurturing wild salmon and watersheds.

Our goals are:

To restore, enhance, and protect salmon habitat and watersheds in eastern Jefferson County, to inspire others to take stewardship of their watersheds by setting an example, and to improve our work by learning from other examples,

To help understand and share information about the relationships among the wild salmon, the environment and human communities,

To create opportunities for the joyous celebration of our relationship to the art, magic and mystery of nature with salmon as teacher,

To develop an organizational structure that nurtures our members and supports effective programs.

Our philosophy is that only a holistic approach will result in permanent, positive environmental stewardship. We have pioneered a grassroots community-based program that combines physical restoration projects with education and celebration. We view these three aspects of our work as interdependent parts of our approach to watershed conservation. Restoration without changes in behavior and land use practices is futile; education in a vacuum is ineffective; both restoration and education without cultural identity and celebration will always be an uphill battle. Together, our activities in these three areas cultivate a physical, intellectual, and spiritual setting in which to bring back the salmon, for our children and forever.

The work of Wild Olympic Salmon has been recognized as a model of community environmental action by the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, The Seattle Aquarium, and many other organizations and individuals with a stake in regional resource protection.




http://saveourwildsalmon.blogspot.com/

Quilcene & Brinnon
From Final Housing Action Plan
Port Townsend/Jefferson County
2006

Challenges

Opportunities

Native American Tribes

Tribal elders have told stories for centuries of Pacific Northwest Tribes first crossing on the prehistoric connection from Asia to America more than 10,000 years ago - making them the first humans in the North American continent. Tribes preserved the land remarkably well for thousands of years, respecting the land as sacred.

Native American Population studies

Anthropologist Franz Boas, whose studies of Indian life are respected, visited the Peninsula in the 1890's. He estimated in 1780 the number of Native Americans living in the Olympic Peninsula area as follows:

• 400 Chimacum lived on the Quimper Peninsula and along what is now Hood Canal;
• 2,000 Clallam (along with their sub tribes) spread in 17 villages from Discovery Bay to Clallam Bay;
• 2,000 Makah and Ozette occupied the Neah Bay area and west of Lake Ozette;
• 500 Quileute lived where the village of La Push is located;
• To the south of La Push lived 250 Queet and Quaitso - both related linguistically to the Salish Clallam and Chimacum;
• Additional smaller tribes, such as Hoh and Tsooe, resided on the coast

Boas estimated the main tribes at nearly 6,000 strong in the Olympic Peninsula area in 1780.

Chimacum is the reanglicization of a previous anglicized word "chemakum"

Franz Boas noted "When George Gibbs studied the Chemakum, they had a population into the 90’s." And you should know that Gibbs was a polymath, not only one of the leading geologists in North America at the time, but a specialist in the and not incidentally one of the translators who accompanied Isaac Stevens on bith his survey of the route for the Pacific (Great Northern) Railroad, but on his treating adventures as well, and his dictionary of the Chinook Jargon was dissected by The Hon. George Boldt and provided an essential component of the Boldt decision.

Between 1983 and 1997 most houses in and around Irondale were served surface water from the City of Port Townsend's Municipal water supply system, the OGWS. This created a complex and politically charged environment, somewhat moderated by the Washington Department of Health mandated Coordinated Water System Plan, a negotiated document that attempted to define water purveyors' service areas and responsibilities. The City held water rights to the Surface Water diverted from the Big and Little Quilcene Rivers and Supplemental Water Rights the groundwater from Sparling and Kivley wells near Port Hadlock, and water was diverted into the PUD's Ocean Grove system and the Tri Area System at a valve station at Four Corners.

From Four Corners, potable water was piped to Irondale, Port Hadlock, Chimacum, Indian Island, Fort Flagler State Park and the Fisheries Research Lab near the the lighthouse at Fort Flagler. THis was served according to contracts, the primary contract was between the City and the Mill and the City and the Navy at Indian Island.

With the CT requirements of the SWA-SWTR updates, the City had to be concerned with maintaining a 99.99% kill of Giardia Lamblia prior to the first customer. This required increasing the disinfectant level in the system and many attempts were made to provide this via longer detention times in the pipeline from City Lake. Ultimately, the Tri Area was put on Groundwater from the Sparling Well as a way to deal with the complexities of the City's inability to cooperate with Jefferson County to regulate water demand w/o creating liability.

Since 1999 drinking water in the Tri Area has been provided from the PUD's Sparling Well, located near the intersection of Kennedy Road and Rhody Drive.

This well is __deep and the water and is characterized as _ and requires expensive treatment to remove sulphur, iron and color. However, the static level in the well is falling and there are many in the community who believe that this well is in direct continuity with Chimacum Creek.

Therefore, the PUD's plan to serve water from this well to Marrowstone Island was appealed because the "out of basin transfer" is expected to adversely affect fish in Chimacum Creek.

Riparian Restoration - Tree Planting
A partnership with North Olympic Salmon Coalition

Every Autumn, vegetation needs to be planted and maintained to ensure good salmon returns continue. This vegetation provides much needed shade to the stream, and keeps the water cool. Volunteers assist with landscaping the riparian zone by planting red alder, douglas fir, grand fir, pacific ninebark and other shrubs.

Some areas can get overrun with reed canary grass, which can impede the growth of vegetation planted in previous years. Although, reed canary grass is a excellent bank stablizer, it can overrun young vegetation and shunt its growth. Volunteers can assist workers remove this threat to the newly planted vegetation.

In addition, volunteers can help by protecting the base of the young trees with blue, platic tubes. These blue platic tubes are placed around the base of the young trees to prevent predation by the rodent population.

Wild Olympic Salmon uses salmon as an indicator of the health of the watershed and the community, and as a symbol of shared common ground. We see salmon as a universal teacher, storyteller and advocate for all communities. The very existance of salmon reminds us that it is impossible to make a distinction between the "human" and "natural" world and that diversity of perspective and experience is fundamental to all life. Using this holistic approach, we have designed and implemented innovative educational programs for children and adults.

Tracking the Dragon - a community watershed exploration game. Elaborate clues in poetry and drawings lead searchers to bronz "dragon tracks" placed at hydrologically significant places. The thrill is in stomping around, seemingly in the middle of nowhere and finding dragon tracks while getting a tour of many environmentally significant locations.
Watershed Trading Cards.
An original play entitled The Riparian Zone

Summer Chum Spawner Surveys
A partnership with North Olympic Salmon Coalition and Jefferson County Conservation District

The number of Summer Chum returning to local streams is steadily increasing every year in Jefferson County streams. This increase is due to the amazing restoration work performed by the North Olympic Salmon Coalition and Jefferson County Conservation District.

Once a week during spawning season, Water/Beach Watcher Volunteers walk certain stretches of the stream counting dead and live summer chum. To determine whether the salmon is a natural spawner (part of the historic population), or if it was reared in a hatchery, volunteers collect the otolith bones from dead salmon for laboratory analysis. Other information is also collected such as length, sex and age.

Coho Spawner Surveys
A partnership with North Olympic Salmon Coalition and Jefferson County Conservation District

A project similar to the summer chum surveys that take place earlier in the year, the coho spawner survey project offers volunteers the opportunity to walk local streams with local researchers. Learn more about these amazing creatures and support local research by calling (360) 379-5610 ext 222

A 4 person survey team made completely of Water/Beach Watchers are out measuring the lower reaches of Chimicum Creek from November until February.

http://www.biomes.net/presentation.htm

Challenges

Opportunities

Challenges

Opportunities

Community Calendar

N.O.S.C. has some great volunteer opportunities available each month...From streamwalks in the fall and winter counting adult spawning chum and coho salmon, to spring planting, beach seining, and fish trapping, there is something for everyone! Other activities include building smolt traps on the Twin Rivers and Deep Creek, managing the adult salmon traps on Snow and Salmon Creeks in Discovery Bay, and much more!