Acme-Saxon Instream Restoration

Project Update – July 2004

The purpose of these updates is to keep the community informed about instream restoration in the Acme-Saxon Reach and highlight important milestones along the way. In this update, you will find:

• A report on the proposed Lower Hutchinson Creek Project
• A summary of the last community meeting in June
• Definitions of technical terms

The next community meeting will be held Monday, August 2, at the Acme Presbyterian Church, at 7:00 p.m.

What’s happening near Lower Hutchinson Creek?

Background: The area where Hutchinson Creek flows into the South Fork Nooksack River is the highest priority on a list of potential restoration projects in the Acme-Saxon Reach. The project concept is to improve instream habitat and allow the river to better access its former floodplain on land owned by Whatcom County Parks and Recreation, Whatcom Land Trust and other willing landowners. Current plans include installation of logjams and selective removal of the rock levee that artificially separates the South Fork and lower Hutchinson Creek on County Parks property. The project is being designed to maintain or improve existing levels of flood protection for nearby homes and farms.

Update: Several detailed analyses are underway to develop a final project design that will maintain or improve existing public safety and flooding protections while maximizing benefits for fish. Lummi Natural Resources Department, Nooksack Natural Resources Department, and Whatcom County River & Flood are now outlining a study that will include hydraulic modeling and geomorphic analyses of the reach. The hydraulic model will be used to predict where flood levels may change in response to different project designs, including levee modifications. The geomorphic analysis will evaluate the potential impacts to existing infrastructure associated with channel migration. The study will also evaluate the stability of the proposed logjams. The study is anticipated to take several months to complete and is essential to developing a final design for the Lower Hutchinson Creek project.

There has been ongoing concern that Old Hutchinson Channel might take flood flows. To evaluate this concern project planners conducted specific topographic surveys in fall of 2003. Measures to block the Old Hutchinson Channel from potential river flows will be included in the design development process.

Recovery will take more than prohibiting fishing…

At the recent community meeting in Acme (June 2004), Alan Chapman, a fisheries biologist with the Lummi Nation, gave a presentation on the impacts of harvest and hatcheries on chinook recovery. Currently, the run of spring chinook salmon that is unique to the South Fork has dwindled to only about 200 fish, and is in serious danger of extinction. According to the best available information on the history of settlement, development, and fisheries in the Nooksack watershed, changes in habitat conditions are the major cause of the decline in native chinook runs. Significant limits on fishing over the past thirty years have not led to the recovery of the run.

… and hatcheries are not the answer

Hatchery supplementation of South Fork spring chinook was ramped up in the 1980s, but didn’t result in more naturally produced fish due to poor habitat conditions. Hatchery practices have also been modified to reduce impacts to the recovery of endangered stocks. Some of the changes have included reducing the hatchery production of fingerlings to reduce competition between wild and hatchery fish, and taking steps to reduce the potential for straying North Fork fish to adversely impact the genetically distinct South Fork chinook.

Other highlights from the meeting

Over thirty community members attended the June meeting in Acme. Jim Hansen reported on the status of the additional design evaluation work being for the Lower Hutchinson Creek Project.

Participants discussed factors contributing to the decline of fisheries, and asked questions about the proposed Lower Hutchinson Creek project. More information was requested about such issues as the track record of logjam technology, funding sources, coordination with flood control efforts, and the decision making process.

How can I find out more?

For more information about the project, contact Jim Hansen, Restoration Coordinator, Lummi Natural Resources Department, (360) 384-2340, or email.

About the Project

The Acme-Saxon Instream Restoration Project is a cooperative, voluntary effort to bring back salmon and trout to self-sustaining levels in the South Fork Nooksack River.

The project aims to restore features that once made the river great for salmon: cool, clean water, deep pools formed by wood, and clean gravel for spawning. These features have been lost over time by practices such as removing natural logjams and armoring the banks with riprap and levees.

To help restore conditions in the river, carefully designed projects will re-create some of the river’s historic features. Instream restoration practices typically include re-installing logjams and modifying bank armoring and levees where feasible.

Providing the river more room to migrate will help disperse flood flows and improve floodwater storage capacity. This can reduce downstream flooding, and benefit fish by providing critical spawning, rearing and holding habitat.

Definitions