Policies About Fish Habitat Forest Lands Agricultural Lands Other Lands Uses in WRIA 1 Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory and Assessment Project (SSHIAP) Habitat Concerns in WRIA 1 Recreation Changes to salmon habitat have a profound impact on the likelihood of successful spawning, foraging, and avoidance of predators. There is no one-size-fits-all description of ideal fish habitat, since fish needs vary substantially among different species and life stages. For instance, chum salmon prefer to spawn in side channel habitat, which is quite different from the main channel riffle habitat where chinook usually spawn. Adult chinook may "hold" in fresh water for six months or more before spawning, so refuge habitat such as deep pools with woody debris are important to them, while adult chum salmon return to fresh water ready to spawn with little or no delay, and therefore pool habitat for long term holding may be less important to them. In general, though, in order to support a wide variety of fish species, a stream should have a combination of pools and riffles, woody cover in the stream for refuge from predators and to provide places to rest, stream-side vegetation to shade the stream and keep water cool and clean, and connections between different habitats that allow the fish to move from say, a main channel area to a side channel and back. In summary, good habitat has all the "Four C's": cold, clean, complex, and connected.   Policies About Fish Habitat Fish-bearing streams wind through both publicly- and privately-owned lands. The type of land uses upstream from and adjacent to a stream can significantly affect the quality of its fish habitat. In some cases the current use of the land may help protect existing habitat conditions, but the habitat may still be degraded due to a legacy of historic practices. Active intervention as well as time are needed to give the habitat time to recover. In Washington, policies and practices for protecting and enhancing habitat are categorized by land use type.   Forest Lands The 1986 Timber, Fish, Wildlife Agreement created a landmark for bringing diverse interest groups together to "fix the problem, not the blame" regarding natural resources issues. The commercial timber industry, small farm foresters, environmental groups, treaty Indian tribes, and the state of Washington sat down together and reached agreement on how to better protect the fishery resource while still maintaining a viable timber industry. The TFW agreement produced substantial changes in state forest practice regulations such as the institution of streamside buffers to help keep water cool for fish. It also provided, for the first time, an avenue for environmental groups and tribes to provide input and expertise to shape forestry activities in the field instead of in court. The TFW agreement was revisited and updated in the late 1990s in response to what had been learned since its inception and to more specifically address the listing of multiple salmon species in Washington State under the ESA. The result was the Forests and Fish Law (ESHB 2091). The Salmon Recovery Act (ESSB 2496) was related legislation that provided a framework for guiding salmon recovery funding through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. The Forests and Fish Law affects 60,000 miles of streams that flow through eight million acres of private and state forestland in Washington State. The goal of the law is to bring forestry practices into compliance with federal laws, particularly the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. In 2001, the State Forest Practices Board adopted the practices recommended in the Forests & Fish Report. The state is now working to obtain formal federal approval of the new forestry practices.   Agricultural lands The statewide Agriculture, Fish and Water (AFW) process is developing ways for farmers to meet the needs of endangered and threatened fish while maintaining their ability to work their land. AFW has focused on two projects, updating the Field Office Technical Guide used by many farmers, and developing water use and water quality guidelines for irrigation districts in the state. In the past, the main way for agricultural landowners interested in protecting fish habitat was to follow practices outlined in the federal Natural Resource Conservation Service's Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG). The FOTG did not match up with some of the requirements of the federal Endangered Species Act, so several federal and state agencies have worked together to update the FOTG. If you have questions on the AFW process, please contact Mike Rundlett, the AFW coordinator, at (360) 407-7219, Paula Smith, the assistant AFW coordinator, at (360) 407-6209, or George Boggs, Whatcom Conservation District Manager, at (360) 354-2035. The second element of AFW has focused on creating guidelines for irrigation districts to protect, restore, and enhance fish habitat through water use and conservation and water quality actions. Irrigation districts can use the guidelines to prepare Comprehensive Irrigation District Management Plans. A PDF version of the guidelines (a 2.0 MB file) is available. The Whatcom Conservation District is working with the Whatcom Agriculture Preservation Committee to develop CIDMP pilots in the Bertrand and Tenmile watersheds and possibly the Johnson Creek watershed. Contact George Boggs, Whatcom Conservation District Manager, at (360) 354-2035 for more information.   Other Land Uses in WRIA 1 Aside from federal land in the National Park and National Forest systems and private and state forestlands regulated by the Washington Department of Natural Resources, most of the land within WRIA is governed by city or county land use policies. For instance, in unincorporated areas of Whatcom County, building near streams or lakes is regulated by zoning, shorelines rules, and the Critical Areas Ordinance. Among other provisions to protect environmentally sensitive areas, this county ordinance requires that new development be a minimum of 100 feet from fish-bearing streams, and a minimum of 50 feet from streams without fish. The Whatcom County code is available on the Municipal Research and Services Center web site. (To read the Critical Areas Ordinance, please do a search for Whatcom County Code 16.16.)   Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory and Assessment Project (SSHIAP) A joint project of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and western Washington Indian tribes, the Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Inventory and Assessment Project (SSHIAP) is creating a database that describes freshwater and estuary habitat conditions and links them to the distribution and health of salmonid stocks in the state. SSHIAP currently covers WRIAs 1-23; work is partially funded and underway to extend SSHIAP to WRIAs 24-62.   Habitat Concerns in WRIA 1 Access. Fish can be blocked from historic habitat by structures such as culverts, dams, and flapgates (gates that control water levels by allowing water to flow in only one direction). A local example is the Middle Fork diversion dam, which channels water from the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River to Lake Whatcom. The diversion dam blocks fish access to approximately 17 miles of potential habitat for anadromous salmonids, including ESA listed chinook salmon. Channel complexity. Channel complexity includes a range of issues such as the sinuosity (curves and bends) of the streambed, the number of side channels that might provide additional fish habitat, pools and riffles, large woody debris (LWD), and so on. Removal of riparian vegetation and LWD in the channel, bank hardening (rip rap), levees, dredging, filling, and drainage for agriculture or residential and industrial development have reduced the complexity of streams. The result is a reduction in the quantity, variety and distribution of habitat types available. Channel stability. Over time, a stream channel strikes a balance among opposing forces-the soils, the vegetation, the flows, the sediment supply, the climate, and other factors. When any of these factors are altered, such as loss of trees and shrubs along stream banks or lack of large woody debris, the channel responds and fish habitat such as pools or spawning beds may be damaged. Estuarine habitat. Tidal sloughs, salt marshes, and other estuarine areas provide shelter and food to salmonids making the transition from fresh to salt water or vice versa. In addition, some salmon like chum and chinook may spend months in the estuary utilizing the rich food resources and growing to become more able to survive in the marine environment. Fine sediment. Very fine sediment (fine sand and silt) can smother fish eggs, clog habitat used by juvenile fish, and kill the macroinvertebrates that are the primary food source for young salmon. Fine sediment ends up in streams through erosion (especially from stream banks that have lost vegetation and uncontrolled runoff from upland sites near streams that have been cleared of vegetation prior to development) and mass wasting (landslides). Floodplain habitat. When a stream overflows its banks, the area that it covers is called a floodplain. Floodplain habitat includes side and overflow channels, oxbows, sloughs, beaver ponds, and wetlands that are important rearing habitats. These habitats provide a refuge for juvenile fish that is connected to the main river, where food is plentiful, where there is cover in which to hide from predators, and where the flows are not so swift for small fish. The historic ditching, draining, and filling of floodplain wetlands have impaired this type of habitat. In addition, dikes, bank hardening and other efforts to manage floods have disconnected streams and rivers from their floodplains, preventing fish from using floodplain habitat. Instream flows. The amount of water in a stream is a key factor in determining how much and the quality of habitat available to fish. Higher flows like typically happens once a year help to maintain the channel shape and riparian vegetation. Really high flows may carry enough velocity to flush juvenile fish and to move sediment in the streambed and banks to the point that salmon redds (nests) are scoured out or buried or where the channel form itself is altered and habitat is damaged. On the other hand, flows that are too low are also harmful because they reduce both the amount and accessibility of habitat. Low flows may also alter water quality. For instance, the water in stream may be shallow and spread out at low flows and thus more subject to solar heating and creating temperatures that are detrimental or even lethal to fish. In WRIA 1, low flows during the dry summer months, when human use is highest and fish are returning to streams to spawn, are the main concern. Pool quantity and quality. Pools are parts of a stream where the water is much slower, and can be formed by boulders, individual pieces of large woody debris, and/or logjams. Streams are often characterized by their pool/riffle ratio-the length of its pools divided by the length of its riffles-with a diversity of pools and riffles being considered optimal for fish. In WRIA 1, it is believed that the lack of woody debris of sufficient size and numbers to function in a given stream is a key factor in low numbers of pools, especially pools that provide essential holding and hiding cover for salmon (studies have shown that fish prefer woody cover to artificial cover such as riprap), and that there are less pools being formed by large woody debris than in historic times. Productivity. Generally speaking, productivity refers to the amount of nutrients and energy that have been captured by organisms. In the context of salmon habitat recovery, productivity is a measure of the ability of a stream to support salmonids. Questions that may be asked in evaluating the stream's productivity include: is there enough space in the habitat to support the numbers of fish present; is there the right mix of habitat types; is there enough food; is the water quality good enough; and do enough adult salmon return to ensure enough eggs are deposited and enough carcasses are left in the stream to feed the bugs, juvenile fish, and the riparian vegetation? It is documented that the productivity of Nooksack native early chinook stocks is limited by freshwater habitat conditions. ? Temperature. Salmon and trout can only survive in water that is between 5° and 20° Celsius (40-68° Fahrenheit), and within that range, temperature can affect how salmonids grow, mature, and behave. For instance, water that is too warm can prevent salmonids from swimming upstream to spawn. In WRIA 1, too-high temperatures are caused by lack of riparian (streamside) cover, low flows, and alterations to the shape of the stream channels. Turbidity. The amount of sediment suspended in water is described as turbidity, or cloudiness. Turbidity interferes with juvenile salmon's ability to find food and is an indicator of movement of large volumes of fine sediment that can smother salmon eggs and fry and also reduce hiding habitat for salmon fry. High turbidity levels are a significant factor in some areas of the WRIA 1 such as the south fork of the Nooksack River. Water quality. Pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, and some chemical compounds have been linked to health problems and mortality in fish. In addition, low levels of dissolved oxygen also have negative effects on fish. These water quality issues are mostly a concern in the tributaries of the lower Nooksack River with the exception of temperature and dissolved oxygen, which has also been documented in the upper reaches and tributaries.

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