Stream Monitoring

Stream Monitoring

In the 1800’s Chimacum Creek (48° 00.706 N, 122° 46.488 W) was a healthy, vibrant, meandering creek (figure 1). Chimacum Creek had all the levels of a forest, canopy, understory, shrub layer, and litter layer. The water had a complexity of woody debris, there were many nurse logs nearby, the air was cool and the water had high levels of oxygen.

When the dairy farmers moved into the Chimacum Valley they needed a more efficient way to access the creek water. What they did was straighten Chimacum Creek (figure 2), they channelized the stream. By straightening the creek and removing the forests, the water moved too fast for young fry to survive. The temperature also increased thereby decreasing the amount of dissolved oxygen. By the 1960’s 90% of the salmon population was gone. The chum salmon population was wiped out by the 1980’s. So in the 1990’s it was decided that something needed to be done to restore the salmon to our watershed.

What the North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) is currently doing is trying to get Chimacum Creek back to its pristine state so that the chum salmon that was reintroduced will survive and thrive. By the 2000’s salmon are in the creek again but there is still more work to do. Efforts include planting trees to regain the tree cover (which entails getting rid of the canary grass that infiltrated the area), and to re-meander the creek. Students here at Chimacum Middle School are helping test the water quality and monitor the creek as it passes through our school to ensure that the water is healthy enough to support the chum salmon on its own (not needing to hatch them at a hatchery).

FOR more information about Stream Restoration, Contact Cheryl Lowe, Water & Natural Resources Coorinator, 360.379.5610 s x 230