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DRAFT, last updated 3/15/05

Salt Creek Watershed Page – WRIA 19, Tier 2

A. Watershed Information:

  1. From 2004 Salt Creek Assessment, p. 49.
    Click on image for larger view
    General Watershed Description: From 2004 Salt Creek Assessment, p. 12: Salt Creek is an independent tributary to the Strait of Juan de Fuca (SJF) located 15 miles west of Port Angeles (Figure 1). The watershed is 19.1 mi2 in size and includes 23.4 miles of streams accessible to anadromous salmonid (Phinney and Bucknell 1975). The watershed has little relative relief and drains a series of low hills (maximum elevation 3000’/917 m) paralleling the SJF. Base rocks in Salt Creek include primarily those of sedimentary origin including the Twin River Formation (Tabor and Cady 1978), which is dominated by sandstones, siltstones and conglomerates. An area of basalt origin is located at the northeast portion of the drainage at Striped Peak. Salt Creek has been strongly influenced by the most recent continental glaciation (Vashon Stade~25,000 years ago). During the peak of this glacial advance, much of Salt Creek was buried by as much as 3000’ of ice. Salt Creek is dominated by glacial outwash features and associated soil types. Drainage patterns have also been affected by glacial features as well: a series of glacial striations are clearly visible on aerial photographs across the west side of the watershed. Several small tributaries and wetland complex drain these features.
    Salt Creek receives between 35-55” (89-1,397 mm) of precipitation annually depending upon elevation, predominately as rainfall (SCS 1965). The majority of precipitation occurs between October and March, and the annual hydrograph is dominated by peak flows in winter associated with storms of maritime Pacific origin. Low base flows are common during the spring and summer months when stream flows are almost entirely supported by groundwater contributions. Although Salt Creek has not been assessed for flow by continuous gauging, estimates of peak flow and low flow can be estimated. Using relationships developed by Amermann and Orsborn (1987) we estimated peak discharge in the vicinity of 2,000 cfs and average annual low flow at less than 2.0 cfs.
    Almost the entire Salt Creek watershed is located within the western hemlock zone (Henderson et al. 1989). Within this forest association Douglas fir is typically the dominant tree species in younger stands, with late successional forests shifting toward western hemlock and red cedar (though no significant older forest stands remain in the basin). Land ownership patterns in Salt Creek are a complex blend of state and industrial forest land, agricultural and rural residential uses. State forest lands are mostly located in the headwaters, while agricultural and rural residential lands are strongly clustered in low gradient landforms in the middle and lower watershed.
    Salt Creek has a rich cultural history supporting several significant Klallam cultural sites, including: teu’ dlt (Agate Point-translates “abounds in mussels”), TL sEent (Crescent Bay-translates “deep”), Klte-tun-ut (Salt Creek), Tsatso-Al sEnt (Tongue Point-translates “close by the deep place”) (James 1993). Three camp/village sites have been documented in the vicinity (Waterman 1920). Klte-tunut was the site of a large permanent village. The Salt Creek watershed was settled by Euro-Americans in the late nineteenth century and Port Crescent was a thriving town during the initial logging of the area’s renowned cedar and Douglas fir stands. Large scale clearing was conducted to support agriculture. During World War II, gun emplacements were constructed at Camp Hayden. Prior to this, access to Salt Creek was limited to unimproved dirt roads.
  2. Hatchery impacts:
  3. Harvest impacts:
  4. Stakeholders: Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is co-manager of fisheries with WDFW; Public landowners include WDNR and Washington Department of Transportation (SR 112). Major private landowners include Merrill and Ring. There are approximately 300 private landowners in the Salt Creek Basin.
  5. Tier explanation (from NOPLE Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy): Historically, the Salt basin was considered to have moderately high productivity levels (i.e., relative productivity level of 4 with 5 being the highest) with current productivity decreased due to a variety of reasons (i.e., from 4 to 3). Due to its limited size, limited number of historic populations (4), and lack of ESA listed stocks, Salt Creek was determined to be a Tier 2.
  6. Bibliography:

B. Salmon Habitat Recovery Priorities:

  1. Salmonid stocks & their status. From State of Our Watersheds Report 2004, NWIFC SSHIAP, p. 132:

    SASSI Stocks (SaSI)

    ESA Status

    Origin

    Prod_Type

    1992 Stock Status

    2002 (WDFW) Stock Status

    Salt Creek Coho (Map)

    Not warranted

    Mixed

    Wild

    Healthy

    Healthy

     

    Salt Creek Winter Steelhead (Map)

    Not warranted

    Native

    Wild

    Unknown

    Healthy

    Mid-Strait Coastal Cutthroat

    Not warranted

    Native

    Wild

     

    Unknown
    2000 (WDFW)


    From 2004 Salt Creek Assessment:

    2. • Winter Steelhead: declined to critically low levels
    • Chum Salmon: teetering on the verge of extirpation
    • Coho Salmon: static or declining, showing no signs of recovery

  2. Priority salmon stocks. Recovery efforts will be focused on the following salmonid stocks for the stated reasons:
    a) Coho because of high productive potential due to high proportion of low-gradient stream habitat in the Salt basin
    b) Chum should be reintroduced/rebuild because instream habitat restoration can be designed to restore lateral reconnection of floodplains, making Coho/Chum habitat recovery complimentary and simultaneous.
  3. Priority Limiting Watershed Process & Habitat Features. The following habitat feature(s) and/or watershed processes are responsible for the poor PVCs identified above:
    a) Chronic lack of large woody debris has caused fundamental changes in the functional condition of stream types
    b) Riparian forest conditions are currently inadequate to fully support habitat forming processes with current riparian forest dominated by young to medium aged stands of deciduous species and with a total of 9.3 miles of stream (out of 51.6 miles surveyed) adjacent to roads;
    c) 8 total and 21 partial barriers limit access to 25 miles (approximately one-half) of historically accessible stream habitat
    d) Low flow conditions have resulted in closure of new water rights. A total of 37 perfected water rights totaling 2.7 cfs have been issued to date.
  4. Major actions to protect and improve:
    a) Restoration in Salt Creek should be conducted sequentially over time by the following categories:
    i) Linear reconnection of historically accessible habitats
    ii) Lateral reconnection of floodplain habitats
    iii) Restoration of riparian/wetland functions; instream habitat restoration
    iv) Removing/reducing current ecosystem stressors
    b) In addition to these active restoration efforts, protection of existing functional habitats through acquisition/easement or other means should be considered as an equal priority with restoration where possible
  5. Priority actions and areas:
    Specific actions by location that will implement the identified priorities within the Salt basin are set forth in the 2004 Salt Creek Assessment. Many of these actions are complimentary and could be conducted simultaneously.
  6. Community issues:
    From Landowner Survey, 2004 Salt Creek Assessment, p. 62: "There was a remarkable amount of consensus among the observers, who almost unanimously attributed the decline of salmon in Salt Creek to a combination of increased fishing mortality and habitat degradation." From p. 89: "In Salt Creek we found
    that the overwhelming majority of landowners were supportive of salmon and salmon habitat. However their support was often overshadowed by a fear that their property rights might be threatened."
    While the technical group working to restore Salt Creek fisheries believes reintroduction of chum is essential for nutrient enhancement and streambed restoration, during a December 13, 2004 NOPLE CFG meeting introducing the 2004 Salt Creek Assessment to the Salt Creek community, the local citizens expressed they were not in favor of re-introducing chum because they believe it would compete with their preferred fisheries of coho and steelhead.

C. Recovery Projects:

D. Monitoring:

E. Emerging Issues: