DRAFT, last updated 3/15/05
East Twin and West Twin Watershed Page – WRIA
19, Tier 2 A. Watershed Information:
- General Watershed Description: (adapted from WRIA
19 LFA, p 22) the West Twin River and the East Twin River share similar
physical characteristics, and the mouths of each stream are in close
proximity to each other. The gradients are moderate
to steep throughout and stream widths average between 3-9 yards (Phinney
and Bucknell 1975). They are believed to produce coho and chum salmon
(Phinney and Bucknell 1975) as well as winter steelhead (WDFW spawner
survey database 1998). The West and East Twin Rivers have major spawning
areas for coho downstream of RM 4.2 and 3.4 respectively (Phinney and
Bucknell 1975), but these rivers have never produced large numbers
of fall chum (Fig. B.2) (WDFW and WWTIT 1994).
- Hatchery impacts:
- Harvest impacts: More harvest
information.
- Stakeholders: Lower
Elwha Klallam Tribe is co-manager of fisheries with WDFW; Public landowners
include
WDNR, Washington
Department of Transportation (SR 112), and Olympic
National Forest. Major private landowners are Merrill
and Ring, and Rayonier.
- Tier
explanation (from NOPLE Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy): ):
Historic productivity is M+(on a scale of 1-5, these are 3 which
is more than half); current productivity (based on smolt trapping
data)
is 2 (ML-just less than half); The Twins have a (4) for diversity
of stocks: chum (depressed; critical and declining), steelhead, coho,
cutthroat. East Twin is an excellent area for surf smelt in WRIA
19.
Half of the East and West Twin watershed is in federal ownership
(late successional reserve status) with major road decomissioning
anticipated; the other half is in private land and could be targeted
for purchase. Additionally, habitat based restoration on the watershed
scale in addition to extensive monitoring being conducted in this
basin makes it unique. Lower historic productivity levels within
the E & W Twin basins did not warrant a lower Tier assignment,
primarily due to the fact that the potential for the successful
restoration of these basins is thought to be high.
-
Bibliography:
B. Salmon Habitat Recovery Priorities:
- Salmonid stocks & their status. From State
of Our Watersheds Report 2004, NWIFC SSHIAP, p. 132:
* 2002 WDFW SaSI is incomplete and incorrect and additional information
about specific stocks is available from local co-manager fisheries
biologists.
According to local fisheries biologists, all Western Strait Chum stocks
deserve to be designated as depressed or even as critical under SaSI. Chum
runs must be considered critical in Clallam, Deep, the Twins, and Salt. Coho 2002
bad year. Trend's been down, definitely not healthy. Of
the habitats found in East Twin, West Twin and Deep Creek, East Twin
is steeper, Deep is flatter and West Twin is in the middle. What that
means is that Chum is relatively more important in Deep Creek, and steelhead is
relatively more important in E.Twin.
- Priority salmon stocks.
- Chum because they form the basis of the food chain, they make
up the most widely distributed stock, and they contribute the
most in biomass and tonnage. Stock has been degraded significantly
and recovery is a high priority.
- Coho because Coho fisheries are currently an important aspect
of the local economy.
- Priority Limiting Watershed Process & Habitat Features.
The main land use in WRIA 19 is commercial forestry and the
following habitat features and/or watershed processes are responsible
for the poor PVCs identified above
- From State
of Our Watersheds Report 2004, NWIFC SSHIAP:
- Sedimentation due to high road densities, improper
forest road construction and maintenance, poor forest
practices, mass wasting;
- channel instability-incision due to high sedimentation
rates, lack of LWD;
- reduced LWD-channel complexity due to riparian/floodplain
roads, channelization, incision
- poor riparian conditions, due to FP-riparian encroachment,
poor forest practices
- increased freq/mag peak flows, due to channelization,
conversion from late-seral conifer to early-seral mixed
forest
- high stream temperatures, due to loss of riparian conifer
cover
- Major actions to protect and improve: The following
major actions are necessary to protect and improve the above-identified
priority salmonid stocks:
- See Recommendations
from Abstract from
WRIA 19 LFA (p 6)
- See additional recommendations from bibliography under Section
A above.
- Priority actions and areas: The following priority
actions and areashave been specifically identified as priorities in
resolving the priority limiting watershed processes and habitat features
identified above:
- Community issues: The following community issues
are relevant to protecting and restoring the above-identified priority
salmonid stocks in this particular watershed:
C. Recovery Projects:
D. Monitoring:
E. Emerging Issues:
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