Introduction.

Topic: King County key locations on restoring and maintaining salmon habitat.

We are interested in identifying high priority areas for salmon restoration sites

within the boundaries of King County. Salmon are crucial for the Pacific Northwest,

economically and culturally, but most importantly they are a keystone species for our

ecosystems. Salmon are anadromous fish and during their life cycle, they transfer

energy from the Pacific Ocean to freshwater and land habitats (National Park Service).

Most of their biomass comes from the ocean, and they bring in marine derived nutrients,

migrating upstream to spawn. After spawning, Chinook salmon die and leave their large

biomass of organic matter to fertilize the forest ecosystems (Post). Dramatic declines of

salmon will result in deficiency of nutrients to support the ecosystem, in which has

already happened in the Pacific Northwest .

Chinook Salmon population trends has declined tremendously in the past, shown

in Puget Sound Chinook Salmon 1989-2008. Since 1984, populations are down 60%

(Pacific Salmon Service). The decline of chinook salmon is associated with three main

factors: habitat threats, harvest rates, hatchery influence (EPA). In which our focus for
this research is habitat change, since population is growing, more land is being

developed and salmon habitat is being degraded. Specific water quality and

temperature conditions are vital to successful salmon spawning and fish rearing habitat.

Temperature is a major threat to Chinook salmon specifically. Salmon in general are

very sensitive to environmental conditions and if these conditions differ greatly than

what salmon are evolved for then they may be subjected to what is known as pre-spawn

mortality. It is currently being researched as to why salmon don’t make it to their

spawning sites, and it seems there are many factors that may be species specific as to

why pre-spawn mortality occurs, but it seems that temperature is what affects Chinook

salmon (Bowerman).

Methods and Data:

Based on the information provided by King County, we wanted to look at salmon

habitat and prioritize possible restoration areas. From the King County GIS portal we

used a couple factors to determine areas of high priority, these factors included land

use and stream use by salmon. Within these shapefiles, we assigned a score for each

land use type and each stream use type. The lowest score of one meant that the land

use was least developed whereas a three meant it was highly developed. For stream

use, a low score of one meant that the salmon in that particular stretch of stream are

most vulnerable to environmental factors, while a high score of 3 meant that salmon are

not as vulnerable. In our MCE calculation, we placed a higher weight on land use (0.75)

because we figured the environmental conditions of the stream would be more

important to salmon health than the stage of their life cycle the fish are in.
 Land use is important because it affects many aspects of streams and rivers that

may not necessarily be apparent. Impervious surfaces affect stream temperature,

streamflow, stream chemistry and composition, biota, etc. all of which are things that

affect salmon. Out of a total of twenty land use types, four were considered least

developed, eleven were moderately developed, and five were highly developed. The

land use types that were least developed were sensitive/critical areas, forest, historic

districts, and rural areas. The land use types that were considered moderately

developed were general mixed use areas, mixed use commercial/residential, mixed use

commercial/office, office/business park, single-family residential, multi-family residential,

mobile home park, public-use/institutional, park/golf course/trail/open space, agriculture-

related, and undesignated. The land use types that were considered highly developed

were central business districts, general commercial, industrial/manufacturing, aviation

and transportation-related, and mineral resource-related.

For stream use, there were three categories, migration only, rearing and

migration, and spawning and rearing. These categories were scored a one, two, and

three, respectively. One meant that the stretch of stream was not as highly prioritized as

three, and we made spawning and rearing a three because that is the stage in life

where the organism is most fragile and largely dependent on environmental conditions

for survival.

Study Area:

We focused our research on the King County area. King County is unique in

Washington state for it houses both Seattle and Bellevue, two very large and urbanized
cities in the state. Hydrologically speaking, King County has both Lake Sammamish and

Lake Washington, both of which are connected to many streams and rivers that are

important for salmon habitat.

Results:
Figure 1:

Figure 1 shows just how developed different areas in King County are, from highly
developed, moderately developed, or least developed, depending on land use type.
Figure 2:

Figure 2 shows the Chinook Distribution for the fall run in King County.
Figure 3:

Figure 3 shows where in the Chinook distribution the streams that are more important
for habitat restoration based on nearby land use.
Figure 4:

Figure 4 shows high and low priority salmon habitat restoration areas based on stream
use by salmon and surrounding land use.
Results Continued:

From figure 4, the highest priority salmon habitat restoration sites are located in

Woodinville, Redmond, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, and Lake Forest Park. These are areas

that are highly developed and are where Chinook salmon are found to spawn and rear.

Land use for these cities included mostly general commercial and

industrial/manufacturing areas

By using these locations, we can pinpoint the nearest neighboring King County Water

Quality Monitoring sites and examine reports for further investigation.

Highest Priority: Selected Attributes by Priority Level above 2.8

Redmond, nearest site: Sammamish River-0486

Woodinville, nearest sites: Little Bear Creek-0478, North Creek-0474

Snoqualmie, nearest site: Middle Fork Snoqualmie-MFK_SNQ

Issaquah, nearest site: Issaquah Creek-A631

Conclusions & Discussion:

From these maps, there are not many miles of what we consider “high priority”

restoration areas, only about 5.1 miles in total but about 1,850 miles of medium to high

priority areas. It is still imperative to provide quality habitat for salmon throughout their

life cycle to provide them with the best chance for survival and population recovery.

While habitat restoration is important, it is crucial for the factor that caused restoration to

be necessary to be taken care of as well, in this case, highly developed land usage. As

long as land use and their environmentally unfriendly practices remain unchecked,

constant restoration will be needed, and this will prove inefficient over time.
 Works Cited:

Bowerman, T. , Roumasset, A. , Keefer, M. L., Sharpe, C. S. and Caudill, C. C. (2018),

Prespawn Mortality of Female Chinook Salmon Increases with Water Temperature and

Percent Hatchery Origin. Trans Am Fish Soc, 147: 31-42. doi:10.1002/tafs.10022

EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016. Chinook Salmon. Salish Sea,

Accessed May 30, 2018. https://www.epa.gov/salish-sea/chinook-salmon

Pacific Salmon Commission. 2011. 2010 Annual Report of Catches and Escapements. Report

TCChinook (11)-2. Joint Chinook Technical Committee Report. Accessed May 30,

2018.. http://www.psc.org/publications/technical-reports/technical-committee-

reports/chinook/

Post, Anne. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Why Fish Need Trees and Trees Need Fish.

Alaska Fish & Wildlife News. 2008.

Rauscher, Ken. Riparian Sun Map Line. King County Dept of Natural Resources and Parks,

Water and Lands Resource Division. Accessed May 30, 2018.

http://www5.kingcounty.gov/sdc/Metadata.aspx?Layer=ripariansunmaplines#Description

USGS. 2014. Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems. National Water-Quality

Assessment (NAWQA) Project. Accessed May 30, 2018.

https://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/urban/html/overview.html