WCC Fish Response: Crews help fish battle the drought

By: Laura Schlabach, WCC outreach coordinator 

Our Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crews responded to a different type of emergency this week: Emergency Fish Response! The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) called on WCC AmeriCorps members to complete critical fish passage projects through the Governor's Drought Relief funding package.

These fish passage projects are important in maintaining salmon runs this year because of severe drought conditions statewide.

Hot weather combined with low snowpack means most of Washington’s rivers are running significantly lower than normal. Flows are so low that fish can no longer migrate upstream. Fish passage projects help salmon navigate low rivers by eliminating barriers to water flow and creating deeper pools for salmon to advance upstream. Learn more about drought's impacts on salmon and other fish.

WCC helping fish in Pierce County

WCC got the call for help earlier this month. Supervisor Josh Williams' crew quickly responded, collecting 40 sandbags and heading to Wilkeson, Boise and South Prairie creeks in Pierce County. They broke down rock dams and woody debris barriers to increase water flow and help fish passage. Our WCC members also placed sand bags along a shallow overhang in Wilkeson Creek to create an alternate, deeper route for salmon to navigate upstream.

WCC AmeriCorps members place sand bags
along shallow overhangs to create a deeper stream
for salmon to navigate upstream. 

Improving the Dungeness for fish travel

WDFW also called two of our Port Angeles WCC crews to the Dungeness River. The Dungeness River relies on snowpack from the Olympic Mountains in the summer and into autumn; this winter’s lack of snowpack and the resulting shallow water have made it difficult for salmon to swim upstream successfully.

Our members in supervisors Phill VanKessel and Peter Allen’s crews repositioned in-stream rocks to sections of the river where water levels could become critically low. By creating many small diversion dams, salmon now have channels of deeper water to migrate upstream.

Individuals from Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s Natural Resources Department helped our WCC members and WDFW install the diversion dams.

Clearing clogged river beds for fish in Yakima

Our WCC members on supervisors Matt Cone and Josh Perry’s crews were called to help the Benton Conservation District clear water star-grass, a native underwater plant, from shallow river beds along the Yakima River.

Due to this year’s extreme low flows, the mats of water star-grass were taking over the riverbed and clogging the river. Removing these mats will increase water flow for salmon migration. The project will also give salmon better access to the rocky river beds, where they spawn, or lay their eggs.

Our WCC crews do a variety of emergency response work, but it’s not often they get sent out for Emergency Fish Response. They deserve a huge shout-out to thank them for their great drought relief work. Awesome work team!

WCC AmeriCorps crews break down rock dams and woody debris barriers to help fish travel through low river flows. 

Join WCC

Do you want to help the environment, meet great people and make a real difference? Join Ecology's Washington Conservation Corps, an AmeriCorps Program program consisting of three subprograms: the core WCC, Veteran Conservation Corps and Puget SoundCorps.

See photos of the types of projects WCC members work on during their service in our WCC Projects Flickr set. Learn more and apply online today to become a member of WCC:

www.ecy.wa.gov/wcc

Rapidly declining stream and river flows are telling the story of our drought

by Dan Partridge, communications manager, Water Resources Program

Just as the map of Washington was turning red with lack of snowpack in March and April, the month of May brought much of the state “into the red” for rapidly declining stream flows.

Our snowpack is virtually gone and more than 80 percent of the rivers measured by the U.S. Geological Survey are flowing at below-normal levels – and in many cases, at record lows.

For example:

• The Dungeness River on the Olympic Peninsula is only ankle deep at its mouth.    
• A receding Siebert Creek, in the Dungeness Basin, stopped short of the saltwater until this week – when the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe dug a new channel allowing Coho salmon smolts to reach the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
• The White River at Buckley is flowing at only 32 percent of normal for this time of year.    
• Flows in the Wenatchee River at Monitor are only 46 percent of normal for May-June. 
• Flows in the Snoqualmie River are at record lows, down more than 60 percent of normal and at levels not usually seen until August.

No snowmelt, weather forecast point to continuing decline in stream flows   

It’s only the first of June and with little to no snowmelt occurring through the summer, coupled with forecasts of hotter and drier than normal weather into the fall, stream flows will continue to decline.

Farmers and fish are already experiencing hardships because of the low flows.  Irrigators with junior water rights in the Yakima Basin will receive only 44 percent of their normal water allocations. This week the Roza Irrigation District in the Yakima Basin re-started its water delivery system after a three-week shutdown to conserve irrigation water for the season.

Big fish passage issues looming in the state    

What happened with Siebert Creek provides a dramatic example of how fish passage can be impaired by low flows. But the state Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) may be dealing with much bigger fish passage issues around the state as summer turns to fall and spawning fish attempt to survive low flows during their migration upstream.

A big concern for the summer and fall is the projected return to the Dungeness River of as many as 1.2 million pink salmon.

“It (the Dungeness) may be too warm and too shallow. It could be a problem,” Brent Bower with the National Weather Service told the Peninsula Daily News.

Taking action now to reduce hardships from low stream flows     

Ecology is working with DFW, the state Department of Health and the state Department of Agriculture to anticipate problems coming from low flows and possibly to take action now to reduce hardships from water shortages. For example, during the last statewide drought in 2005, biologists installed structures in the river channels of the Dungeness that helped fish swim upstream.

While stream flows are low and getting worse, confidence is high among state agencies that we can provide effective drought relief that will reduce the impacts of water shortages on our economy and environment.

Action on our request for $9.5 million in drought relief funding is expected soon in the Legislature’s special session. This will provide grants for a variety of activities to reduce the impacts of low flows on communities, farmers and fish.      

Western Washington Feeling #WAdrought

By Chase Gallagher, Southwest Region Communications Manager

On the Olympic Peninsula, farms, fish and families are entering the third month of #WAdrought. One of the first portions of the state where drought was declared, the Peninsula is already showing some dramatic effects.

This week KUOW’s Ashley Ahearn reported on the snowpack, irrigation, and fisheries issues on the Dungeness River in Sequim (audio on link).

Out on the Dungeness near Sequim with @KUOW's @aahearn talking about irrigation and #WAdrought pic.twitter.com/fqZ5deSqAR

— Ecology SW - Chase (@EcySW) May 21, 2015

Last week KING 5’s Alison Morrow joined us in Sequim in advance of a community drought forum and showed the stark visual scene at Hurricane Ridge as well:

Small streams facing big hurdles

Late last week we were sent a picture taken by the natural resource department of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe:

Siebert Creek, Clallam County. Photo courtesy Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe.

The water in the foreground is Siebert Creek, and in the background the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Those rocks in between are the issue – low flows in surface streams spell trouble for salmon smolt and other fish passage. 

As streamflows fluctuate in #WAdrought, we could see more trouble spots like Siebert creek around the Peninsula and throughout western Washington.

#WAdrought

You can stay up to date on the statewide drought on our main drought portal, or any of our regional update pages. We’re working hard on ensuring that our state is ready as the summer months dry out and heat up during this snowpack drought. This year stands to be a challenge for the entire state, and we’ll get through #WAdrought working together.  

Formula for drought: Warm winters with rain, little snow

By Dan Partridge, Water Resources program communications manager 

For the second February in a row, we are closely watching winter water supplies in Washington  with our Water Supply Availability Committee (WSAC) partners.  

Comprised of state and federal agency representatives, WSAC monitors water supplies in Washington and decides if and when a drought declaration recommendation should be made to the governor.   

Snowmobile sits on bare ground near the Lost  Horse 

snowpack monitoring site southwest of Yakima. 

Like this time last year, Washington is experiencing a warm winter with little snow accumulating in the mountains.

In many parts of the state precipitation has been in the form of rain. The absence of snow accumulations, called snowpack,  sets up conditions that could result in a shortage of water later this year.

Snowpack numbers spell competition for water supplies

Earlier this month, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) told the WSAC meeting that Washington’s snowpack statewide was only 39 percent of average. That could spell drought conditions and competition for water for our state’s many farmers and irrigators.

The Seattle Times this week reported snow levels at Washington ski areas at “possibly the lowest since the state began keeping annual counts 66 years ago.” For example, Snoqualmie Pass as of Feb. 8 had received 74 inches of snow this season, compared to a record annual snowfall of 191 inches during the 1976-77 season.

Snowpack serves as an important water resource in the state’s mountain ranges. Like a frozen reservoir, snow melt feeds reservoirs, rivers and streams and is delivered to farmers, irrigators and communities along the Olympic, Cascade and Snake River ranges.

Snowpack forecast not encouraging

NRCS  says the state needs to receive well over 200 percent of average snowfall between now and April 1 to catch up to normal snowpack accumulations.

Weather forecasts into March call for warm weather, more rain and less snow.  To be ready in case a drought declaration is necessary, Ecology is requesting drought relief funds from the Legislature. These funds in the form of grants can be used to drill emergency water wells, deepen existing wells for cities, farms or fish hatcheries or to pay for construction of pumps and pipelines.

By law, two conditions must be met before a drought can be declared in Washington state and funds released:

• An area has to be experiencing or projected to experience a water supply that is 75 percent of normal, and
• Water users in that area will likely incur undue hardships as a result of the shortage.

While lack of snowpack is a cause of concern, it is just one factor in the drought equation.

Rain, stream and river flows also factor into our water supplies. For farmers, how much water is available in our reservoirs can determine the success of the upcoming irrigation season. 

The seven-day average streamflow statewide was normal the first of February, although below normal in northwestern Olympic Peninsula. Snowpack was only 40 percent of average in the Yakima Basin, but storage in Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs in the basin was 167 percent of average.

Preparing to help if drought comes

Under these circumstances, no one is recommending a drought declaration but Ecology will be prepared to help in case it comes. WSAC also recognizes how quickly things can change. Last year, heavy snows in the second half of February increased the snowpack in river basins from as low as 35 percent to more than 70 percent of average. 

We may get by this year, but another year of low snowpack could mean less water carried over in reservoirs and spell drought next year.

For links to water supply information provided by all WSAC members, go to Ecology’s Drought Information Web page.