A model for prioritizing chinook salmon habitat remedial action in a watershed of King County, WA

Michael. Bishopp

Chinook salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest have dramatically declined in the last century. This is due to many factors including ocean harvesting, relying on hatchery salmon, the conflict of fish and hydroelectric dams, and the degradation of salmon-favorable habitat. In March of 1999, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This fact increases the need for tools to help decision-makers with limited budgets make wise decisions in regards to protecting salmon and their habitat. This research presents a cartographic model that prioritizes sub-basins within a watershed in regards to salmon habitat remedial actions. The study watershed is in King County, WA and is referred to as Water Resource Inventory Area #9 (WRIA 9). The prioritization scheme used in this model is a coarse grain approach that will give decision-makers a means to focus their salmon habitat protection efforts. The modeling methodology utilizes Geographic Information System technology and readily available datasets. The framework of this model establishes three very important factors that effect or indicate viable salmon habitat: Landscape health, salmon presence, and potential risk. The factor of in-stream quality is also important for understanding the health of salmon populations, but it is not addressed in this thesis. Each of these factors contains individual parameters that have been shown to effect salmon populations either directly or indirectly. The end result of the model is a differentiation of sub-basins within WRIA 9 based on ecological actions (preservation, restoration, or structural best management practices (BMPs)) and implementation prioritization, and remedial actions and their implementation prioritization. The resultant prioritized sub-basins show a distinct pattern of BMP actions in the more populous areas to preservation in the most rural areas. These model results are very reasonable. The model could be enhanced with the addition of an in-stream conditions evaluation, the expansion of risk to include runoff potential, and the use of more up-to-date datasets. In final analysis, the framework of this model is sound and establishes a flexible means for decision-makers to decide how to prioritize salmon habitat enhancement projects.

A model for prioritizing chinook salmon habitat remedial action in a watershed of King County, WA

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