South Sound Watersheds

This project used existing production and habitat models to prioritize restoration and conservation actions for two watersheds and produced an action plan for the WRIA 13 and 14 near-shore of Puget Sound south of the Tacoma Narrows.

Information utilizing existing Beverton-Holt based stock production models for the McLane and Goldsborough Creek watersheds were used to create explicit actions plans. Each model functionally linked habitat attributes to population response by considering changes to habitat utilization by life history stage and the habitat condition for: large woody debris, shade, pools, riparian, fines, flows, and temperature.

The Goldsborough Creek Action Plan identified 16 initial restoration and conservation projects. Ten of these were taken to 10% design. Two of these projects were funded and are in planning stages for summer 2012 construction. One project was funded and is undergoing 30% design and permitting for construction in 2013. The McLane Creek Action Plan identified 8 initial high priority restoration and 3 high priority conservation projects. Two projects were taken to 10% design in the lower McLane and Beatty Creek reaches.

We have finalized the creation an integrated near-shore assessment model for juvenile salmonids that identifies priority areas for restoration and conservation. Attributes provided from nearshore assessments include: forage fish spawning, riparian conditions, marsh, and eelgrass conditions, and distance to fishery resources. We are proposing to use the outputs from this tool to create restoration and preservation strategies for the priority areas for the entire South Puget Sound shoreline.

A nearshore based restoration and preservation strategy was created for WRIA 13 and 14 shorelines. 80 sites representing approximately 20% of the shoreline were designated as High Priority using outputs from the Juvenile Salmon Nearshore Project Selection Tool, PSNERP change analysis protected lands and priority shorelines, pocket estuary location, and parcel size information. Explicit restoration and/or conservation recommendations were made for each of the 80 sites.

In order to identify bottlenecks in salmonid production, modeling methodologies were chosen that evaluate watershed scale limiting factors. This information will be used to identify specific strategies that include habitat preservation and restoration within specific South Sound watersheds and the near-shore environment. Modeling efforts will also provided a basis for decision making on fishery management and stock enhancement issues while providing direction for salmon recovery actions.