***Photo above…Low stream flow because of drought creates a distressing barrier to salmon ready to spawn. Photo by Aaron Brooks

 

Like many Olympic Peninsula streams, the Dungeness River has been declared in drought by the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Drought conditions have prompted emergency measures to help Chinook and Pink salmon make their way upstream to spawn.

You can still see many Chinooks and thousands of Pinks right now near the old Dungeness Schoolhouse, barely past the river’s mouth, reluctant and unable to move past shallow stretches.

In comparison to the total number of fish in the river, only a few have made it through the shallow water to Railroad Bridge Park and beyond.

Cooperative efforts spearheaded by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Washington Water Trust, and local irrigators are being made to assist salmon moving upstream. At identified areas of concern, crews are creating deeper channels by hand-placing rocks to create a deeper funnel of flowing water.

Volunteers building emergency channels in the Dungeness River to ease fish passage. Photo by Hansi Hals

Additionally, irrigators with the help of Washington Water Trust, have collaboratively shut off irrigation at set intervals to create pulses of water, much like a heavy rainstorm, to encourage fish to move upstream.

As individuals, we can all do our part and make a huge difference by conserving water whether it’s from irrigation or from your well. If you are not making a living off the plants on your property, please embrace and celebrate that this time of year, “brown lawns are beautiful,” when it comes to helping treasured salmon return to spawn.

Take it one step further and plant native or drought-tolerant plants around your home to conserve water for years to come.

Within river systems, it is essential to understand that surface and groundwater are interconnected. When you impact one you are likely to impact both. So just because you do not have irrigation rights does not mean you are not impacting the river.

Rain expected next week has the potential to release the thousands of salmon from the river’s mouth so they can start to utilize some of the wonderfully restored spawning habitat farther up the watershed.

Please visit the Dungeness River Nature Center’s exhibit to explore the complexities of our watershed, learn how climate change may make conditions in the river like this year the norm, and learn about the salmon lifecycle.

Powell Jones
Director, Dungeness River Nature Center