Salmon and trout topics

Spot the spawners in the Cedar River/Lake Washington watershed this fall!
- other spawning salmon viewing sites in King County, Washington

Recovery

Environmental indicators for aquatic biota
Learn about the state of King County’s fish populations, key factors influencing them, King County actions and how you can help.

Final WRIA 7 Salmon Conservation Plan
Snohomish River Basin

• Snoqualmie Watershed Stream Habitat Reconnaissance Report
  Assessment of habitat conditions, presence and relative distribution of salmonid species and other aquatic biota in 14 rivers and streams in the lower Snoqualmie Watershed.
• Snoqualmie Watershed Aquatic Habitat Conditions Report: Summary of 1999 - 2001 Conditions
  Summary of habitat conditions for multiple species of salmonids and other aquatic biota in aquatic ecosystems of the Snoqualmie Watershed, including the mainstem Snoqualmie River and several of its tributaries.

Final WRIA 8 Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
Cedar River, Sammamish, Lake Washington

• Final WRIA 8 Near-term Action Agenda for Salmon Habitat Conservation
  Interim measures undertaken while multi-jurisdictional partners worked on thea long-term conservation plan for salmon habitat in the Lake Washington, Cedar River, and Sammamish watershed.
• Salmon recovery projects funded for WRIA 8
  Locations and list for projects funded by the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB), King Conservation District (KCD), and Waterworks Forum since 1999.
• Known Freshwater Distribution of Salmon and Trout
  Draft maps showing Chinook, Coho, Cutthroat Trout, Kokanee, Sockeye, and Steelhead Distribution in the greater Lake Washington watershed (WRIA 8), based on the collective personal knowledge of resource professionals and data gathered from published and unpublished databases.

Salmon Habitat Plan Implementation in the Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed (WRIA 9)
Learn what local governments and other partners are doing to protect and restore salmon habitat in the Green/Duwamish River and Central Puget Sound Watershed of southern King County.

• Salmon Habitat Protection and Restoration Projects Funded for WRIA 9
  Over $8.9 million for projects and acquisitions to preserve and restore salmon habitat have been funded by the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) from 1999 to 2006. See one-page descriptions of habitat projects across southern King County.
• Newaukum Creek Basin Characterization Project Report
  Describes the condition of Newaukum Creek, identifies ecological problems to inform restoration priorities, lists knowledge gaps to resolve, and anticipates how conditions in the creek may change in the future. Newaukum Creek is one of the two important salmon-bearing tributary streams to the Green/Duwamish River.
• Green-Duwamish River Watershed Quality Assessment
  Comprehensive study of the Green-Duwamish River water quality and the land area draining to it to help guide policy, prioritize cleanup and restoration efforts, and recover salmon populations.
• Juvenile Salmonid Composition, Timing, Distribution, and Diet in Marine Nearshore Waters of Central Puget Sound in 2001-2002
  Explains how young salmon use the marine nearshore for feeding and rearing.
• Prioritization of Marine Shorelines Report
  Based on analysis of historical and current conditions, the shorelines of southern King County in the Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed (WRIA 9) have been categorized in terms of protection and restoration value. Color-coded maps help identify the most important sections to protect and/or restore.

WRIA 10 - Salmon Habitat Limiting Factors for the Puyallup River Basin
Outlines the loss of habitat in this basin -- which includes the White River drainage in south King County -- and appraises costs of preserving good habitat, restoring damaged habitat, and and other changes to enable self-sustaining salmon populations.

Puget Sound Partnership (external link)
Public/private group including King County, works to develop an aggressive plan to solve Puget Sound’s most vexing problems.

Draft Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan (external link)
Regional plan to recover threatened Puget Sound salmon stocks, submitted in June, 2005 to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Lake Sammamish kokanee run - 2008 to 2009 season New

An examination of levee vegetation policy
Video of Ron Sims keynote speech to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Seattle district levee vegetation policy symposium, presented on February 26, 2009.
Windows Media format, video length 47 minutes, 23 seconds
Text transcript, An examination of levee vegetation policy

From Kings to Kokanee: Contributions Local Governments Can (Must) Make to Sustaining Salmon
Ron Sims' Speech at the American Fisheries Conference North Pacific International Chapter Annual Meeting, June 6, 2007.

2007 Salmon Homecoming Forum
King County Executive Ron Sims' Sept. 17 speech at Golden Gardens Bath House.

King County Climate Change Plan
How King County seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to projected climate change impacts, and embed mitigation and adaptation into county policy decisions. The plan incorporates issues, goals and actions related to salmon recovery and biodiversity.

Fish and Shellfish breakout session results, King County Climate Change Conference
Review a summary report describing anticipated affects of global warming on populations of fish and shellfish in Washington State with proposed adaptation strategies. Also, look up the fish and shellfish session agenda, presentations, and speaker credentials and biographies.

Road to Recovery Video - Tri-County Salmon Restoration
Video chronicle of progress and success in the work to protect and restore salmon runs in the three most populous counties of Washington State: King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties.

The road to salmon recovery
Overview of King County road projects designed to improve salmon habitat.

Salmon Safe (external link)
Certifies fish-friendly farms and urban lands for promotional purposes, to influence the restoration of agricultural and urban watersheds so that salmon can spawn and thrive.

King County Ecological Lands
Look up individual properties protected by King County as open space for their ecological values including salmonid habitat. The natural lands site also provides pictures, location maps and rules for public use.

Small Habitat Restoration Program
A King County group that restores and enhances stream and wetland habitat in small projects throughout the county. The program seeks your suggestions for good projects.

Guidelines for Bank Stabilization Projects
in the Riverine Environments of King County
Guidelines to help scientists and engineers enhance fish and wildlife habitat, reduce local stream velocities, increase the structural integrity and reduce the long-term maintenance costs of bank protection projects.
»See pictures of King County River Projects from our Boaters page.

Soils for Salmon
A project of the Washington Organic Recycling Council (WORC) designed to increase awareness of soil improvement as a means to support salmon and other species recovery. A goal of Soils for Salmon is for local governments to develop Best Management Practices that conserve native soils and improve disturbed soils.

Water Pollution Monitoring and Protection

Streams Monitoring Program
Keeping watch for pollution in King County streams.

Normative Flow Studies
Find out about this Water and Land Resources project that's designed to enhance our knowledge of how river and stream flows affect salmon survival and general ecosystem health for use in managing stormwater, flood hazards and water reuse.

Agricultural Drainage Assistance Program
This program provides technical and financial help to farmers working to maintain agricultural watercourses and works with farmers to preserve water quality and protect fish.

Final Report, East Hylebos Creek 2001 Monitoring Program
Results of water quality and habitat monitoring from 2001 in East Hylebos Creek.

2000 King County Water Quality Report (368 kb Acrobat file)
The report outlines the Department's work in water monitoring, water studies and water quality management programs and includes key findings from an opinion survey of County residents on water quality.

Stream Bug Monitoring
We count on bugs to measure stream health. The bug page provides info about benthic macroinvertebrates including caddisflies, mayflies, stoneflies, and other aquatic creatures, and how these bugs are used to measure pollution levels, nutrients, and other factors of ecosystem health in King County streams.

Salmon and Trout Technical Reports

Salmon Viewing

Fall for Salmon
Look up places to get outside and see spawning salmon on local creeks and rivers, and browse a collection of ideas that folks can apply as individuals to help protect and conserve salmon.

• Spawning Salmon Viewing Sites in King County, Washington
  
  Spot the spawners in the Cedar River/Lake Washington watershed this fall!
  

Salmon Watcher Program
Learn how to identify salmon, look up maps of salmon sightings and find out how to volunteer to be a salmon watcher. Salmon Watchers survey streams for spawning salmon in the Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, Cedar River, and Puget Sound watersheds. Identification pages show pictures, drawings, and descriptions with spawning seasons for differnent salmon and trout species:

• Chinook, King, Tyee or Blackmouth salmon pictures and information
• Coho or Silver salmon pictures and information
• Sockeye or Red salmon pictures and information
  • Kokanee, silver trout or landlocked (freshwater) sockeye salmon
• Chum or Dog salmon pictures and information
• Steelhead or the Salmon-Trout pictures and information
• Cutthroat Trout including sea-run trout pictures and information

Cedar River Public Boating and Fishing Access
Find parks, ecological natural areas and boat ramps to access the river for swimming, fishing and boating. Includes lands managed by the City of Renton, King County and City of Seattle.

Salmon Quiz, Game and Slide Show

Interactive Salmon Quiz
Test your knowledge of salmon, their ecology, problems and conservation actions you can take to help preserve them.

Salmon Challenge
This page provides a link to the King County Kidsweb and the Salmon Challenge, an online game for young people. Learn what you can do to help King County's salmon by playing the Salmon Challenge game!

Northwest Salmon, Northwest People: explore the connections
Take a visual tour of the issues surrounding salmon recovery