UW Intern Project Compares Kitsap Salmon Streams

Stillwaters’ volunteers have been collecting water quality data monthly at multiple sites on Carpenter Creek since 2001. The creek drains an 1880-acre watershed west of Kingston from its headwaters south of the Eglon Forest to Appletree Cove. Overall, water quality in Carpenter Creek is quite good, but low flows and high summer temperatures are concerns shared with most Kitsap streams.
Stream flows here are dependent on input from both surface waters (lakes, wetlands) and underground aquifers, which Kitsap’s growing population draws from for our water supply. Thus, the Kitsap Public Utility District monitors flows and temperature in multiple streams continuously to make sure that people, growing salmon, and other stream life all have enough cool, running water.
(Right: Stillwaters volunteer measures stream flow in Carpenter Creek.)
Stream flows here are dependent on input from both surface waters (lakes, wetlands) and underground aquifers, which Kitsap’s growing population draws from for our water supply. Thus, the Kitsap Public Utility District monitors flows and temperature in multiple streams continuously to make sure that people, growing salmon, and other stream life all have enough cool, running water.
(Right: Stillwaters volunteer measures stream flow in Carpenter Creek.)

This summer, a UW intern, Jeremy Leung, compared our monthly flow and temperature data from Carpenter Creek with monthly average flows and temperatures from four other salmon streams monitored by KPUD and the Suquamish Tribe: Grovers and Dogfish Creeks in North Kitsap and Blackjack and Curley Creeks in South Kitsap. The differences among streams highlight the challenges of managing freshwater resources in the county. For example, the watersheds supplying Blackjack and Curley Creeks are similar in size, producing similar flows, but for reasons not yet understood Curley Creek temperatures are consistently warmer in summer, regularly reaching levels that can impede fish growth (greater than 60°F or 15°C). Dogfish Creek in Poulsbo maintains higher flows than either Grovers or Carpenter Creek and has the coolest water in summer. Despite having the smallest watershed, Carpenter Creek has summer flows comparable to Grovers Creek, thanks in part to the presence of Carpenter Lake and large wetlands upstream.
(Left: Jeremy collects data in Carpenter Creek this summer.)
(Left: Jeremy collects data in Carpenter Creek this summer.)

Most years, temperatures high enough to stress young fish were recorded in Carpenter Creek once or twice, usually in July or August. But because we collect data at 3-4 sites each month, Jeremy found only five times when temperatures were high at all the monitored sites simultaneously. This is good news because as long as cutthroat trout and young coho can move up and down stream to find cooler waters, they can still thrive despite occasionally stressful temperatures. Find details of Jeremy’s project by visiting our Stream Monitoring page (here) and links to information about some of the other creeks by clicking on the names in bold in the paragraph above
(Right: Stillwaters' volunteer measuring stream temperature as well as pH, dissolved oxygen, and other stream characteristics important for aquatic life.)
(Right: Stillwaters' volunteer measuring stream temperature as well as pH, dissolved oxygen, and other stream characteristics important for aquatic life.)
Managers in Kitsap County face an array of challenges to maintaining healthy stream flows and temperatures in the face of a growing population and climate change. Individuals can help by directing roof and pavement runoff to rain gardens to recharge our aquifers and by respecting wetland and stream buffers, particularly the trees and shrubs that shade and cool the water. The Kitsap Conservation District (kitsapcd.org) is a great resource for help with these and larger projects to restore healthy stream habitat on private property through their Backyard Habitat Grants.