Presentation Abstract
In 2014, King County began an effort called, Fish Farm Flood, to recover Chinook salmon in the Snoqualmie River while also maintaining a healthy viable agricultural industry. An initial agreement in 2017 called for the formation of a Buffer Task Force with the goal of providing the foundation and guidance for a scientifically credible, context-sensitive, locally derived decision support framework that describes the potential of variable-width riparian buffers along all watercourses in the Snoqualmie Valley Agricultural Production District. The agricultural district is mostly contained within the roughly mile wide floodplain of the Snoqualmie River. The district includes more than 150 miles of stream channels of varying size and levels of modification (e.g., armoring, straightening). Riparian data indicates that approximately 2/3rds of the riparian areas lack trees. The first step in this effort was to characterize the different types of watercourses and then evaluate riparian literature applicable to those watercourses. Six key riparian habitat functions that provide benefits to salmonids were evaluated, including: water quality, water temperature, microclimate, large wood, erosion and bank stability, and invertebrate and leaf-litter detritus. The review evaluated buffer characteristics, such as width, length, tree size, and connectivity. We focused on literature that described characteristics and percent functionality of differing widths, or lengths. The report includes summary tables of literature that shows riparian buffer widths and lengths that supports at least 50% and greater of a given function. We then went through several exercises to construct logic models for each type of watercourse and evaluate what riparian functions were most critical for types of streams or reaches. The technical team used the synthesis to propose a set of variable width buffer recommendations that were then adjusted by the Task Force members to come to a final set of recommendations supported by fish and agricultural interests.
Session Title
Collaboration, Communication, & Planning
Conference Track
SSE2: How We Protect the Salish Sea
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-traditionals-220
Start Date
28-4-2022 10:15 AM
End Date
28-4-2022 11:45 AM
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Getting from one size fits all to variable width riparian buffer recommendations
In 2014, King County began an effort called, Fish Farm Flood, to recover Chinook salmon in the Snoqualmie River while also maintaining a healthy viable agricultural industry. An initial agreement in 2017 called for the formation of a Buffer Task Force with the goal of providing the foundation and guidance for a scientifically credible, context-sensitive, locally derived decision support framework that describes the potential of variable-width riparian buffers along all watercourses in the Snoqualmie Valley Agricultural Production District. The agricultural district is mostly contained within the roughly mile wide floodplain of the Snoqualmie River. The district includes more than 150 miles of stream channels of varying size and levels of modification (e.g., armoring, straightening). Riparian data indicates that approximately 2/3rds of the riparian areas lack trees. The first step in this effort was to characterize the different types of watercourses and then evaluate riparian literature applicable to those watercourses. Six key riparian habitat functions that provide benefits to salmonids were evaluated, including: water quality, water temperature, microclimate, large wood, erosion and bank stability, and invertebrate and leaf-litter detritus. The review evaluated buffer characteristics, such as width, length, tree size, and connectivity. We focused on literature that described characteristics and percent functionality of differing widths, or lengths. The report includes summary tables of literature that shows riparian buffer widths and lengths that supports at least 50% and greater of a given function. We then went through several exercises to construct logic models for each type of watercourse and evaluate what riparian functions were most critical for types of streams or reaches. The technical team used the synthesis to propose a set of variable width buffer recommendations that were then adjusted by the Task Force members to come to a final set of recommendations supported by fish and agricultural interests.
