North Olympic Peninsula Watershed Page

  • For Salmon Recovery Planning and Watershed Pages by WRIA, click here
  • For Salmon and Habitat Information Resources, click here

Return to NOPLEGroup.org Table of Contents, Site Map

DRAFT, last updated 2/4/05

Dickey Basin Watershed Page – WRIA 20, Tier 1

A. Watershed Information:

  1. General Watershed Description:
    The Dickey sub-basin is well known for its production of coho salmon. It consists of
    plentiful sloughs, wetlands, and small streams, and is dominated by low gradient habitat.
    Because of the low-gradient nature, mass wasting is rare. However sedimentation is still
    a major habitat problem and is predominantly due to roads. Riparian impacts occur
    throughout the Dickey and are worsened because of windthrow. The strong windstorms
    in the winter destroy the riparian buffers left after recent timber harvest in susceptible
    areas. Warm water temperatures are another “poor” habitat condition throughout the
    Dickey sub-basin, and may be contributing to an increased distribution of squawfish,
    known predators of salmon. Blockages, such as culverts, are another major habitat
    problem in this sub-basin. The naturally low-gradient conditions result in a lack of
    natural blockages for salmonids, yet numerous culverts exist and should be addressed.
    Low water flows in the summer are thought to limit the production of salmon and
    steelhead. Impacts that worsen low flows include a reduction of fog drip due to a loss of
    older conifers within the watersheds, as well as altered wetlands due to increased road
    sedimentation and loss of wetland riparian vegetation. While historically, LWD was
    very abundant in these streams due to the low-gradients and hence, lack of downstream
    transport, LWD levels in the mainstems, especially in the East Fork Dickey River have
    recently decreased to low levels. Flooding in December, 1999 not only washed out LWD
    in the East Fork, but has also resulted in signs of channel instability. Riparian roads
    impact the floodplain conditions in Coal and Colby Creeks. From WRIA 20 Limiting Factors Analysis, p. 10.
  2. Hatchery impacts: See Table 4. Current Hatchery Information
  3. Stakeholders:
  4. Tier explanation (from NOPLE Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy): See Prioritized Watersheds in NOPLE Strategy
  5. Bibliography:

B. Salmon Habitat Recovery Priorities:

  1. Salmonid stocks & their status. The following salmonid stocks occur in this watershed. For more info about these stocks, click here.
    • Fall Chinook
    • Fall Coho
    • Winter Steelhead
  2. Priority salmon stocks. Recovery efforts will be focused on the following salmonid stocks for the stated reasons:
  3. Priority Limiting Watershed Process & Habitat Features: See Major Limiting Factors for Dickey.
  4. Major actions to protect and improve: Click here for Quillayute Basin Project Prioritization, dated 2001.
  5. Priority actions and areas: Click here for Quillayute Basin Project Prioritization, dated 2001.
  6. Community issues: Click here for Quillayute Basin Project Prioritization, dated 2001.

C. Recovery Projects:

D. Monitoring:

E. Emerging Issues: