A work group consisting of representatives from Northwest environmental management agencies recommended 15 salmon habitat indicators be used to evaluate Northwest streams. The work group originally identified 113 candidate indicators, which were then pared down to a set of 15 indicators for the region.
Several federal, state, local, and tribal sources of indicator data were identified. Collected data were analyzed to determine their potential usefulness in addressing a specific indicator or a combination of indicators. The 15 indicators were placed into five functional categories:
- Fish Abundance
- Salmonids
- Water Quantity
- Instream Flow
- Flow Hydrology
- Water Quality
- Temperature
- Biological Water Quality Index
- Chemical Water Quality Index
- Land Use/Land Cover
- Land Use Conversion
- Transportation Impacts
- Impervious Surface
- Physical Habitat
- Impediments and Accessibility to Salmon Habitat
- Large Woody Debris
- Stream Depth
- Sediment
- Spawning Area
- Habitat Type Associated with Water
The Washington State Department of Ecology tested these indicators during a 3-month study using existing data from the Snohomish River Basin near Seattle. The results of this study show that many of the indicators can be useful tools in characterizing salmon habitat changes within or between river basins. During the evaluation, there were a number of challenges that prevented or hindered the analyses. These challenges included data availability, documentation, and formats (Ward 1999).
Reference:
Ward, W.J. 1999. Pacific Northwest Salmon Habitat Indicators: Pilot Project – Snohomish River Basin. Publication No. 99-301. Washington State Department of Ecology. Accessed October 2016. https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/documents/99301.pdf EXIT.