Stream Degradation and King County' Salmon Population King County in Washington State is home to some of the most significant spawning beds in the nation for several major species of salmon, such as the endangered steelhead and Chinook (or King) species. As a result of Washington's urbanization over the preceding years and decades, the purity and integrity of King County's streams and rivers have been degraded and the waterways contaminated (Morley, Karr, 2002). Currently, the Department of Natural Resources' Water and Land Resources Division is working on numerous projects to reclaim and maintain the streams and rivers of the County (Salmon and Trout Topics: Recovery, 2016). King County's own Wildlife Program Publication offers an indication of how important it is to maintain clean streams and waters for the salmon population. This study aims to answer the three-fold question: Has stream degradation affected salmon habitats in King County Washington state (specifically the habitats of king and steelhead salmon), and if so, how great has it affected the habitat; and what is the correlation, if any, between the rise of urbanization in Washington and the depletion of the salmon population? The time frame under consideration is 1970 to 2010.

The purpose of this study is to identify solutions that can be implemented to help reduce the effect of stream degradation. Stream degradation is the result of a number of circumstances: pollution, erosion (from storm water run-off of impervious surfaces, to agricultural impacts and waste water treatment facilities), temperature changes in streams/rivers, dams, shore armoring, and other forms of environmental destruction. Urbanization plays a large role in the advancement of Washington State in economic and social terms -- but its effect on the salmon population is one that still needs to be better understood (source). Thus, the potential value of this study may appeal to urban developers, urban planners, harvesters, and fish and wildlife agencies in other areas of the world that are impacted by the need to adopt better and greater conservation efforts in order to minimize the impact and/or risk of urban development on the surrounding natural habitat.

By answering the research question, this study expects to draw correlation between the rise of urban development in Washington and the degradation of streams in King County. It is hypothesized that population growth in the area positively correlates with the decline of king salmon as well as steelhead (both are protected species, according to the West Coast Region of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), with the alteration of stream flows and levels serving as the main culprit for the decline in these species' population (West Coast Salmon & Steelhead Listings, 2015).

The first part of the research question will be answered by performing a qualitative meta-analysis of the available and relevant literature on stream degradation and salmon habitats/populations in King County. The second part of the research question will be answered through the meta-analysis of available quantitative statistical data on the area's aquatic life habitats from studies that have utilized descriptive statistics with an interval measurement level (Greasly, 2008, p. 7). To answer the third part of the research question, the study will perform bivariate correlation analysis using variables gathered from the available relevant census data.

Literature Review

The literature for this review was collected using a variety of keyword searches in online databases. Relevant literature was culled from search results by assessing abstracts for information pertinent to the parameters of the study.

Robinson, Newell and Marzluff (2005) have shown that King County has been heavily impacted by urbanization and the expansion of the human population in terms of development of the...

The study is significant in that it shows correlation between urbanization and stream degradation and is representative of the body of literature as a whole identified over the course of this review.
Vanderhoof, Stolnack, Rauscher, and Higgins (2011) and Jensen (2012) show that growth of the human population in recent years has been mainly confined to urban areas in an attempt to contain development and implement "smart growth" procedures that minimize the impact of the urbanization on rural areas and regions close in proximity to them. Their studies of these policies indicate that some sense of the impact of urbanization in King County has been ascertained by policy makers concerned about the natural habitat and settings of its fish and wildlife populations.

Morley and Karr (2002) measured the biological integrity of urban streams in the Puget Sound Basin in their study of the impact of urban growth on the waterways in King County and found that biological integrity diminished as land-cover urbanization increased within certain areas of the Sound.

In terms of effecting strategies for the conservation of streams and rivers in King County, a number of studies and policy papers illustrate the avenues available to the County.

Booth, Hartley and Jackson (2002) note in their study of the relationship between forest cover, impervious-surface area and the mitigation of stormwater impacts in King County that there are a number of factors that play in part in the degradation of aquatic systems in the area and that "costly structure retrofits of urbanized watersheds" can actually add to the problem of degradation rather than solve it: for example, such retrofittings "cannot restore the predevelopment flow regime or habitat conditions" that existed prior to urbanization; the "widespread conversion of forest to pasture or grass in rural areas" actually leads to more degradation of aquatic systems "even when watershed imperviousness remains low" (Booth, Hartley, Jackson, 2002, p. 835). The study indicates that the same aims cannot be achieved in both developed and developing areas; those that are already developed must be addressed as-is and not with the intention of reverting the landscape to some prior condition (which is virtually impossible despite the not-for-lack-of-trying strategies adopted by the County), while in developing areas there still remains the possibility of integrating risk-mitigating strategies in order to save waterways.

The County's own publication Living with Salmon in King County describes a number of actions that "can enhance streams for salmon" including disposing of toxic substances by calling the Health Department Household Hazards for support, reducing the amount of lawn chemicals/fertilizers applied to one's property, reducing one's lawn area in an effort to preserve natural vegetation (i.e., to landscape with native plants), to fence in waterways so livestock cannot trample them or pollute them (and "stir up sediment, covering the gravels in which fish spawn and suffocating their eggs") (p. 2). The publication describes the spawning cycles of the two types of salmon focused on in this study, the Chinook and the steelhead: the king salmon "are the largest of the Pacific salmon and reach up to 80 lbs" and they spawn in stream and rivers that are large and fast flowing; upon hatching from their eggs, king salmon migrate to the Pacific where they stay for a number of years before returning to the source of their origin for spawning (Austin, Stenberg, 2012, p. 3). Steelhead, the most popular salmon in King County, are smaller, averaging at 10-20 lbs; they spawn at least once in their lifetime and may spawn multiple times; unlike king salmon, steelhead spawn in shallow streams where the rate of flow is only moderate. Steelhead spawn from December to March; king from July to October. Given that the "survival rate of eggs is low," the seasons in which spawning is conducted is important within the overall context of urbanization -- for the activities of individuals that use and/or impact water or waterways, fertilizers and/or chemicals, will inevitably alter the nature of the habitat where the eggs must live: "With current management practices and habitat losses, the odds become stacked against many of our salmon stocks. Out of an estimated 1,000 stocks of native salmon in the Pacific Northwest, 106 are already extinct and another 314 are at risk" (Austin, Stenberg, 2012, p. 4).

Luchetti et al. (2014) have also assessed the land use effects and regulatory effectiveness of King County policy on streams within the rural watershed regions of the area. Their study examines the extent to which regulatory practices associated with development in King Country have impacted the conservation of streams. Their findings are consistent with those of Booth et al. (2002) and Morley and Karr (2002) in that contamination levels are a going concern and remain problematic for fish and wildlife in the region. Whether regulatory efforts are having a positive impact on the region, however, remains to be seen, as the researchers note that too few years have passed since the implementation of regulations designed to conserve streams and rivers in the County; to better assess the overall impact more time must pass in order to allow for a better and broader gathering of data.

The study by Booth and Jackson (1997) finds that the rise of urbanization in King County has negatively impacted the "form and function of the downstream aquatic system" and introduced obstacles that are…