Damage to the Estuarine Wetland as
Cascade
Creek Flows Into Buck Bay
Before the county road and culvert were put in, Cascade Creek and Buck
Bay
interacted to form
estuine wetlands as shown in this old map (Thanks to Ken Brown for
providing the map):
Click on the
map for a larger view
The salt water from Buck Bay was still able to flow back and forth thru
the 36" dia culvert until recently:
But a temporary repair changed the hydrology drastically:
The flow from the main culvert (submerged) is partially visible on the
far left.
The diameter has been reduced from 36" to 32" and extended
at both ends for a total length of 40'.
The
top bypass pipes has been blocked off completely, and the remaining
bypass
can be seen here gushing water into the bay. The high water velocity
makes fish passage impossible, even at high tide under high flow
conditions.
There is
approximately a 5' head going thru the culvert under the road.
Washout from the main culvert. Note the large circular wash out in the
creek bed:
The wash out from the smaller overflow pipe is partially in the
foreground at the left.
The modifications also resulted in significant flooding across Pt
Lawrence Rd:
The culvert is in the top right of this photo. Now there is a
substantial flow across the road creating a traffic hazard and erosion
on a different stretch of the road. The flooding continued over the
road even during low tide.
Note the wash out on the beach and the side of the road where the
flooding spills over. Click on any photo for an enlargement.
Later I will include a picture of the same location when it is not
flooded. It might be a good site for an estuarine pond.
Stream gauges suggest the peak monthly flow in a typical winter is over
25 cfs, but a short peak of a few days can go up to nearly 100 CFS!.
The DTA report states the data is not "good" at flows over 12 CFS. I
plan to use a plastic line to measure the head loss thru
the 40' long, 32" ID culvert and give the data to the county for
analysis.
This is the view as you drive from Doe Bay towards the Artworks.
Here is a picture of the water falls about 500' upstream:
For scale, the log in the stream has a larger diameter than the culvert!
One year of preliminary stream gauge data is available showing a peak
daily flow of 91.9 CFS
on 11/19/03.
The actual peak flow during the day would be higher than the daily
average since the rate can vary
over 4:1 from day to day. Jan 2005.
Text excerpt from DTA
preliminary report. Cascade Creek daily average data May 2003 -
Apr 2004
Salmon Run:
Click on this image to see more pictures of the salmon run in Cascade
Creek.
The gravel beds between the falls and the culvert has a natural chum
salmon run that we are supplementing with eggs from the state with
informal assistance from Long Live the Kings. Sea run cutthroat and
brook trout have also been seen in the stream.
I am pleased to report that the County is now looking into speeding up
the plan to replace the culvert with an arch or something with
sufficient capacity and a natural stream bed.
Click here for a nice picture (poor quality
image) of 5 deer walking across Buck Bay.
Here is an interesting Orchid without leaves that grows in this
watershed.
Here is an email I sent to Chuck Steel
and Stockdale at the Wa. State Dept of Ecology
Useful Links:
Extensive bibliography on Mountain Lake,
Cascade Creek and Cascade Lake
Plan
for conserving water in Mountain Lake
Diagram of
water flow in the Mountain Lake, Cascade Lake watersheds
Notes
on East Orcas Watershed Planning meetings
These pages are intended to include relevant public information
for the benefit of those who care about these remarkable watersheds on
Orcas Island. The ideas and opinions presented here do not
necessarily represent the
policies, procedures or opinions of Olga Water Users Inc. or it's
board. My thanks to Olga Water Users for allowing this to be posted
under their web site.
If you have information to add, or corrections, please call Sandy
Taylor at 376 3815.
Or email:
I hope this information useful to the community.
Last updated Feb 7, 2005
