Ground Disturbance

[madhatte]

Ah, watersheds. That's a whole different story. Have a look at this article. OK, so there's a long history of sediments moving around. So what? Well, it's important to note two things. First, Washaway Beach is about 25 miles north of the mouth of the Columbia River. Second, the prevailing currents offshore in those parts are from south to north. What's the big deal? Well, sedimentation rates north of the Columbia are 30% of what they were 100 years ago. What's upstream? On the greater Columbia watershed, which drains most of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho as well as parts of BC, Alberta, Montana and Utah, there are more than 200 dams. If all logging debris ended up silting rivers, one would expect that either the dams would fail, or there would be no erosion in Washaway. Fact is, hydrology is way more complex than that.

What was that a few posts back about there being no "one-size-fits-all" solution?

 

[RandyMac]

schooners used to make it 8 miles up the Little River in Mendocino, now its about 3 ft. deep all the way. Logging sediment.

They did that on the Eel River too. Now that old river bed is buried in nearly 40 feet of gravel. The Van Duzen river of my childhood is gone, most of it dives under the gravel during the summer, all those great swimming holes are gone.

 

[hammerlogging]

Ah, watersheds. That's a whole different story. Have a look at this article. OK, so there's a long history of sediments moving around. So what? Well, it's important to note two things. First, Washaway Beach is about 25 miles north of the mouth of the Columbia River. Second, the prevailing currents offshore in those parts are from south to north. What's the big deal? Well, sedimentation rates north of the Columbia are 30% of what they were 100 years ago. What's upstream? On the greater Columbia watershed, which drains most of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho as well as parts of BC, Alberta, Montana and Utah, there are more than 200 dams. If all logging debris ended up silting rivers, one would expect that either the dams would fail, or there would be no erosion in Washaway. Fact is, hydrology is way more complex than that.

What was that a few posts back about there being no "one-size-fits-all" solution?

true true, especially in a huge watershed situation. The TVA dams of Appalachia have caused beach communities up and down the Atlantic to have regular beach restoration to provide for the sediment no longer supplied. The mountain lakes ARE filling up with sediment, you can see it where the rivers enter the lakes.

But, the Little River, Randy's Eel, those are pretty easy to identify cause and effect sedimentation.

 

[Humptulips]

Ah, watersheds. That's a whole different story. Have a look at this article. OK, so there's a long history of sediments moving around. So what? Well, it's important to note two things. First, Washaway Beach is about 25 miles north of the mouth of the Columbia River. Second, the prevailing currents offshore in those parts are from south to north. What's the big deal? Well, sedimentation rates north of the Columbia are 30% of what they were 100 years ago. What's upstream? On the greater Columbia watershed, which drains most of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho as well as parts of BC, Alberta, Montana and Utah, there are more than 200 dams. If all logging debris ended up silting rivers, one would expect that either the dams would fail, or there would be no erosion in Washaway. Fact is, hydrology is way more complex than that.

What was that a few posts back about there being no "one-size-fits-all" solution?

What is happening at Washaway Beach is the channel is moving north Washaway on the northside is eroding and the Long Beach Penninsula on the south side is acreting. Happening all along the Washington Coast the streams are working north.

 

[madhatte]

But, the Little River, Randy's Eel, those are pretty easy to identify cause and effect sedimentation.

A short run from the coast ranges to the ocean is definitely a less complex hydrology than a major watershed. No doubt about it. Even medium-sized drainages, such as the Chehalis, can show clearly the effects of siltation from human activity. I chose the Columbia as an example simply because it represents the opposite end of the spectrum from the Eel as far as complexity is concerned.

 

[RandyMac]

The opposite end from the Colombia would be one of the estuarine, slough like rivers on the coast of Oregon.
Northern California's rivers got shoved to the north during the formation of the King Range, only Little River by Trinidad makes a straight run, it's really a creek. I looked for a map.
Watershed Browser
Because of the northbound orientation, they catch a great deal of water. There is an area where the Mad, Trinity, Van Duzen and part of the Eel are all lined up, separated by parallel ridges.
If you get to Southern Humboldt, camp at Albee Creek, spend some time looking at Cuneo Creek. The erosion caused by logging, is extreme and only one example of many logged areas.

 

[madhatte]

That watershed browser is a neat tool! Now to see if I can dig up a more local version.

 

[RandyMac]

The amount of graphical materials available is astounding. Sat maps and photos are getting better all the time. To "look" into an area of timber from your desk is coming to a monitor near you.

 

[madhatte]

We're actually mapping Laminated Root Rot remotely through GIS at a landscape level. I suspect there will be a publication before long. There are still bugs to be worked out, though.

Also:

The opposite end from the Colombia would be one of the estuarine, slough like rivers on the coast of Oregon.

Good point. I should have thought of the North River near Tokeland. It just sort of falls off of the hillside into the ocean. A buddy of mine used to live on a houseboat about 2 miles upstream from the landing, tied to the pilings from an old log boom. The water was indeed shallow, especially in the summer.

 

[RandyMac]

When you get a chance, check out Redwood Creek, a study in restoration.

 

[madhatte]

Will do. It's been on my radar for awhile, I just haven't got around to diggin' yet.

 

[RandyMac]

Redwood Creek drainage had massive timber, there are only a few spots that were equal. Record breaking trees were common, with almost all species. Then came talk of a Redwood park, the rest is history, leaving Redwood Creek nearly stripped of trees and choked with large woody debris, soil, even logging equipment. After the jack booted thugs from the NPS left, the real Park Service took over, they went to work restoring the stream. They are still at it.

Wait until you read about "clean" style logging.

 

[madhatte]

I shudder to think about what YOU would put in quotes as "clean". I'm sure it won't line up at all with how the contracts I see are written!

 

[RandyMac]

Clean, yeah, really clean, nothing but stumps and dirt. Not kidding.
Mega ground disturbance and a bunch of it was cat logged.

I worked out Big Lagoon way for LP. For two weeks. They clean logged, I couldn't take it. I watched catskinners go out of their way to skin off huckleberries. There was science behind it, the more brutally you handle Redwoods, the stronger they come back. That is, of course your hillside doesn't wash into the creek.

 

[madhatte]

That is, of course your hillside doesn't wash into the creek.

That's always the issue, isn't it? Old Archimedes wasn't kidding when he said that stuff about objects in water displacing their volume... and a sedimented waterway is a waterway which likes to flood. It's not just the plant communities on the hillside which are affected by indiscriminate disturbance, but everything downstream as well.

This goes for natural processes as well, such as the widespread flooding on the Toutle, Cowlitz, and Newakum drainages following Mt St Helens' eruption in 1980. The ash in the streambeds as well as the pyroclastic material from the failure of the mountain itself forced water into places it would otherwise never go. The flooding did as much damage as the eruption itself, if not more! It certainly killed more people and damaged more structures.

 

[RandyMac]

Yep, when the ditch is filled in, the rainwater goes across the road.

The Eel is a fine example, if the December 1964 weather conditions returned, the floodwater will have a 30-40 foot head start. The channel by Fortuna used to be deep, stayed in place mostly, year to year. It has looked like a gravel farm since the Christmas Flood. Even the Smith suffers to a degree, from sediment.