WatershedEvents

THE FLUSH ON BEATTY CREEK

Above, a before and after photo of the impact of a good rain on Beatty Creek.

In the brief interval since my last post about Beatty Creek, a substantial amount of rain has fallen - enough to cause flooding in many of the low-lying areas around Olympia, and more than enough to turn the creek into a torrent. Wednesday-Thursday, in fact we set a record for rainfall for the period - almost four inches in a 48 hour period.

The watershed for Beatty Creek is not very flashy, meaning it doesn't operate like an on-off water valve the way badly degraded watersheds often do; but it rained a fair amount a day or two running up to Thursday's downpour, so the sponge was saturated well before the peak event. It is still raining from time to time today, but the great flush has passed and the water level is beginning to fall. In a day or two, any chum still waiting for a shot at its upstream breeding grounds should be able to make a run for it. However, IF any are still out there in Eld Inlet, I'll be surprised. 

BEATTY CREEK - UPLANDS RECONNAISSANCE

Roughly 2.8 stream-miles (Smi) lie between Beatty Creek’s headwaters in the Capitol State Forest and its confluence with McLane Creek. A few days ago I performed a quick survey of 6 viewpoints located at easily-accessed locations on the stream’s corridor. All but two of these were at places where a roadway crossed the main body of the creek. Designated and ranked by elevation, these included:

VP 1130’ / Headwaters – no direct access, not visited

VP 679’ / Smi 0.5 – no direct access, not visited

VP 374’ / Smi 1.3 – Bridge on Westhill Drive SW  Northill Drive (corrected 12/15/2020)

VP 302’ / Smi 1.6 – Bridge on Arnesen Lane SW

VP 240’ / Smi 2.0 – Bridge on Chelsie Lane SW

VP 200’ / Smi 2.2 – Ravine on unmarked, unpaved, unmaintained road

VP 155’ / Smi 2.7 – Bridge on Capitol Creek Lane SW (private road)

VP 148’ / Smi 2.8 – 50 yards SW of McLane Nature Trail

Above, a view upstream, at VP 374’. A nearby sign identified this area as being part of a nature trail under the jurisdiction of the Alpine Hills HOA. Note the English ivy on the young alders. Other highly invasive plant species in abundance at this site include Archangel (lamium) and Herb-Robert.

Similar infestations of the same invasive plant species appear at VP 302’, both up and down the stream corridor. I was unable to access the area where the light colored material is concentrated, but my best guess is it is sawdust.

At VP 240’ the view upstream (above) is typical; however, the culvert itself appears to be failing (below). Why this culvert has begun to fail isn’t clear from the site itself. One way or the other, it is potentially very bad news for the home-owners further to the north in this part of the neighborhood.

Below, an upstream view of VP 200’. This portion of the stream was clearly once bridged; but there remains no sign of the single lane structure that used to be here. Furthermore, the “road” leading to the sight shows signs of not being maintained for many years – perhaps decades.

My brief survey wasn't scientific, but it anecdotally confirms details of previous studies of this creek and its environs. It clearly shows the Urban Stream Syndrome at work; and while some of the views I've presented here may appear to show a stream in good health, nothing could be further from the truth. (1) Tree cover, the all-important variable in stream temperature control, is steadily decreasing over large areas of the stream, thanks in part to ongoing development in the non-Capital State Forest areas, but also in part to infestations of English ivy. (2) Corridors in the upper elevations are unstable; the products of attendant landslides contribute significantly to overall turbidity. (3) Some of the most destructive and persistent invasive plant species are abundant. I've only commented on the ones shown in the photos, but others are known to be present and abundant in the environment. I'll detail those more fully in future posts.  

(Note: Photos of VP 155" and VP 148' were shown in the previous post.)

 

HARD TIMES ON BEATTY CREEK

The two photographs below require a bit of explanation: The first was taken at the confluence of Beatty and McLane Creeks. I was standing at water's edge of McLane, and the view is directly into the mouth of Beatty Creek. For the second shot, I stepped over all that debris and pointed the camera directly upstream. What's important here is what's NOT to be seen, specifically the dark, sinuous motion of several large chum salmon fighting their way up Beatty Creek to their natural spawning grounds. 

It is nearly mid-December. In a typical year I would not be able to stand on dry land at this spot along McLane Creek, even if I might want to - the stream would be so deep and the current so strong it might knock me down. Only a few salmon would be entering Beatty Creek, only a handful sweeping away at their redds further upstream. The peak of the run would have passed. The scene along the way would be mostly one of carnage, the stream and its lower banks littered with rotting carcasses - the bleak aftermath of a successful spawn. Instead, today only a paste of rotting leaves remains on the damp gravel. The heavy and steady rains of November have yet to arrive, and purge the creek. Furthermore, the forecast for the rest of December suggests they may not arrive until 2020, well paste the time for spawning.   

This is not the first time late or otherwise insufficient rain has wrecked an annual run on Beatty Creek. It is an ephemeral stream to begin with, and even in a good year its bottom is dry as a bone by June. In the fall that bottom will be covered in a thick mix of leaves and other detritus offered up by the surrounding deciduous trees and shrubs.

Then, usually in the first week or two of November, a series of wet warm fronts will blow into the area from the Pacific coast, one right after another. They usually come through only a day or so behind each other, creating a kind of wet pulse which soon translates itself into surging crests of stream flow in the creeks.

Then comes the surge - the full force removes virtually anything in its pathway. It’s wonderful to watch the cleaning process; even more wonderful to see what happens when the cycle settles long enough for the chum to run up stream and lay their eggs.

Sitting (or sometimes lying) quietly along the banks of Beatty Creek, just a few feet away from the chum, can be a deeply moving experience. I will miss it this year, it appears. But that won’t diminish my love for Beatty Creek, nor will it keep me from studying and recording its ways. I will not, however, write a book about the experience – been there and done that with Up Fanno Creek. Instead I’ll simply journal my efforts on this blog from time to time. I may also pull a weed or two, and pick up the occasional bits of litter I happen across. If you are a wetlands lover, as I am, stay tuned.