Lynch Creek (14.0026)

Fish Passage:
Culverts along Lynch Road and Kamilche Point Road block fish passage to streams draining into Skookum Inlet (Taylor et al. 1999, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission 2002). Fish passage was rated poor.

Riparian Buffers:
Small deciduous vegetation is the dominant riparian plant along Lynch Creek (Fraser 2002, personal communication). No quantitative data on riparian condition or riparian canopy closure were available.

Substrate Embeddedness:
Lynch Creek has numerous hardpan cascades. In 1988, WDFW enhanced about 330 sq. meters of spawning habitat through gravel supplementation on the three salmon-bearing streams on the south shore of Little Skookum Inlet (Burns 2002, personal communication).

Pool Frequency
Pools are relatively uncommon in Elson and Lynch Creeks (Fraser 2002, personal communication). Pool frequency was rated poor.

Pool Quality
Pools in Lynch Creek are generally less than one-foot deep.

Off-Channel Habitat
Both Elson and Lynch Creeks have limited off-channel habitat (Fraser 2002, personal communication). Off-channel habitat was rated poor.

Water Quantity/Dewatering
Management of Fawn Lake in the summer months may cause insufficient flows in Lynch Creek (Fraser 2002, personal communication). Water quantity/dewatering was rated poor.

Change in Flow Regime
Fawn Lake was created in the 1960s by damming an open water wetland. The lake is regulated to prevent flooding of adjacent homes (Taylor et al. 1999). Management of Fawn Lake in the summer months may cause insufficient flows in Lynch Creek (Fraser 2002, personal communication). Change in flow regime was rated poor.

Biological Processes
Comprehensive stock assessment surveys are conducted on only one independent tributary to Skookum Inlet, stream 14.0026 (Baranski 2002, personal communication). If chum escapements to this stream are typical of other tributaries in this basin, it is likely that marine-origin nutrient inputs resulting from these escapements are adequate to provide the nutrient needs of the ecosystem, as described by (Michael 2002). Biological processes were rated good.

Description from the "Skookum Inlet Tributaries (north and south shore)" section of the Salmonid Habitat Limiting Factors Water Resource Inventory Area 14, Kennedy-Goldsborough Basin. For more information including salmonid stock status see the previously stated document or the Salmon Habitat Protection and Restoration Plan for Water Resource Inventory Area 14, Kennedy-Goldsborough. For fish use see the map image located in pictures.