DOSEWALLIPS RIVER - WRIA 16.0440

Description: The Dosewallips River is the largest river in Jefferson County within the Hood Canal summer chum and Puget Sound Chinook ESUs. The Dosewallips River flows into the Hood Canal from the Olympic Mountains, draining a watershed area of approximately 74,412 acres (approximately 116 square miles) and with an average annual discharge of 446 cubic feet per second at river mile 7.1. As with other east Olympic Mountain drainages, it has a bimodal hydrology with winter and spring peaks.

Stock Status: See salmon distribution maps, stock charts, and documents (right side of screen).

Federally listed (threatened) - HC/ESJF summer chum spawning and rearing (depressed in 2002 SaSI); Puget Sound Chinook salmon rearing and spawning (critical in 2002 SaSI) as part of Mid-Hood Canal Chinook stock.
Healthy - fall/late fall chum (2002 SaSI)
Depressed - pink, winter steelhead (2002 SaSI)
Unknown - coho, summer steelhead (2002 SaSI)

Land Use: The largest landowners in the Dosewallips River watershed are the Olympic National Park (47,231 acres) and the Olympic National Forest (22,028 acres), which together comprise 93% of the watershed. A significant portion of the National Forest land is protected as wilderness area. Due to budgetary constraints, however, the USFS has not been able to properly maintain and/or decommission forest roads particularly in the Rocky Brook drainage, thereby increasing the threat of future sedimentation problems. The remaining 7% is divided between privately-held forest lands, rural residential, park land and commercial uses. There are 34 acres of commercial zoning in the watershed, which is concentrated in the lower reaches. The predominant residential zoning in this watershed (678 acres) is one residence per 20 acres. The rural village center of Brinnon is located at the mouth of the river on what was historically an active alluvial delta.

For all references and an expanded version of this description seethe Hood Canal Coordinating Council's Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy for the Hood Canal and Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, version 09-2005.

The Three Year Work Plan Narrative describes in detail the larger picture for restoration goals for all the habitat in the Duckabush and Dosewallips River.