A popular North Sound river has become a dangerous place for fish, so the Department of Ecology is testing the water in the Pilchuck River to find out why the quality doesn’t meet state standards — and how to fix it.
The state says the Pilchuck River is running hot, sitting around 67 degrees. The ideal temperature for fish on the high end is under 60 degrees, and that is part of the reason the state spent this week testing the water.
Pam Sherwood lives along the Pilchuck, but she says it’s not the same Pilchuck her house backed up to 30 years ago.
“Where that big tree is right there? It went clear out there,” she told us, pointing to where the river used to run.
Now it’s a much wider, shallower Pilchuck that has eaten away so much of Pam’s property, it’s a safety issue. Neighbors put up an orange fence.
“The river undercuts the banks, so that way, like when we mow or something you don’t get too close and fall in,” Pam explained.
Scientists say wide and shallow also means warm and low on oxygen, so the Pilchuck is a safety issue for the Chinook salmon too.
“Some are cold water species and they just like cold water, unlike a bass,” explained Ralph Svrjcek, water quality specialist with the Department of Ecology. They are using dye to test the Pilchuck.
“What the dye does is it just helps us understand what happens to a molecule when it travels down the river,” Svrjcek said. That way the state can identify the warmest, most oxygen-depleted spots.
But in the meantime, a team of Snohomish County noxious weed control technicians have spent the last three years working the 40 miles of bank.
“What we do is we’re controlling the knot weed and we’ll come back and plant trees and shrubs to create shade and create large woody debris for refuge for the fish,” Janis Martin, one of the specialists, explained.
That drops the water temperature and stabilizes the banks that keep eroding, so we don’t lose fish — and people like Pam don’t lose more property.