Washington Administrative Code
Title 220 - Fish and Wildlife, Department of
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AND CONSERVATION
Chapter 220-660 - Hydraulic code rules
Section 220-660-320 - Saltwater habitats of special concern
Universal Citation: WA Admin Code 220-660-320
Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
(1) Description:
(a) Saltwater habitats of special concern
provide essential functions in the developmental life history of fish life.
These habitats include:
(i) Spawning areas
for forage fish;
(ii) Settlement
and nursery areas for juvenile rockfish and lingcod;
(iii) Migration, rearing, and feeding areas
for juvenile salmon;
(iv)
Settlement areas for native shellfish;
(v) Areas of native aquatic and riparian
vegetation that supports fish life; and
(vi) Feeder bluffs and other shoreforms that
support geomorphic processes such as sediment delivery and movement that
creates and maintains habitat that supports fish life.
(b) The presence of saltwater habitats of
special concern or adjacent areas with similar characteristic may restrict
project type, design, location, and timing. Department staff or a
department-trained biologist may conduct a site visit to determine the location
of such habitats. In addition, the department may consider maps, publications,
and other available information to determine the location.
(2) Fish life concerns:
(a) The nearshore zone represents three
critical edge habitats; the edge between upland and aquatic environments, the
edge between the shallow productive zone and deep water, and the edge between
fresh and marine waters. Variations in wave energy, sediment delivery and
movement, sunlight, water depth, salinity, and location associated with
nearshore edges create a broad range of physical conditions that support a wide
diversity and abundance of fish life. Disruption of nearshore ecosystem
processes and physical conditions can adversely affect ecological functions,
which will in turn cause a loss of fish life.
(b) Hydraulic projects ranging from
installing stairways across bluff faces to building docks and bulkheads to
dredging may contribute to a loss of habitat in the nearshore zone. Ongoing
activities increasingly fragment and degrade the remaining habitat that
supports fish life. Saltwater habitats of special concern require a higher
level of protection because they provide essential functions in the
developmental life history of fish life.
(3) Saltwater habitats of special concern:
(a) A person may request
information from the department about the location of saltwater habitats of
special concern.
(b) Saltwater
habitats of special concern are habitats that provide essential functions in
the development of priority fish species, including the following:
(i) Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes
hexapterus) spawning beds are located in the upper beach area in
saltwater areas typically composed of fine to coarse sand and small
gravel;
(ii) Surf smelt
(Hypomesus pretiosus) spawning beds are located in the upper
beach area in saltwater areas typically composed of sand and/or small gravel
and shell material;
(iii) Pacific
herring (Clupea pallasi) spawning beds are located in lower
beach areas and shallow subtidal areas in saltwater areas. Spawning substrate
may consist of seagrass, kelp and other macroalgae, and other structure such as
sub-tidal worm tubes;
(iv) Lingcod
(Ophiodon elongatus) nesting areas are located in high-relief
rock;
(v) Lingcod (Ophiodon
elongatus) settlement and nursery areas are located in beach and
subtidal areas with sand, seagrass beds, subtidal worm tubes, and other
materials;
(vi) Rockfish
(Sebastes spp.) settlement and nursery areas are located in
kelp and other macroalgae beds, seagrass beds, and pinnacles, boulders, and
other structurally complex habitats;
(vii) Juvenile salmonid (family Salmonidae)
migration corridors and rearing and feeding areas are common throughout
estuarine, intertidal and shallow subtidal saltwater areas of the
state;
(viii) Olympia oyster
(Ostrea conchaphila) settlement areas are located in sheltered
bays and estuaries near 0.0 feet MLLW;
(ix) Seagrasses (Zostera
marina, Ruppia maritima and
Phyllospadix spp.) beds;
(x) Kelp (order Laminariales) beds;
(xi) Macroalgae species Pacific herring use
as spawning substrate;
(xii)
Intertidal wetland vascular plant areas (except noxious aquatic weeds);
and
(xiii) Native riparian
vegetation zones.
(4) Nearshore zone geomorphic processes that form and maintain saltwater habitats of special concern:
(a) The location and construction of
hydraulic projects should avoid impacts to geomorphic processes that create and
maintain nearshore zone habitat. Geomorphic processes are difficult to replace
or compensate for.
(b) The
following are nearshore geomorphic processes that form and maintain saltwater
habitats of special concern:
(i) Sediment
supply and transport;
(ii) Beach
and bluff erosion and sediment accretion;
(iii) Distributary channel migration;
and
(iv) Tidal channel formation
and maintenance.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Washington may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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