Major Mileston: Salmon Return to Johnson Creek
 

The Johnson Creek Watershed Council has made great leaps and bounds in their efforts to restore Johnson Creek. They have achieved a spectacular milestone: salmon have returned to Johnson Creek! One species of salmon seen in Johnson Creek is the Coho salmon. Salmon are an important indicator of the improving health of this Creek. I met with Matt Clark, Executive Director of the Johnson Creek Watershed Council. Clark says that, “what is healthy for fish is healthy for us.” Hopefully, the creek will become healthy enough to support even more salmon.

The return of the salmon heralds in other creatures to Johnson Creek as well. One of those creatures is the Freshwater mussel called the Western pearlshell, which are sensitive to changes in their environment. As larvae, these mussels will attach themselves to the gills of the salmon and catch a ride up stream. The Western pearlshell and other mussels act as filters and purify the water.

Cleaner water could make way for yet other species that cannot live there now because pesticides and other toxins are still present in the creek. These toxins may accumulate as they are consumed by larger and larger critters and insects, which the salmon eat. This means that though the salmon indicate that the creek is healthier, it is not wise to catch and eat these salmon.

One vital factor to the return of salmon to Johnson Creek is water quality. The waters salmon need must be cool, and must include a variety of habitats. Habitats that include hiding places are especially important for juvenile salmon. They need places to hide, and logs, for example, make excellent hiding places. Juvenile salmon also depend on slow-moving water; the fast flow of channelized riverbeds can sweep the salmon down waterways.

Because many ecosystems are connected, the Johnson Creek Watershed Council is also concerned about the waterways that feed into and away from Johnson Creek. This summer, the Johnson Creek Watershed council is looking forward to building more habitats at the mouth of Willamette River, where juvenile salmon need places to hide from predators and other threats.   

Unfortunately, since many, many years have gone into degrading Johnson Creek and other waterways, it is likely that restoration will take equally as many years. Because Johnson Creek and the people of Portland will continue to live side-by-side, Clark says, “we must grow in a way that is smart and sustainable.”  Good advice if we plan to keep our city beautiful.

One way to support Johnson Creek is to vote for them to win the MillerCoors RiverNetwork Grant Contest.  Voting ends March 20, 2011.

Written for GreenPosting by: Kate Iwamoto

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