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Research & Data > Monitoring & assessment > River & stream monitoring > Habitat monitoring > Watershed health > Regional reports > Upper Columbia

Watershed health — Upper Columbia update

We investigated the health of stream in the Upper Columbia Status and Trends Region in 2012 and 2017. Based on these study years, the region showed a majority of good biological conditions, with the highest physical and chemical indicators relating to substrate and water chemistry.

Photo showing crew member walk along side large river.

Use the map to navigate our reports by Status and Trends Region.

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Regional summary

  • Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) conditions were consistent in the Upper Columbia Region, with a majority of stream kilometers assessed classifies as being in good biological condition.
  • The most prevalent indicators for streams in the Upper Columbia Region were elevated sand/fine sediment and increased substrate embeddedness.

Biological condition

Invertebrate biological condition of streams did not display important change from 2012 to 2017 in the Upper Columbia Region. The proportion of stream kilometers assessed that were classified as being in good biological condition were over 60 percent of total stream extent in both sampling years.

Graph showing a majority of 'good' streams in both 2012 and 2017.

We used B-IBI ratings from 2012 and 2017 to obtain the percentage of stream kilometers in good, fair, or poor condition for the Upper Columbia Region. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

Significant physical and chemical indicators 

In 2012 and 2017, two indicators were in poor conditions for more than 50 percent of stream extent in the Upper Columbia Region: bed stability and percentage of sand and fines. While these were the major indicators for this region, in 2017 there were 30 percent of stream kilometers found to have poor conditions for average embeddedness, amount of shade at the banks, and canopy extent.

To interact with this graph and learn more about these indicators, hold your mouse over each bar.

This interactive graph shows the percentage of stream kilometers assessed with poor physiochemical conditions in the Upper Columbia Region for 2012 and 2017. The x-axis represents the percentage of river extent in poor condition. Error bars show 95 percent confidence intervals.

A stream with multiple dead branches and two people standing on the bank

The fishing crew navigates a brushy channel at Antoine Creek.

A frog submerged in a shallow creek

A Columbia spotted frog camouflages in the clean cool water at Depue Creek.

A trout with small black spots on a measuring board

Marble Creek provides cold, clean water for cutthroat trout.

A person with a backpack electrofisher sitting on the bank of a river

Crews electrofish in the Entiat and other rivers and streams to better understand vertebrate assemblages.

A person with a notebook and fishing equipment at a small creek.

A crewmwmber stops to record notes while electrofishing at Little Loup Loup Creek

A large trout with small black spots on a measuring board

A crewmember caught a beautiful adult rainbow trout in Disappointment Creek.

A large trout with a red strip being held above a net

This adult rainbow trout from Sinlahekin Creek is a good indicator of stream health.

A yellow and brown striped snake curled up on a piece of dead wood

Crews can sometimes run into danger, like when they found this rattlesnake at Rock Island Creek.

A person leaning on a large boulder while holding a pencil and clipboard

Crewmembers draw site diagrams, noting unique features, such as large boulders.

A green frog with black/orange spots in someone’s hands

A Great Basin spadefoot from Antoine Creek

A person walking up the bank of a rocky stream holding a measuring rod

Crews measure many habitat features at Peshastin Creek, including thalweg depths at deepest part of the channel.

A person walking along the grassy bank of a wide river

Crews use rafts and a specific wide site protocol on large rivers, such as the Methow.

Two people stand in a stream holding measuring rods and a tablet

Crewmembers measure and record bankfull height on Bear Creek under a piece of large woody debris.