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Nicknamed the "Pepsi-Cola" creek, Maxwelton's
brown water is created by the infusion of tannins as it flows
through peat bogs and agricultural areas on its way to Useless
Bay on the West side of Whidbey Island.
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The Maxwelton Watershed
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The Maxwelton Watershed is the largest in Island
County, at 11.6 square miles and 7,834 acres,
and holds one of its 3 salmon-bearing streams.
Three South Whidbey School District schools lie
within the watershed, making it an accessible
teaching tool for students.
Maxwelton Creek and its tributaries, such as Quade
Creek, drain the watershed from its several headwaters
through over twelve miles of stream which are
known to contain coho salmon and sea-run cutthroat
trout.
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 Presentations
on the Maxwelton Watershed and our work are available
for groups and organizations.
A grant from Puget Sound Action
Team in 2002 helped us write and publish A
Journey Through the Maxwelton Watershed: A Natural
and Social History, which was given to each
watershed landowner and resident and is available
for sale.
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Studying
the Watershed
Volunteer Robert Barnes has been gathering Maxwelton
Creek temperature and dissolved oxygen data in the
watershed for years. His historical records have been
valuable as further studies took shape. We have also
conducted spring
smolt counts since 2000 to determine the presence
of spawning salmon. B-IBI?
A 2003
stream inventory, done by Washington Trout with
MSA's participation through funding to Island County
from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, documented fish
populations and conditions of the stream system. Results
of the study are being used by Island County in scheduling
culvert replacements, and by WWS in determining restoration
priorities.
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 The
Lower Reach was a 200-acre estuary until dikes
and a tidegate were installed in 1915. The Lower
Reach & Tidegate Feasibility Study was funded
in 2001 by the SFRB and proposed several restoration
alternatives, but none received consensus from
agencies and landowners.
An "expert panel" convened
by MSA in 2004 reviewed the available information
on Maxwelton Watershed and made suggestions about
how to proceed to ensure the health of the watershed.
As a result of the panel's recommendations,
a full Watershed Assessment is now in process.
It will pull together all the watershed studies
and data, identify information gaps to be filled,
and make recommendations for future action.
Contact
us for information on how to obtain copies
of these Maxwelton Watershed studies.
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Impact on the Nearshore
The Maxwelton watershed encompasses not only the drainage
basin for the Maxwelton system but the nearshore marine
environment in adjacent shoreline areas of Useless Bay,
including adjoining coastal bluffs. This nearshore habitat
is an important feeding and rearing stop for migrating
salmon in several life stages, including listed Coho
and Chum salmon.
A recent study by Washington
Trout of the nearshore on the West side of
Whidbey Island documents these findings.
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