lo3o Twisp Ri ver »'°° (Auf^ust, 19353 Suomela and Shaman.) 

 Ths ThIsp RrTeT enter^ the Methow River at the town of Twisp, 

 38 river miles above tha mouth. Ttie stream is about 27 miles 

 long and was completely siirveyedo It is 40-JO feet -wide in' its 

 lower portion, and at the time of the survey its discharge was 

 about SO OofoSo a:; the confluence with the Methow. The water 

 tsmperature ranged from 60o5°Fo at the ihbuth to 47.5^8 near 

 the headwaters o The stream gradient is moderate for the lower . 

 24 miles,, ranging from 33 feet to 62 feet per mile. The upper 

 3 miles has a stasp gradient of about 190 feet per mile. There 

 is an adequate nijiiber jf large resting pools and sufficient shallow 

 riffles to ac-commoda-ce large runs of salmon and steelhead. Good 

 spawning areas occur practically throughout the entire length of 

 the stream, with the best spawning areas in .the central portion. 

 Trie stream bed oontains about 65 percent of medium and small 

 rubble^ amounting to about 380^000 square yards of - this type of 

 bottom. A large part of this was considered Suitable for spawn- 

 ing salmon. 



Thars are no obstructions in the stream, and migratory fish 

 ar-a able to as send practically to the headwaters during most of 

 the year. Hwtrever, during late summer and early fall, when th« 

 ^r.'^eam has a small fl^w and water is being- used £'or irrigation, the 

 Airy ditchj, located about i/2 mile above the mouth, takes the 

 entire flow. This situation limits the use of the stream to the 

 early runs of steelhead trout and chinook salmon o 



There were 18 irrigation diversions on the TWisp River at 

 ths time of the survey. Tnree were not in use,, and two of these 

 appeared to be abandoned. The aggregate withdrawal in August, 1335, 

 was 115 c.foSo The principal diversions are the Airy ditch, 18 c.f.s., 

 the TTorth Side ditch, 15 c.f.s., the Methow Valley Canal, 50 c.f.s., 

 end the Burke-Layman ditch, 23 c.f.s. Most of the major water diver- 

 sions now are acreaned. 



The history of migratory fish in the Twisp River is much like 

 that of ths remainder of the Methow System. In the early years 

 great numbers Jf salmon utilized the spawning area in this stream 

 and its tributaries. However; the many dams and formerly unscreenfed 

 diversions in both the TWisp and the main Methow Rivers have caused 

 such unfavorable conditions that the only populations of migiatory 

 fish still using the stream when the runs were intercepted at Rock 

 Island Dam in 1939 were a few early run spring chinook salmon and 

 still Issser nranbers of steelhead trout. The stream is capable of 

 iupport'ing runs of several thousand salmon and steelhead. Rainbow 

 trout are fairly numerous^ although small, and Dolly Vardens are 

 common, especially in the headwaters. 



16B-(1). War Creak.— (May, 1937, Jobes and Baltzo.) War 

 Creek enters the"'IVri.Bp River about 15 miles above the mouthj, and 

 is the largest tributary. The gradient is steep, and the stream 



86 



