In Washington, our state and local governments are charged with protecting fish bearing streams from adverse impacts associated with adjacent land-use activities like forest practices and development.

To accomplish this, they depend on a process called “water typing” to classify streams, lakes, and wetlands. This basic inventory is the most fundamental step in conserving the health of streams, rivers, and, ultimately, the larger waters they feed, like Puget Sound.

Too often, however, these streams do not receive the protection they should for a surprisingly simple reason: they are relying on inaccurate maps. Current water typing records and maps often underestimate the actual miles of fish-bearing waters by 50% or more.

Through extensive fieldwork Wild Fish Conservancy has documented widespread error in regulatory maps, finding that many streams are mis-classified, mis-mapped, or are not on the maps at all. When regulatory maps are inaccurate, streams may be impacted by inappropriate land-use practices.