Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound
by David Williams
Review by Dave Gamrath
In Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound, author David Williams provides and thorough review of the history and current status of Puget Sound, which is the homewaters for extensive marine life, much of it threatened.
Book Review:
Being a native Seattleite, I thought I had a good understanding of Puget Sound. But reading David William’s Homewaters – A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound provided me a much richer knowledge of Puget Sound’s history and current challenges. Combining interesting stories with facts and figures, Williams shares a thorough account of where Puget Sound has been, where it stands today, and the challenges facing the Sound going forward.
Williams explains how Native Americans “thrived for thousands of years with relatively little impact on the area’s natural resources”. This low-impact from humans quickly changed with the arrival of European settlers, who were highly focused on extracting resources in pursuit of wealth. Settlers’ impact on the natives was devastating. Smallpox arrived about 1781. Estimates of native deaths from Smallpox range from 30% to 90%. Not believing that natives had rights to the land, the settlers routinely disparaged them. Treaties were forced upon the natives, forcing them to “cede, relinquish, and convey to the United States all their right, title, and interest in and to the lands and country occupied by them.” Soon the settler population exploded.
Williams describes how settlers consistently failed to moderate their extraction methods, whether harvesting timber or sea life, and how this led to steady degradation of the Sound. Streams and rivers were diked, diverted and drained. Over 400 dams were built on the Sound’s waterways, starving them of sediment needed for nourishment. Continued development degraded floodplains. Pollutants enter the Sound from farms, homes and industry. The many actions Williams describes have led to approximately 56% of the Sound’s original delta habitats being destroyed. Fortunately, regulations imposed over the past decades has improved the health of the Sound, but ecological challenges remain.
Williams provides the history of the Sounds’ ferry system, which today is the most popular in the country. But before today’s ferries, a “mosquito fleet” was formed that sailed throughout Puget Sound to traffic goods and passengers. I found this history quite fascinating.
I was surprised when Homewaters delved into the “Forests in the Sound”, giving the reader a thorough understanding of kelp (commonly referred to as seaweed). Williams writes that kelp forests in Puget Sound are “the equivalent of the temperate rainforests above it, and equally critical to the ecosystem.” Kelp is critical for sea life, providing nourishment and safe haven for many marine species. Native Americans used kelp for fishing, ropes and other uses. Today, kelp faces many environmental challenges. Rising water temperatures are hurting kelp beds, as is sediment runoff from new land developments. To reverse the general decline in kelp forests, kelp restoration needs a “multipronged strategy to building resilience.” Kelp can work to store carbon, serving as an effective tool in fighting climate change.
When I read the chapter title “The Silver Wave”, I expected the topic would be salmon. I was wrong. The silver wave Williams describes refers to herring, which he states are “the most central” fish to the Sound’s ecosystem. As one of the Sounds’ major first-level consumers, herring “connect everything in Puget Sound”. Since settlers arrived, herring were overexploited leading to an inevitable herring crash. Williams explains how humans are “the one major source of pollution”, including our paving over land, the runoff from automobiles, our use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, washing our cars in our driveways, and more. “During a typical day, more than 52,000 pounds of pollutants and 1.1 million pounds of suspended sediment enter the Sound from surface sources.” King County “estimated total untreated stormwater runoff in the county at 118 billion gallons annually”. Other harmful human-driven factors include “bycatch, degraded water quality and habitat, derelict nets, dredging, release of hatchery salmon, runoff, vessel traffic, and the big uncertainty, though it is certainly happening, climate change.” These not-so-fun facts give the reader a strong sense of urgency to support the protection of Puget Sound.
Another surprising Puget Sound specie that Williams covers is Rockfish. Rockfish have “more species, more habitats, and a more direct connection to the Sound’s geology than any other fish.” Williams describes how recreational fishing for Rockfish became highly popular after the court ruling in the 1970s assuring Native American tribes 50% of the salmon and steelhead catch. Not surprisingly, a similar patterned developed: people went wild fishing for rockfish, and overfishing led to its serious decline, forcing new regulations. Today, “it is illegal to harvest any species of rockfish in Puget Sound.” Biologists believe that it is not too late to save rockfish. Williams also gives a history of the clams and oysters living in Puget Sound. A similar pattern was followed: abundance, exploitation, decline, new regulations, and survival at much lower populations.
Williams states that salmon and orca are “homebodies”, because they always return to Puget Sound, their homewaters. As with other Puget Sound species, they too are in danger. Restoration efforts need to include the removal of culverts and dams, the replacement of agricultural and industrial lands with forests, and the restoration of floodplain ecosystems.
Finally, Williams describes the impact of climate change on Puget Sound, writing “ocean acidification is leading to weaker shell construction in oysters. Warmer saltwater is restricting kelp growth, and warmer stream water is inhibiting salmon growth. Rising sea levels are increasing wave erosion, leading to degraded shorelines and intertidal habitat.” The rapid pace and cumulative effects of climate change will be hard to overcome.
Williams frets that “climate change certainly has the potential to overwhelm every human good intention in Puget Sound and to lead people to conclude that it is not even worth trying.” But Williams remains hopeful, concluding that “each of us plays a role in the future of Puget Sound and has the potential to create a positive legacy.” Williams believes that “we can create a better future for all who live here”. In Homebodies, Williams provides the reader with the knowledge and inspiration to pursue his hope. We have choices, and Williams seems optimistic that we will choose to do our part to protect these sacred waters upon which we live.
Reviewer Opinion:
An interesting history.
Reviewer Rating of Book:
Thumb up.