South Santiam Watershed Assessment
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Crabtree Thomas Creek Creek Quartzville Creek Middle Lower South Santiam Santiam River River Foster Reservoir Upper South Wiley Santiam River Creek N 10 0 10 20 Miles E&S Environmental Chemistry, Inc. and South Santiam Watershed Council January, 2000 South Santiam Watershed Assessment Final Report January, 2000 A report by: E&S Environmental Chemistry, Inc. Joseph M. Bischoff, Editor and South Santiam Watershed Council Contributors: Joe Bischoff, E&S Environmental Chemistry, Inc., Watershed Analyst Angela Wright, Oregon State University, Graduate Student Jeff Spencer, South Santiam Watershed Council, Technical Specialist Carrie Davis, South Santiam Watershed Council, Student Allan Whiting, University of Oregon, Graduate Student Sue Gries, South Santiam Watershed Council, Watershed Council Coordinator Todd Bucholz, USFS, Fisheries Biologist Tom Dover, South Santiam Watershed Council, Chair Technical Advisory Committee South Santiam Watershed Assessment January, 2000 Page ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................. xiv SECTION I. SYNTHESIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................ I-1 CHAPTER 1. SUMMARY ............................................... I-1 1.1 Channel Habitat Types ............................................ I-1 1.2 Channel Modification ............................................. I-2 1.3 Riparian ........................................................ I-2 1.4 Water Use and Hydrology .......................................... I-3 1.5 Fisheries ........................................................ I-5 1.6 Water Quality .................................................. I-10 CHAPTER 2. ACTIONS IDENTIFIED BY THE SOUTH SANTIAM WATERSHED COUNCIL ................................................ I-16 2.1 Water Quality .................................................. I-16 2.2. Water Conservation: Irrigation, Livestock, Municipal ................... I-17 2.3 Fish Passage and Habitat Restoration ................................ I-19 2.3.1 Fish Passage .............................................. I-19 2.3.2 Fish Habitat Restoration ..................................... I-20 2.4. Further Assessment/Data Gaps ..................................... I-21 2.4.1 Water Quality ............................................. I-21 2.4.2 Water Conservation ........................................ I-24 2.4.3. Priorities ................................................. I-24 SECTION II. BACKGROUND ............................................ II-1 CHAPTER 1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE .....................................II-1 CHAPTER 2. INTRODUCTION ...........................................II-3 2.1 Channel Habitat Types ............................................II-3 2.2 Fisheries ........................................................II-3 2.3 Channel Modification .............................................II-5 2.4 Riparian Zones ...................................................II-5 2.5 Water Quality ...................................................II-7 2.6 Hydrology and Water Use ..........................................II-7 CHAPTER 3. METHODS ................................................II-9 3.1 Subbasin Delineations .............................................II-9 3.2 Land Use .......................................................II-9 3.3 Channel Modification .............................................II-10 3.3.1 Inventory .................................................II-10 3.3.2 Mapping .................................................II-12 3.4 Riparian Assessment .............................................II-13 3.4.1 Photo Analysis ............................................II-14 3.4.2 Ground Truthing ...........................................II-14 South Santiam Watershed Assessment January, 2000 Page iii 3.4.3 Riparian Condition Summary .................................II-14 3.4.4 Future Potential for LWD Delivery ............................II-17 3.4.5 Current Stream Shading .....................................II-17 3.4.6 Data Confidence ...........................................II-18 3.5 Hydrology .....................................................II-18 3.5.1 Flood Stage Estimation ......................................II-18 SECTION III. OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTH SANTIAM RIVER WATERSHED ..III-1 CHAPTER 1. CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY ............................. III-1 CHAPTER 2. FISHERIES ............................................... III-3 2.1 Historic and Current Fish Presence .................................. III-4 2.2 Spring Chinook ................................................. III-4 2.3 Winter Steelhead ................................................ III-7 2.4 Stocking History ................................................ III-8 2.4.1 Stocking History in the Upper Willamette ESU ................... III-8 2.4.2 Stocking History in the South Santiam Basin ..................... III-9 2.5 Potential Species Interactions ..................................... III-12 2.6 Habitat Summary ............................................... III-13 CHAPTER 3. WATER QUALITY ....................................... III-15 3.1. Beneficial Uses and DEQ Standards ................................ III-15 3.2 Water Quality and Land Use ...................................... III-16 SECTION IV. LOWER SOUTH SANTIAM WATERSHEDS ...................IV-1 CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND ........................................... IV-1 1.1 Climate and Topography .......................................... IV-1 1.2 Land use ....................................................... IV-3 1.2.1 Ownership ................................................ IV-8 CHAPTER 2. CHANNEL HABITAT TYPES ................................ IV-9 CHAPTER 3. FISHERIES .............................................. IV-11 3.1 Fish Distribution ............................................... IV-11 3.2 Migration Barriers .............................................. IV-12 3.3 Habitat Conditions .............................................. IV-12 CHAPTER 4. CHANNEL MODIFICATION ASSESSMENT .................. IV-15 CHAPTER 5. RIPARIAN ............................................... IV-16 5.1. Vegetation .................................................... IV-16 5.2. Continuity .................................................... IV-16 5.3. Buffer Width .................................................. IV-18 5.4 Overall Riparian Condition ....................................... IV-19 5.5 Future Potential for Large Woody Debris ............................ IV-22 5.5.1 Stream Shading and Water Temperatures ....................... IV-24 5.5.2 Data Confidence .......................................... IV-28 CHAPTER 6. WATER QUALITY ........................................ IV-29 6.1 Applicable Water Quality Standards ................................. IV-29 6.2 Description of Current Water Quality ............................... IV-29 6.2.1 Mainstem South Santiam ................................... IV-31 6.2.2 Thomas Creek ............................................ IV-39 South Santiam Watershed Assessment January, 2000 Page iv 6.2.3 Crabtree Creek ........................................... IV-40 6.2.4 Wiley Creek ............................................. IV-40 6.2.5 Watershed Council Monitoring .............................. IV-41 CHAPTER 7. WATER USE AND HYDROLOGY ........................... IV-45 7.1 Watershed Characterization and Precipitation ......................... IV-45 7.2 Climate ....................................................... IV-46 7.3 Snowfall ...................................................... IV-49 7.4 Hydrologic Characterization ...................................... IV-49 7.4.1 Mainstem South Santiam ................................... IV-52 7.4.2 Crabtree Creek ........................................... IV-55 7.4.3 Thomas Creek ............................................ IV-56 7.4.4 Wiley Creek ............................................. IV-58 7.5 Hydrologic Issues and Associated Land Use .......................... IV-61 7.5.1 Forestry Issues ............................................ IV-61 7.5.2 Agricultural Issues ........................................ IV-63 7.5.3 Urban Issues ............................................. IV-64 7.6 Water Rights .................................................. IV-65 7.7 Consumptive Water Use ......................................... IV-65 7.7.1 Irrigation ................................................ IV-66 7.7.2 Municipal and Domestic Water Supply ........................ IV-66 7.7.3 Industrial Water Supply .................................... IV-70 7.7.4 Other Consumptive Uses ................................... IV-70 7.8 Non-Consumptive Water Use ...................................... IV-71 7.8.1 Hydropower ............................................. IV-71 7.8.2 Fish and Wildlife .......................................... IV-71 7.9 Water Availability .............................................. IV-71 SECTION V. UPPER SOUTH SANTIAM WATERSHEDS ..................... V-1 CHAPTER 1. BACKGROUND ........................................... V-1 1.1 Climate and Topography .......................................... V-1 1.2 Land use and Ownership .......................................... V-3 CHAPTER 2. CHANNEL HABITAT TYPES ................................ V-5 CHAPTER 3 FISHERIES ...............................................