Draft Owyhee Subbasin Summary
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Draft Owyhee Subbasin Summary May 17, 2002 Prepared for the Northwest Power Planning Council Subbasin Team Leader Carol Perugini, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Writing Team Members Darin Saul, ecovista Craig Rabe, ecovista Anne Davidson, ecovista William A. Warren Dora Rollins Susan Lewis, ecovista Contributors Bureau of Land Management, Owyhee Resource Area Bureau of Land Management, Elko Resource Area Bureau of Land Management, Bruneau Resource Area Bureau of Land Management Jordan Resource Area Bureau of Land Management Malheur Resource Area Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Idaho Department of Fish and Game Idaho Department of Environmental Quality Idaho Soil Conservation Commission Nevada Division of Wildlife Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Owyhee County Commissioners The Nature Conservancy United States Bureau of Reclamation United States Fish and Wildlife Service DRAFT: This document has not yet been reviewed or approved by the Northwest Power Planning Council Owyhee Subbasin Summary Table of Contents Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1 Subbasin Description.......................................................................................................................3 General Description .................................................................................................................... 3 Fish and Wildlife Resources .........................................................................................................31 Fish and Wildlife Status............................................................................................................ 31 Habitat Areas and Quality......................................................................................................... 54 Watershed Assessment.............................................................................................................. 61 Limiting Factors........................................................................................................................ 62 Artificial Production.................................................................................................................. 68 Existing and Past Efforts........................................................................................................... 69 Present Subbasin Management......................................................................................................71 Existing Goals, Objectives, and Strategies ............................................................................... 83 Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation Activities ..................................................................... 91 Statement of Fish and Wildlife Needs ...................................................................................... 92 Owyhee Subbasin Recommendations ...........................................................................................95 Projects and Budgets................................................................................................................. 95 Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Activities .................................................................... 112 Needed Future Actions............................................................................................................ 113 Actions by Others.................................................................................................................... 114 References ...................................................................................................................................117 Appendix A. ICBEMP Definitions for Fish Status Classifications Appendix B. USGS Stream Gauges in the Owyhee Subbasin Appendix C. Dams in the Oregon Portion of the Owyhee Subbasin Appendix D. Vertebrate Wildlife Species of the Owyhee Subbasin Appendix E. Oregon’s 303(d) list for Streams within the Owyhee Subbasin Owyhee Subbasin Summary ii DRAFT May 17, 2002 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location and major features, Owyhee subbasin .............................................................. 2 Figure 2. Fourth-field hydrologic unit codes (HUCs) in the Owyhee subbasin ............................. 4 Figure 3. Elevation and topography, Owyhee subbasin.................................................................. 5 Figure 4. Precipitation patterns in the Owyhee subbasin................................................................ 7 Figure 5. Geologic patterns of the Owyhee subbasin alluvium have been deposited in river and stream bottoms and lake sediments have been deposited by wind and water in depressions in the basalt flows (DAF 1998). Volcanism has continued into recent times as evidenced by basalt flows at Jordan Craters that date back 4,000 years (USDI 1998) (Table 1). ....... 8 Figure 6. Vegetation in the Owyhee subbasin .............................................................................. 11 Figure 7. Land cover patterns in the Owyhee subbasin ................................................................ 12 Figure 8. Land management of the Owyhee subbasin .................................................................. 21 Figure 9. Road densities in the Owyhee subbasin......................................................................... 24 Figure 10. Current and historic mines in the Owyhee subbasin ................................................... 25 Figure 11. Protected areas in the Owyhee subbasin...................................................................... 29 Figure 12. Redband trout distribution within the Owyhee subbasin (See Appendix for status definitions) ........................................................................................................................ 37 Figure 13. Redband trout density estimates for stream sites sampled in Owyhee County by the BLM (fish/100m2)(from Allen et al. 1998)....................................................................... 39 Figure 14. Historic and current sage grouse lek locations, Owyhee subbasin.............................. 46 Figure 15. Juvenile sage grouse per 100 hens, Owyhee County Idaho (IDFG data)................... 47 Figure 16. Columbia spotted frog observations, Owyhee subbasin (Oregon data not available). 50 Figure 17. Oregon streamflow restoration priorities..................................................................... 94 Owyhee Subbasin Summary iii DRAFT May 17, 2002 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Owyhee subbasin geology (ICBEMP).............................................................................. 9 Table 2. Sensitive Plants in the Owyhee (ONHP 2001; ICDC 2001; NNHP 2001a; NNHP 2001b) ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Table 3. Ownership in the Owyhee Subbasin (ICBEMP data)..................................................... 20 Table 4. Land uses in the Owyhee subbasin (USGS LULC data) ................................................ 22 Table 5. Protected streams in the Owyhee subbasin based on reviews conducted by the Northwest Power Planning Council (NWPPC 1989)........................................................ 28 Table 6. Sensitive fish species in the Owyhee subbasin ( ICDC 2001; NNHP 2001a; NNHP 2001b; Wayne Bowers, Personal Communication, October 2001) .................................. 31 Table 7. Additional fish species in the Owyhee subbasin (Perkins and Bowers 2000; Bowers, Personal Communication, October 2001; Walt VanDyke, Personal Communication, October 2001; USDI 1999) .............................................................................................. 32 Table 8. Redband distribution, density and genetics (Perkins and Bowers 2000; USDI 1999)... 38 Table 9. Sensitive Molluscs in the Owyhee subbasin ................................................................... 42 Table 10. Sensitive birds in the Owyhee subbasin (ONHP 2001; ICDC 2001; NNHP 2001a; NNHP 2001b)....................................................................................................................43 Table 11. Sensitive reptiles and amphibians in the Owyhee subbasin (ONHP 2001; ICDC 2001; NNHP 2001a; NNHP 2001b)............................................................................................ 49 Table 12. Sensitive mammals in the Owyhee subbasin (ONHP 2001; ICDC 2001; NNHP 2001a; NNHP 2001b)....................................................................................................................51 Table 13. Transplant history of California bighorn sheep in the Owyhee subbasin (Walt VanDyke, Personal Communication, October 2001, IDFG 2000) ................................... 53 Table 14. Known fish introductions by Idaho Department of Fish and Game (USDI 1999) ...... 68 Table 15. BPA-funded Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program activities within the Owyhee subbasin............................................................................................................... 70 Table 16. Non-BPA funded projects............................................................................................. 70 Table 17. Pool Frequency goals for various stream widths (number of pools per mile) .............. 83 Table 18. BPA-funded Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program research, monitoring, and evaluation activities within the Owyhee subbasin...................................................... 92 Table 19.