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A .Compilation of Flood,. Abatement Projects in Oregon i w Water Resources Research Institute . Oregon State University ;.:‘-r--- Corvallis, Oregon x~► WRRI-11 December 19710 A COMPILATION OF FLOOD ABATEMEN T PROJECTS IN OREGON by Rod E. Emme r and . Keith W . Muckleston it' Department of Geography Oregon State Universit y Corvallis, Oregon 9733 1 This research was funded by the Office of Water Resource s Research, U . S. Department of the Interior, under the provision s of PL 88-379 . TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figure s i List of Table s Abbreviation s Foreword Introduction . 5 North Coast Basin 1 0 • Willamette Basin 1 9 • Sandy River Basin 29 Hood Basin 3 2 Deschutes River Basin John Day River Basin Umatilla River Basi n Grande Ronde River Basin Powder River Basin 6 0 Malheur-Owyhee Basin s 6 5 Malheur Lake Basi n 7 2 Goose and Summer Lakes Basin 7 6 Klamath Basin 8 0 Rogue River Basin 85 Page Umpqua River Basin 9 1 South Coast Basin 9 6 Mid-Coast Basin 10 1 Flood Plain Management as an Approach to Floo d 10 6 Damage Reduction Selected Bibliography 10 8 Distribution limited . Copies of this report may be obtained from the Water Resources Research Institute . Single copies are free . f .- . : t . LIST OF FIGURES Figure, Page L . Oregon Drainage Basins 4 2. Geomorphic Divisions of Oregon :. r . .p V I 7 3. North Coast Basin Flood Prone Areas V V .1 1 4 . V Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Tillamook . 1 3 5 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Nehalem River 1 3 6; Mean Monthly Discharge in cfs, Columbia River " V 15 at The Dalles 7 . Willamette Basin and Sandy Basin Flood Prone . 20 Areas 8. .Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Albany 22 9 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Tualatin River 23 at West Linn - 10. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Clackamas Rive r 23' at Estacada 11 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Sandy Rive r 3 1 below Bull Run River 12. ' Hood Basin 33. 13 . Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Parkdale 34 14. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches The Dalles 34 15. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Hood Rive r 36 near Hood River 16 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Fifteenmile . 36 Creek near Dufur 1 . 1 1 Figure Page 17 . Deschutes Basin Flood Prone Areas 39 18 . Average Monthly Precipitation in Inche s 4 1 Bend, Oregon 19 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Deschutes Rive r 42 near Madras 20 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Deschutes Rive r 4 2 below Wickiup Reservoir near Lapine 21 . John Day Basin Flood Prone Areas 4 5 22 . Average Monthly Precipitation in Inche s 4 7 Austin, Oregon 23 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, John Day Rive r 4 7 at McDonald Ferry 24. Umatilla Basin Flood Prone Areas 5 0 25 . Average Monthly Precipitation in Inche s 5 2 Milton-Freewater 26 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Umatilla Rive r 5 2 near Umatilla 27 . Grande Ronde Basin Flood Prone Areas 5 6 28 . Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches La Grande 57 29 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Grande Rond e 5 7 River near Elgin 30 . Powder Basin Flood Prone Areas 6 1 31 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Powder Rive r 6 3 near Baker 32 . Malheur Basin Flood Prone Areas 6 6 33. Owyhee Basin Flood Prone Areas 67 Figure Page 34. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches 6 8 Danner and Val e 35. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Malheur River 7 0 near Namor f 36. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Owyhee River 7 0 above Lake Owyhe e 37. Malheur Lake Basin Flood Prone Areas 7 3 38. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Burns 7 4 39. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Silvies River 7 4 near Burn s 40. Goose and Summer Lakes Basin Flood Prone Areas 7 7 41. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Lakeview 7 8 42 . - Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Thomas Creek 7 8 near Lakeview 43. Klamath Basin - 8 1 44. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches . 82 - Klamath Fall s 45. Percentage Annual Runoff 82 46. Rogue River Basin Flood Prone Area s 86 47. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Medford 8 8 -T 48. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Evans Creek -.8 8 49. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Rogue River 89 above mile 16 4 50. Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Rogue River 89 at Mout h 51. Umpqua Basin Flood Prone Areas 9 2 iv Figure Page 52. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Roseburg 9 3 53 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Umpqua Rive r 9 3 at Elkton 54. South Coast Basin Flood Prone Areas 9 7 55. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inche s 9 8 Port Orford 56 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Middle For k 9 8 Coquille River near Myrtle Point 57 . Mid-Coast Basin Flood Prone Areas 10 2 58. Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches Valsetz 10 4 59 . Average Monthly Discharge in cfs, Alsea Rive r 104 near Tidewater W. 1 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 . Classification of runoff-producing characteristics 6 2 . Estimated flood damages in Oregon, 1955-1969 9 3 . Dams in Oregon across the Columbia and Snake River 116 r: 7 Vi ABBREVIATION S AF acre feet cfs cubic feet per second CNPCFS Columbia-North Pacific Comprehensive Framewor k Study Fig . Figur e RGD Resource Conservation and Developmen t SWRB State Water Resources Boar d USDA. United States Department of Agriculture M1 . A COMPILATION OF FLOOD ABATEMEN T PROJECTS IN OREGQN FOREWOR D This report is designed to serve as a convenient inventory o f and reference to flood abatement projects in Oregon . It presents an organized compilation of the location, capacity, and type of floo d abatement projects within the state . Maps of many of the project s cited herein are available from the appropriate agencies . Flood abatement projects, which are usually structures ; ar e here defined as those engineering works which are built and/o r operated to control flood waters . More specifically, the primar y engineering tehcniques. employed to abate flooding are levees, reser- voirs, channel improvements, spillways or a combination of thes e (Murphy, 1958) . Although all physical structures affect the circula- tion of water, this report includes only those projects that ar e specifically designed and/or operated for flood control . Opinion about the function of a structure is not always consistent . In cases o f conflicting opinion, if either .the literature or an interviewed official. recognizes a project aS having a flood control function, it is include d in the report. As the period of the study was limited to the months of Jul y and August 1971, no field verification or field search for projects 2 was possible . The study was accomplished by library research , interviews with federal and state officials, and correspondence with numerous local and private organizations involved in flood prevention . Of the three techniques used, the interviews with federal and state officials were the most beneficial, especially with personnel of th e following agencies : the North Pacific Division and Portland Distric t of the Corps of Engineers, the Portland and Salem offices of the Soil Conservation Service, the Salem office .of the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Weather Service in Portland, the Office of the State Engineer in Salem, and the State Water Resources Board in Salem . The least satisfactory source of information was correspond- ence with local branches of government and private individuals . Over 270 questionnaires were sent to planners of all incorporate d areas of Oregon and to the thirty-six county planners . Less than 20% responded . Over 200 questionnaires were sent to drainag e districts, water improvement companies, diking districts, and irr i gation districts . Less than 50% responded . One bright spot was the almost complete response from the County Cooperative Extension , Agents . It is felt that had time permitted, much additional informa- tion could have been gathered by interviewing county officials . The report is in the following format . An introductory sectio n outlines the major factors which influence flooding in Oregon. The bulk of the report treats flood characteristics and projects in Oregon 3 on a watershed by watershed basis . The basins used are thos e delineated by the State Water Resources Board (Fig. 1) . Material s for each basin are selected from various federal, state, and loca l reports . Each of these chapters presents the pertinent character- istics of topography, geology, climate, river regime, and floodin g patterns within the basin . Each chapter concludes with a list o f flood abatement projects within the basin . All projects listed herein were confirmed by Federal and/or nonfederal entities responsible fo r flood information . _ Most chapters have a map showing flood pron e areas in a basin . c w r zc 4 n v, o a s 0 z au7 ~~ .54xy . xC GW F4 0 Ha co ax`"x . ~ Z 8 z as ~a 3 u ;.14 cn ci• -- r x 3a .a- .t otaG. ~-+ c ; 0 a. I~ U O r- I on •.1 5 INTRODUCTIO N Floods are stream discharges which exceed bankfull stag e (Willamette Basin Comprehensive Study, Appendix E, Flood Control , p . 1-5) . This normal phenomenon of runoff results from a comple x of factors, including the duration, intensity, type, and amount o f precipitation . Runoff is modified by the relief, rate of soil infiltra- tion (Thornbury, 1965), vegetal cover, and surface storage withi n the watershed (Table 1) . Since precipitation is usually the key to runoff and flooding, the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation in Oregon ar e briefly considered .