CONSERVATION STATUS OF THREATENED FISHES IN WAKNEK BASIN, OREGON

ABSTHALT- Twoledcndy listed Gshrs. ilre FuAett rpecklrd claw awl Wmwwcke!~, are edemir.tu Wnrnrr Bmin in mnrh central Orcgm lhr lhrkctt rpr:ckk:d dace isnrrtivc only trr a rincle springin Culcrnm Valley. Ancarhypring vns docked wfth dore io l97$)and 1~~0,rod tnnwpmvider orrcnnd pnp~~latinn.'lhr pmrcntntmhwr ddaw y~olixhly turn d tlrcir higl~rstlevels since ~ettlemc~tiultlar rcgiuw l%rWarner swkrr hirlndrdly nm,>rretlillruughuat rrludl uf the Wnmm- Valk:", hut its dirtrihntim and alnmdanco travc lxcn rcduucd by cunrlruutius uf n:rr:rvril-s and in-iwtinn dams tmd tlw intruductiun uf predatury ganw Cisl~rs.Lmtir. liabilatr lwr lietomp rlomiualad Ly istrduccd Gsl~es. pa~,tinrlavlywhite cnppir, hlrck crappir, and hmwn hnllhaad. Thc largcrt rcmainirlg rxrpulstinn nlWwwv wckcl-r rmrsin Ilart Lukc. whcru aucccsdul repruductior~was document4 Lel rbere is no evidence ulmcruite~cnttu the adult population. Two tlircatened tishes inhahit separate val- 13mp (-- Warner) Cheek near Adel. The leys in War~~crBasin, Orcgorl. In Colc~iia~~Warner sucker WAX listed threatened pri- V;iIIey the only native fish is the 1"oskett marily het:ause of fragmentation of stream speckled I,Hhinichthys o.sctrlu.s ssp., Irat>iti~tsby irrigntioridiversion dams md the which ocmirs in Fnskett Spring along the west cs~allish~~lcr~loc largc pupuliitions of intnj- margin of the (:olem;m like hed. The lake is rlirrd piscivoroms fishes in lcntic habitats dry cxccpt d~iringycan orexceptional rainfall. (LS. Fish mc1 Wildlife Sewice 19M5b). Tl~rdacc was listed as Lllrcatcr~cdbccausc of Long-time residents recalled that dnring small popdatim size, tmrrqllirrg of its rc- the i(330~large nulnt)ers ofspawning W;lrner strictcd habitat bv cattle. and subseanent s~a:kers(referred to as "redhorse") ascended degradation of the springpool arna (U.S. Fish Honey Crcck Car into upsirca~r~canyon areas and Wildlice Seervicc ].!Ma). (Alldmasen 1975). Ry the 1970s lhc spccics range was fi.agmented hy liunlcrous irriga- To provide a reii~ge population tree of tion diversion dams on the lower rcaclics of tlic clXects of intense livestock grazing, SO streams trih~ltmyto Pelican. (:rump, and dacc Gonl Foskctt Spring were transplanter1 llart lakes (Andrcascn 1975, Kohetich 1'377, on Novcmbcr 1879 into arl u~r~larncdspri~lg I4 Swcnscn 1978, Coonibs et al. 1979, IKayes (now k11ow11 as "Dace Spring") 011 Bureau or 1980), wliicli block spawriing runs fro111 Lhc Iimd Management (IILM) lard appnrxi- lakcs into streams. mately 1 .,5 kin srmth of Frrskett Spring. An- Coombs et al. (1979) f01111d that altliongh otller 50 dacc wcrc transkrrcdinto the spring habitats had been tiagnientcd resident stream on 26 Au~qtnt1980. A raprodwing pop~~l;itirmpopulalions still persisted. Nedy two-thirds sul~squc~dycsiablishcd in Dace Spriug, ad of all adult swkcrs (1.98 of ,300) wert. captured rrlore than 300 dacc of thrcc si~cclasses wcrc by Coombs et al. (1979) in tlic cadLctwcc~l ohserved there in 1986 (IILM Lakeview Uis- Anrlersnn and Hart lakes. imniediatelv north trict, ilnpilhlished data). of the Hal-t Lake spillky. Adult an; larval Tlic presnmed historical range nf the Wh- suckel-s also were wptureci in Snyder Creek, ner SIIC~PI,I:iitf~.~ti~mt~~ ttii~rn~rt!n~i~, con- ill Honey Creek almvc tlic dam at Plush, at sislcd of the main Warricr lakcs (Pelican, the mouth of Honey Creek in Harl Lakc, at Crurrlp, and Hart) and otlicr acccssillc lakcs the south end of Warner. Valley in Twc~~ty~iiilc and slo~~ghsin W.irner. Valley, and low- to Crcck bctwccn the south crrd of Lllc valley modcratc-gradient rcaclics of tributary floor and the confluence with Twclvcmilc streams. The species description by Snyder Cheek, and in Twelvelr~ileCreekimmedkately (1908) WF had011 specimens collected +om ahove and helow the O'Keefr Diversion lhm. In 1980 C~rumlrsand fiu~~d(1980) sampled lakes hy use of traps, gill ncts, adsciucs, and 22 sites thro11gh1111tthe Isasin. ci+piuri~lg46 From streams with dip nets, tri~pnets, clcc- Warner sr~ckersat 4 lomlities: Ilu~~cyCrcck trrrslio~!ker,kick nets. unrl seines. Most fishes betwcc~lHart lake and the dl111 at Plush. were identified, measured, and retunlerl to canals of Dccp (.:r,cek at the rutend ~dFclican rhcir hal,itat. Volwhel- specimens or thme ac- Jake, the spillway i~~l~rlctliatclyoorth of I-1x1-t cidcntally killed d~rringcollecting are honszd Like, and Swamp Lake. 111 1983 Smith ct al. ;it the Wildlife ii~dFisheries Muscu~n,Urli- (1984) caprurcd 1 adult Warner sucker in vcrsity of Caliti~rnh,Uavis. Opercles fro~rl Grump l.alw and 2 juve~lilcs(approximately five suckkcrs wcrc aged accordulg to the meth- 130 rnrrl total length F1.j) in Deep Crcck ods described hy Sr:rrp~~ettrme(I&%). Visual hetween Adel adrllc hlls. In 1987 an adult obscrvaiio~lswcre made of spawning Warner Warner sucker was caughi by a11 angler Ang suckers in IIoncy i.:~,cck. the slongh just south crf FkgstalTI.akc 0. I.: Williams, personal ol)servntiu~~). This paper s~~mmarizesthc currcni stallrs of these two thrcntcncd Sishes, as deterrrli~~cd In 1987 the RLM a<:~luil-ed1"oskett Spring hy sllrveys co~ductcdLorn 1987 to 198'3. and ihc surv,o~~nding(5 ha, ofwhirh appnrxi- Clthcr. native fishes ofWi~rrrerVallcy i~icl~ldea mately 28 ha wcrc Ccrlccd to cxcludc cattle. local hr~nof redband trout (Oncnrl~~nchtrsThe dace pop~llationat Poskett Spring has mykiss ssp.), tlli chd~(Cih hicolor), and the sinre rxI~ndrdto the spring pol, its outllow, common form 01" spccklcd dace (ti. o,sculue). :d downstream m;lrsli. Ilxeline water qual- The Warnel- Valley rcdla~ldtro~~t 1;lrgely tias ity aud vcgctation inonitoring at Foskett and been displaced tjy ir~troduccd tr.ont and 1s L)ace springs wcrc i~ritialr-dby RI,M in 1987. listed as "of special ~wnce1-n"Ly illc Amwican 'l'he ti~llowingdatu collcctcd 011 28 Scptcmbc~. Fishcries Society (Williams ct nl. 1989). 1988 frrm 1"oskctt Spring iirrd Dacc Spring. respectively, exemplify the two hid)it;lt sini- laritics: air temperahlre 19 mci 17 C, water iemprraturc 17 &id 1.0 (:, dissolved oxygen Thc Wwwr Hasin c~rm~~riscs6858 sq km in 5.3 md 5.9 nlg/l. ~(~~lductivity350 and 250 south central Oregon and small porti(rns of r~lohslcm,pH 8.1 ;md 8.2, alkalinity 114 and ~iorthcasternCalihrrnia and ~mrhwcstc~~nNr- 9H mg/I CaCO,, l~arhcss40.0 ad24.7 mgll, vadii (Fig. I.). 13rainage is internal urld is di- RIKI twhirlity 1.4 and 1.8 N'I'U. vided l~etwcc~iC:olcmao Valley and the much The dace pop111;ltion maintains itself at larger Wxrrrcr Valley. Coleman Valley is n Ui~ccSpri~~gtlcspite a tendency h.vegetati~ln sep;lrate r11-iiinagc in thc southeastem isart of toclajkcout most opca water. The introduced the basin and receives sparse rur~olT.Obscrva- popi~lati~rnl~iis expanded by ~rlovc~r~c~itof fish tiljns oCthc Foslrrtt spetrlded dace ard its habi- throngh a connecting pipe into fi livestock tat in C~rlcrnanVallcy wcre nwdr hn1987 tr~ watcri~iEtrolt:h just east nf the spring. No 1989. Stmdiu-did tl-a~lsccls wcn. estah- ~ltherfish rJccur ill Colcma~lVallcy. lishcd along Foskrtt Spring and ita outflow lo m~init~i-vegctatior~ recovery following cessa- tion of' glazing, urd to qi~mtifyaamo~~nts of opcwwater. hahitat. S~lrveyson 'l'wenty~rlileCreck above ad 111 Warmer Valley all water fl~~wsinlo a SS- helnw the Uyke Uiversion Um1 located I rics of ~iortli-snnth oriented shallow lakcs. adult and 2 la]-val Warner suckers in 1988. slouglls, adpotholes. Ihring with Additional 1987 md 1988 surveys fiiiled tu ahove-avcragc prccipitRtion, as ow111-reddur- locaic War.ncr s~ickerselsewhrre in 'I'welve- ing the eal-ly 1980s and again in 1989, thew milt. Crcck (i~lcludiugsections in Nevada and lakcs fill fimm the south and c.vc11iually over,. Oregon upstreurn of tlrc Nevada Lordcr), the flow i~dothe northern p;wt (+the vallcy. Only canal north of Hal-t Lake, the slough lretwce~l tho three most ~t~uthfrlyIakcs. Pelic;m, VlagataE LiAc a11cI MU~WUIIIPLake, the Crurnp, ad Hart, are permanent. Fish col- slough between hwer Chniphell and Camp- Iecti~rnsin Warner Valley were nixie ti-or11 bell lakcs, 01, Stone (:orma1 1,;ike. In April 1987 to 1989. Sa~nplcswcrc collected hrrn 1989, 28 adult sockcr.s wcrc capti~redat the OREGON

wnrnrr 246 J. E. WILLI~MSETAL. [Volume 50

rrmuth of flti~~cyC:rrek in Hart lake, ard 42 Hart Lake, 01- the canal immediately north of wcre rapturcd dong thc cast side of Hart the l;~ke.111trod11ced fishes dominated tlrc Lake. Fish mnged fro111 31 1 to 440 mtn TL Fauna ol'Hart Lukc and other lakes and slo~~ghs (avg. 385.2, ?I = 70), with nlusr 351) to 410 rnm. in thc valley. Whtc crappie (Pornoxis nnnri- Approximately 80-100 other idull Warner lnris) a~ldbrown bullhcad (lctnlunrs nebukr- s~lclwrswcrp ohsenled ill Honey Crcck hr- .su,sj ou~r~r~mhei-edualive fiches in our collec- twecu the most downrtrrnn~divcrion diw tirins from Hart Lakc by slightly morc hn and Hart Lakc. These fish wcre in lirecding 25:l. 'l'ni chub, which liisiorically was tlic condition ar~rl riiilpstr-eim~, uh1-r most ahnnriant fish in lentir hahats, largely they were visible hr(:ause flow in the creek has L)ccr~r.eplaced by white crappie. was reducccl by npstreani clivrrsior~s.In mid- 'lhe W'iirwr s~~clw~-pi~pulation appears to May I989 walcr h~ganspilhfi from Hart Iir lurgcst in Halt Lakc, but no ieaent rccroit- Ixkr into tlic canal toward Andel-son Lake. mcnt txruld bc docume~~tecl.Except. ti)r a Siwkers dispersed into the canal, ad 7 smdl numhcr orla~vaein lower IIoncy Creek, no suckers srrrallcr than 310 mrrl TI. were s~iawncrswere ~ulllcctcdthere in Juuc. Stm- hul~d.White crappie were ahundiint at the rial-d l~gth,TL, and age of 5 rif thcsc were 331. 357, 7: 307, 361, 7: 333, 387, 7; 335, 390, mouth of Honey Crcck Awing June and may haw prcved on sucker, larvae as they driCted 9; and 340. 397, 8. Larval sockrrs also were into Liart Lake. A single trap net set therc in collected A-om Honey Cr-cck jwrt ahr~vche Julie wllcctcd 1530 white crappie and downstream-rr~osldiversim darn, indicating 20 brown h~~llheacl. at. least limited srsawl~ine.. uo%trearrl. . ihwrall, Warner s11r:kt.l-s col~stit~~tedody I)TS(:~SSKJN 2.5% of all fishcs collected during 1987-88 fl'al)lc 1). Nrarlv all suckers werc h~ndin The Fosketl sacckled dace avvcars to be .L H~I-t~akc, HOI;~~ Crcck j~~stupstream of rrcar recovrly. ioexotic species a-c pmsent in either spring, md the primary thrcats have are rrccded to rietenr~inclhe extent of any been eliminated. Some vcgtatinn needs lo remaining sucker PopuIatio~~~.If present, bc cleared from the pool at Dace Spring in l~nwever,recruitment may be prcvcnted hy ordcr to pruvidc sullicient ope11 water. Also, popiilatir~nsof crappie. fencing along the Lourrdary of Dace Spring 111 conclr~sion,Warner s11cke1-sOOCE wcre shri~~ldLc extended to the east to i~~d~dewmrnon ihro~~ghouttl~c basin llut g~rniually additionid l~alitat.Chnti~~ucd habitat and declined from about 1900 ur~tilthe casly 1U70s poIn~lation~mrnitori~~g are necessary at both as a rcsdt of agricultural develqmerrt and springs tiecausc the small habitats are vuh~cr- pliu!ernent ofirrigi~tionstructures in spawning aLk lo slight dislurbances. streams. Uespitc habitat fragmentation and The largest r~rnai~~ifigpopulation or W~I-- lack or fish pissage, rccrnitment tri lakc popw ner suckcrs appears to Lc in Hart Lake. where latiom continiled until the late 1970s, whc11 spawning fish ascend lower Honey Creek ar~d large pupulations ofpiscivorous fishes hecame the canal north of' the llart I,nke spillway. established Recruitmerrt of Warner silckers Pop~~lationsalso may exist in Crump and Pcli- continues in stream hatiitats but appcars from car1 lakcs. our obseivatiorrs to be grailtly i:urt;lilcd since SIIL~SS~Ire~~mit~nmt or yoilng illlo the 1U79. Hart I.ake populatiun is li111ilcd by reduccd Contnrl oC introduced fishes in Hart md spawning hahitat in IIorley Cheek and large Crurnp lakes may bc impractical hecausc ol poplllatiorrs of c~lppie.White crappie wcrc hahitat siw (2928- and 3108-ha arca, resper- introduced into Hart Lake in 1971, aod white tivcly) and large populations. Hecovery of the phis tilack (P. nigroinaculatw) crappie were Wnr~rcrsockel- in llart Lakc therefore at least introduced into CI-un~pLake drwing 1972 a~rd requircs i~lcreasedspawni~~g silcs and rcaring 197.1 (Orego11 Department or Fish and Wild- hahitat. lile, ~~n~ublishcddata). Subscq~rentcollec- tions of the Orcgon Department of Fish and Wildlife indicated that white wappic, black crappie, and hrriwn tlulll~cadwere corn~nonin Our fieldwork was aidcd by W. J. Berg, Crump Lake by 1978 (K. Daily, ung~~hlist~edR. C. Bolton, . A. 1r1dJ. F. data) a11d presu~r~ddyin Hart Lakc as well. Morawski. (.:. A, Roscnbcrg, L. M. Swinney, Adult white crappie cr~nunodyfeed (in small and li. K. White. Mm-kWarrrer of the Nevada Gshcs (Hliegcr 1975);thus, tl~cira1>11ndance at Department ol Wildlife facilitated our collec- thc rno~~th!if IIor~cy(:reek duri~lfithe same tions in Nevutla. Earlier drdts of this time that larval suckcrs were c(illcc~cdfrom mur~uscdpthenefitcd from reviews by J. K. the creek increases the likelilioorl rifp~-cdation Andreasc~~.W. J. Berg, and C, D. Williams. 11n young-or-year sl~r:kers. Age ai~alysisorthe Wamcr suckcrs was kindly Scven irrigation dams on ilorrcy (.:reek he- confirmed tiy G. C:. Scoppettrine. This work tween the lake adPhh ~sultill limited was completed while the senior author was un awess by adnlts to upsircam spawning areas. an intergavcrnmentd Pcrso1111c1Act appoint- During 1989 ordy two Mes iwtween Hart ment with the U.S. Fish ;md Wildlife Service Lake and the first divcrsioii dam cor~tained at thc University of Calilornia, Davis. Our snital~lcgravel firr spawning. 13ependi11gon sincere appreciation to Mr. Joe Flynn for ac- stream flows, water-diversion hoards may cess to his property along llur~cyCreek and be placed in the irrigation structures hehe, lor his interest ~IIthe fishes therein during, 01- kcr the spawning run. Swenson (1478) rep~rtedthat during 1978 adult s~~ckers rrtigra~cdas Fail- ;us the seventh irrigation dam at Plus11 bclore hoards wcrc installed ancl wa- tcr diverted for, irrig~t', ion. A remnant p~>~mlaiio~~of Warner suckers lisbed dirrt:l-tatiwl. Oregon srste iJnivr:rsity, Cur- may persist in Cri~mpLake, a indicated unllis. 76 pp. by collecticm in 1989 (if young-of-ycar in Twenty-mile Slough below Ci-easerDam Ad- ditic~nalsurveys of Crtr~npand Pelic;m lakcs Sworn J 0. 1YW Hrlrriohrhipz ofth* fish tbunaof tlrc hker al'routhuartcrn Oregun. Bulleli~lolthe 1111- rwn ~IFid~e~~i~s%1[1907):69-102. SwrNsorj. S C 1978. Hrpnrl nr i~>vertigrtinnrrm Cutu- ~lorr~urwornwmuiu duringspring 1978. Hepon't to U.S. Fislliwd Wildlifr Smvirr, Sacramento. Cd- Iomln. 21pp. \I S. i,'rsll AND WILULIFYSI,HYI<:K l!IXSa. Iletrr~ninati~m olthwatenr:d rtahn fur IIutton tui chub oud Fos- i kett rpccklcd ducu. Fedmd Hegisler iiO: IZJW- i lOZnR

Received 30 Novemhw 7HNQ Reoised 11 August .IHHO Accepted 6 Septemlw 7990