Appendix a – Hydrology
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APPENDIX A – HYDROLOGY HYDROLOGY R EPORT C ATHE R INE C REEK T R IB UTAR Y A SSESSMENT – G R ANDE R ONDE R IVE R B AS IN Tributary Habitat Program, Oregon U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Pacific Northwest Region Geology and Fluvial Analysis Group Boise, Idaho February 2012 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Protecting America's Great Outdoors and Powering Our Future The U.S. Department of the Interior protects America's natural resources and heritage, honors our cultures and tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power our future. MISSION OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Cover Photograph: View looking east (downstream) along Catherine Creek, Reach 2 at river mile 26.0, in the Cove area, Mt. Fanny (upper left) and Phys Point (upper right) can be seen in the background. Catherine Creek Tributary Assessment- Grande Ronde River Basin-Tributary Habitat Program, Oregon – July 29, 2010. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Summary ................................................................................................. 1 2. Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 2.1 Purpose .................................................................................................................... 1 2.2 Physical Setting and Location ................................................................................. 2 2.2.1 Climate .................................................................................................... 10 3. Methods ................................................................................................. 10 3.1 Hydrologic Analysis ............................................................................................. 10 3.1.1 Stream Gages .......................................................................................... 10 3.1.2 Flood Frequency Analyses ..................................................................... 15 3.1.3 Significant Tributary Hydrology ............................................................ 17 3.1.4 Climate Analysis ..................................................................................... 17 4. Historical Conditions ............................................................................. 19 4.1 Historic Changes ................................................................................................... 22 5. Present Conditions ................................................................................ 23 5.1 Hydrologic Results ................................................................................................ 27 5.1.1 Mean Annual Hydrograph ...................................................................... 27 5.1.2 Exceedance Flows .................................................................................. 29 5.1.3 Peak Flow Events ................................................................................... 31 5.1.4 Low Flows .............................................................................................. 33 5.2 Diversion Dams and Inter-basin Transfers ........................................................... 34 5.3 Reclamation Stream Gages ................................................................................... 35 5.4 Climate Results and Climate Change .................................................................... 36 6. Discussion ............................................................................................. 37 7. References ............................................................................................. 39 8. Geospatial Data Source and Description .............................................. 41 List of Figures Figure 1. Catherine Creek watershed with the Tributary Assessment study area identified to encompass the lower 55-miles of Catherine Creek. ............................................ 3 Catherine Creek Tributary Assessment – Hydrology i TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) Figure 2. Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek watersheds. .......................................... 5 Figure 3. Catherine Creek watershed and smaller tributaries, Catherine Creek near Union gage, including Rhinehart Gap. ............................................................................... 7 Figure 4. Springs and creeks draining to reach 1 of Catherine Creek. ................................... 9 Figure 5. Stream gages in the Catherine Creek area. Reclamation gages were installed in 2010. ...................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 6. Catherine Creek watershed/PRISM data – average annual precipitation in the Catherine Creek watershed. .................................................................................. 14 Figure 7. Climate stations in or near the Catherine Creek watershed. ................................. 18 Figure 8. The Grande Ronde Valley endured a large flood in the spring of 1894. The top right picture shows downtown La Grande, Oregon, on April 1st. Oregon State Planning Board Records, Oregon State Planning Board Photograph Box, Grande Ronde Flood Photographs, OPB0002. ..................................................... 22 Figure 9. Land cover classes in the Catherine Creek watershed using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) (2006). .......................................................................... 25 Figure 10. Estimated mean annual hydrograph (based on daily data and the 50 percent probability exceedance) for Catherine Creek and Grande Ronde River at their confluence with Chinook salmon lifestage usage. Grande Ronde River is estimated using data combined from two USGS gages, Grande Ronde at La Grande (13319000) and Grande Ronde at Perry (13318960). Catherine Creek is estimated from the Catherine Creek near Union gage (13320000). Note – data used to develop Catherine Creek is above most major diversions and does not properly reflect low summer flows which may be zero during the irrigation season. ................................................................................................................... 28 Figure 11. Estimated mean annual hydrograph (based on daily data and the 50 percent probability exceedance) for Catherine Creek with Chinook salmon lifestage usage. Two stream gaging stations are shown, Catherine Creek near Union gage and Catherine Creek at Union gage. Catherine Creek near Union is above most major diversions while the “near Union” stream gage includes substantial diversions. ............................................................................................................. 28 Figure 12. Estimated mean daily flow percent exceedance values for Catherine Creek at the confluence with the Grande Ronde River. Note – the data used to extrapolate this graph are from the Catherine Creek near Union (13320000) stream gage and the data do not account for all water withdrawals, and therefore, overestimate July through October flow. The 50 percent value represents an average annual hydrograph. ............................................................ 30 Figure 13. Estimated mean daily flow percent exceedance values for the Grande Ronde River at Rhinehart Gap. Note – the data used to extrapolate this graphy are from upstream gages (Catherine Creek near Union [13320000] and Grande ii Catherine Creek Tributary Assessment – Hydrology TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) Ronde near Perry [13318960]), and the data do not account for all water withdrawals, and therefore, overestimate July through October flows. The 50 percent value represents an average annual hydrograph. ...................................... 30 List of Tables Table 1. Active and discontinued stream gages in the assessment area indicating the type of data available and the range of years the gage was active. (Note – Data may not be continuous; peak data refers to the annual maximum instantaneous discharge; and years are calendar years). .............................................................. 12 Table 2. Watershed characteristics for stream gages. ......................................................... 12 Table 3. Reclamation stream gages installed in 2010. All stream gages measure water stage. The Grande Ronde River at Pierce and Rhinehart Lane measure air temperature while all others measure water temperature. ..................................... 15 Table 4. Peak flow regression equations for northeastern Oregon (OWRD 2006). Area is in square miles and discharge is in cfs. ............................................................. 16 Table 5. Documented historic floods prior to stream gaging (1911) in the Grande Ronde Valley. ................................................................................................................... 21 Table 6. Land cover proportions using NLCD (2006) in the Catherine Creek watershed. 26 Table 7. Annual peak discharges for all historic gages in the study area specified as return intervals. ..................................................................................................... 32 Table 8. Peak flow data for major tributaries and at flow change locations along Catherine Creek. Data extrapolated from Catherine Creek near Union stream gage. Peak flows along Catherine Creek were not adjusted for timing of hydrographs