LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE POWDER BASIN, OREGON STREAM SYSTEMS, WATER STORAGE, AND STREAM HEALTH AS THEY PERTAIN TO THE BASIN AND WATER SCIENCE 39E 44E 38E 37E 48E 40E 43E 5S C 41E 47E l e a r 42E 46E C 45E r r B C e e a E l n i g k C Wolf l re P C e reek ek h 6S r C t C r y r k n e o tho er re n iv N A N C C ort R g Brownlee h er i l Powd B e k E a ree F r C P Reservoir Subbasin ne to C An G i n o r r E e e o 17050201 C a e s C ig e g k 7S B l r C e e k e e r C e k r r E C e a e Creek e s in r Rock k t P e r v P i C i e n R Haines s e o e o C k G r a n D S Halfway e 8S ek e e Cre r Pin r C e P re v ow e i de Cr Powder River Subbasin r R k R iv er a r c e 17050203 k d e w r 9S o Cr Richland P 36E E Baker City 35.5E D lk Sumpter e C e r 35E r e e C C k a r m e p e B C k lu e 10S re Ca e ny k on r C N r o a e r l th C F Burnt River Subbasin o r k B 17050202 11 S B ig D u ee N r C r n re C t e re R k ek O iv r B e C u O r r P e n G i n t n i R H e P iv E e 12S C r r A Burnt River R D k D O e I e e r e C r r C r p C e r v m i Unity a k R c t C 13S o rn u R Cr B k F El S r C p m 14S a Huntington C st Cr e p W am t C Eas 15S 01020 16S Miles US DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF RECLAMATION SNAKE RIVER AREA OFFICE BOISE, IDAHO MAY 2008 MISSION STATEMENTS The mission of the Department of the Interior is to protect and provide access to our Nation’s natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to Indian Tribes and our commitments to island communities. 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. LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE POWDER BASIN, OREGON STREAM SYSTEMS, WATER STORAGE, AND STREAM HEALTH AS THEY PERTAIN TO THE BASIN AND WATER SCIENCE US DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF RECLAMATION SNAKE RIVER AREA OFFICE BOISE, IDAHO MAY 2008 PREPARED BY BROWNE CONSULTING, LLC BAKER CITY, OREGON IN COOPERATION WITH POWDER BASIN WATER AND STREAM HEALTH COMMITTEE BAKER CITY, OREGON POWER BASIN LITERATURE REVIEW ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people and organizations assisted in the collection of documents for the Powder Basin Literature Review. The members of the Powder Basin Water and Stream Health (WASH) Committee graciously provided their invaluable input, guidance, and provided documents for this Literature Review. They are: Aaron Umpleby – Powder Valley Water Control District Bill Knight –Producer, North Powder Area Cal Foster – Producer, Bowen Valley Fred Warner, Jr. – Chairman, Baker County Commissioners, Baker City, OR Gary Miller – US Fish and Wildlife Service, La Grande Field Office, La Grande, OR Jerry Franke – Manager, Burnt River Irrigation District, Hereford, OR Marion Crow – Pine Creek Area Michael McNamara – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Whitman Ranger District, Baker City, OR Rick Lusk – District 8 Watermaster (Baker County), Oregon Water Resources Department, Baker City, OR Tim A. Kerns – Willow Creek Natural Resource Solutions Tom (Mac) Kerns – Producer, Haines Area Special thanks to: Ken Anderson and Robert Gecy –Whitman Ranger District, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Baker City, OR Travis Bloomer – Rangeland Management Specialist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Baker City, OR Rick Lusk and Tom Rudolf – District 8, Oregon Water Resources Department, Baker City, OR Cory Parson – Baker County Extension Office, Oregon State University, Baker City, OR ii POWER BASIN LITERATURE REVIEW 49E Powder Basins 39E Water Storage Sites 44E 38E 37E General Location Map 48E 40E 43E 5S C 41E 47E l e a 46E r 42E Hydrography C 45E r r B C e e a E l n i g k C Wolf l re P Waterbody e Creek ek h r C t 6S C r y r k on e o th ver re n i N Stream A No R C Cl rth er ig Brownlee Powd B e k E a ree F r C P Reservoir Subbasin Burnt and Powder Rivers ne to C An G i n o r r E e e o 17050201 C a e s C ig e g k Snake River 7S B l r C e e k e e r C k re r E C e a e Creek e s in r Rock k t P e r v P i Subbasin Boundary (4th Field) C i e n R Haines s e o e o C k G r a n D S Halfway e Labeled with 8-Digit 8S ek e e Cre r Pin r C e P re Hydrologic Unit Code v ow e i d C Powder River Subbasin er R k R iv r er a r c e 17050203 k d e w City r 9S o C Richland P 36E r E Baker City 35.5E D lk Sumpter e C Towns hi p e r 35E r e e C C k a r m e p e B C k lu e 10S re Ca e ny k on Data Sources: r C Water & Stream Health WASH) N r o a e r l Oregon Water Resources Dept th C F Burnt River Subbasin o Pacific Northwest Hydrography Framework r k B 17050202 11 S B i D u g ee N Bureau of Reclamation, PNGIS r C r n re C t e re R k ek O iv r B Prepared by PNGIS e C u O r r P n G e t i n on April 11, 2008 n i R H e P iv E e 12S C r r A Burnt River R D k D O e I e e r e C r r C r p C e r v m i k Unity a R c t C 13S o rn u R Cr B k SF El r C p m 14S a C Huntington t s Cr e p W m OREGON Ca st Ea 15S 01020 16S Miles Figure 1. General Location Map of “Powder Basin” (HUC 170502, the Middle Snake-Powder Basin Subregion) and its component subbasins. iii POWER BASIN LITERATURE REVIEW iv POWER BASIN LITERATURE REVIEW CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND............................................................................1 1.2 APPROACH ................................................................................2 1.3 REPORT ORGANIZATION .............................................................2 1.4 SOURCES ..................................................................................3 1.4.1 Document Sources ............................................................... 3 1.4.2 Internet sites: ........................................................................ 4 2. LOCATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS ....................................................5 2.1 THE POWDER BASIN [SUBREGION] ...............................................5 2.2 BURNT RIVER SUBBASIN.............................................................5 2.3 POWDER RIVER SUBBASIN..........................................................5 2.4 PINE CREEK WATERSHED ...........................................................6 2.5 TOPOGRAPHY ............................................................................6 3. ANALYTIC PROCESS AND DATA GAPS ..........................................8 3.1 OVERVIEW.................................................................................8 3.2 POWDER BASIN [SUBREGION]......................................................9 3.3 BURNT RIVER SUBBASIN.............................................................9 3.4 UPPER POWDER RIVER DRAINAGE AREA ...................................10 3.5 NORTH POWDER RIVER DRAINAGE AREA ...................................10 3.6 LOWER POWDER RIVER DRAINAGE AREA...................................11 3.7 PINE CREEK WATERSHED .........................................................11 3.8 RELATED REGIONAL DOCUMENTS..............................................11 3.9 MISSING DOCUMENTS...............................................................12 4. POWDER BASIN [SUBREGION] ABSTRACTS ...............................13 5. BURNT RIVER SUBBASIN ABSTRACTS.........................................20 6. UPPER POWDER DRAINAGE AREA ABSTRACTS ........................33 7. NORTH POWDER DRAINAGE AREA ABSTRACTS........................37 8. PINE CREEK WATERSHED ABSTRACTS.......................................45 9. RELATED REGIONAL ABSTRACTS................................................49 10. RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................57 11. TABLE OF REFERENCES AND CONTENT ANALYSES.................59 12. ANALYSES OF DOCUMENT CONTENTS BY TOPIC IN TABULAR AND GRAPHIC FORM.......................................................................67 12.1 ALL DOCUMENTS ......................................................................67 12.2 POWDER BASIN [SUBREGION] DOCUMENTS................................70 12.3 ANALYSES OF BURNT RIVER SUBBASIN DOCUMENTS ..................72 v POWER BASIN LITERATURE REVIEW 12.4 UPPER POWDER RIVER DRAINAGE DOCUMENTS ........................ 74 12.5 NORTH POWDER RIVER DRAINAGE DOCUMENTS........................ 76 12.6 PINE CREEK WATERSHED DOCUMENTS..................................... 78 12.7 RELATED REGIONAL DOCUMENTS ............................................. 80 13. EXISTING AND POTENTIAL DAM SITES – TABLE AND MAPS .....83 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. General Location Map of “Powder Basin” (HUC 170502, the Middle Snake- Powder Basin Subregion) and its component subbasins. ...................................iii Figure 2. (Map) Powder Basin with 4th level subbasins and 5th level watersheds.. 13 Figure 3. (Map) The Burnt River Subbasin has eight watersheds. .......................... 20 Figure 4. (Map) The Upper Powder River Drainage Area includes two watersheds: Upper Powder River and Powder River–Sutton Creek. .................................. 33 Figure 5. (Map) The North Powder River Drainage Area includes four watersheds. These are the Powder River–Baldock Slough, Powder River–Rock Creek, North Powder River, and Powder River–Wolf Creek. watersheds. ............................. 37 Figure 6. (Map) Pine Creek is the only watershed in the Brownlee Reservoir Subbasin that was reviewed in this report.