Floods of December 1955-January 1956 in the Far Western States GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1650 This Water-Supply Paper was prepared as separate chapters A and B UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1963 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director CONTENTS [Letters designate the separately published chapters] (A) Part 1. Description. (B) Part 2. Streamflow data. Floods of December 1955-January 1956 in the Far Western States Part 1. Description By WALTER HOFMANN and S. E. RANTZ GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1650-A Prepared in cooperation with the States of California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, and with other agencies UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFF.ICE, WASHINGTON : 1963 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.C. PREFACE This report on the floods of December 1955-January 1956 in the Far Western States was prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division. C. G. Paulsen, chief hydraulic engineer, suc­ ceeded by Luna B. Leopold, under the general direction of J. V. B. Wells, chief, Surface Water Branch. A preliminary report of peak discharges was released as Geological Survey Circular 380 in August 1956. Basic records of stage and discharge in the area, covered by Water- Supply Paper 1650-B, were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of a continuous program in cooperation with the States of California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington; county and city agencies within these states; and agencies of the Federal Government. The records of stage and discharge were collected and computed under the direction of the following district engineers: California, R. C. Briggs, succeeded by R. S. Lord; Idaho, T. R. Newell; Oregon, K. N. Phillips; Nevada, M. T. Wilson; Washington, F. M. Veatch. The report was assembled and the text prepared under the general supervision of Tate Dalrymple, chief, Floods Section, Surface Water Branch. G. L. Bodhaine, Flood Specialist, contributed to the section on previous floods and coordinated the work of the Oregon, Idaho, and Washington district offices. The help of various district personnel in preparing the text is also acknowledged. in CONTENTS Page Abstract______________________________________________________ A 1 Introduction._________________________________ _ _________________ 2 Acknowledgments ________________________________________________ 4 Precipitation_ ___________________________________________________ 5 The Great Basin______________________________________________ 5 Central-coastal California______^______________________________ 7 San Joaquih Valley________________________________________-___ 8 Sacramento Valley___________________________________________ 9 North-coastal California______________________________________ 10 West-central Idaho.___---_-_--____________-________--___--_-__ 10 Willamette Valley. __________________________.___ 11 Coastal Oregon______________________________________________ 12 Areas of minor flooding in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho._________ 13 General descriptions of floods.______________________________________ 13 The Great Basin________________________________ 13 Walker River basin_________________________________-_-_-_- 15 Carson River basin_______________________________.________ 15 Truckee River basin______________________________-___-___- 17 Black Rock Desert basin.__________________________________ 19 Humboldt River basin________________________________-___- 19 Minor basins in California and Oregon.____________-__--_-__- 20 Central-coastal California._______________-______-__-_--_---___ 20 Salinas River basin and small adjacent basins.__________-----_ 21 Pajaro River basin_______________________________________ 22 San Lorenzo River basin_____________________________'__-__- 24 Small Santa Cruz County streams._______________----------_ 25 Small San Francisco peninsula streams.____________-_----__-- 25 Santa Clara Valley.____________________________-----_-_--- 26 Alameda Creek___________________________________________- 27 Small basins east of San Francisco Bay_____________________ 27 San Joaquin Valley._____________________________-------------_ 28 Kern River basin__-_________________________-____--_--___- 28 Tulare Lake basin__________________________________-__--_- 31 San Joaquin River basin_________________.______---_-_---- 33 Sacramento Valley.____________________________________________ 38 Sacramento River basin above Feather River.___________-_--- 38 Feather River basin_________________________--_-----_---_ 41 Sacramento River basin below Feather River________-----_--_ 44 North-coastal California-._____________-__________-_-_----_----- 46 Napa River basin_________________________-_---_---_--_-- 48 Sonoma and Petaluma Creeks____-______--_----------------- 48 Small basins in Marin County___________-______------------- 49 Russian River basin.________________________-_---_-------- 50 Small coastal basins between Russian and Eel Rivers._________ 50 VI CONTENTS General descriptions of floods Continued North-coastal California Continued Page Eel River basin.__________________________________________ A 52 Mad River basin__________________________________________ 54 Redwood Creek basin._____________________________________ 54 Klamath River basin_____________________________________ 54 Smith River basin.________________________________________ 55 West-central Idaho.___________________________________________ 56 Boise River basin__________________________________________ 59 Payette River basin___________________________-____________ 59 Weiser River basin________________________________________ 60 Little Salmon River basin______________-__________-________ 61 Snake River and tributaries below Weiser River_______________ 61 Willamette Valley.__________________________________ 62 Middle Fork Willamette River basin_________________________ 63 Coast Fork Willamette River basin._________________________ 65 Eastside tributaries to main stem Willamette River from Eugene to mouth.__________________________________ 65 Westside tributaries of main stem Willamette River from Eugene to mouth___________________________________ 66 Main stem Willamette River from Eugene to mouth___________ 66 Coastal Oregon______________________________________________ 67 North-coastal streams_______-_____-_______-_-_____---_-____ 69 Umpqua River basin_______________________________________ 71 Coos and Coquille River basins.___________________________ 72 Rogue River basin_________________________________________ 73 Areas of minor flooding in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho-________ 74 Flood damage___________________________________________________ 77 The Great Basin___._________________________-___-________--__ 77 Central-coastal California____________________-_____-_----_--._ 77 San Joaquin Valley.___________________________________________ 79 Sacramento Valley____________________________________________ 80 North-coastal California__-.____________________________________ 81 West-central Idaho._-_________-__________-___-_-_---_--_____ 82 Willamette Valley,__________________________________________ 83 Coastal Oregon..______________________________________________ 84 Areas of minor flooding in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.________ 84 Flood-crest stages.________________________________________________ 84 Storage regulation.___________i____________________________________ 89 The Great Basin_______________________________.______________ 89 Central-coastal California____-_____________-__-__---__-------- 90 San Joaquin Valley.___________________________________________ 91 Sacramento Valley_____________________________________________ 93 North-coastal California_-____-_-__-__-___----_-__---_-------- 94 West-central Idaho.___________________________________________ 94 Willamette Valley.___________________________.______---_ 95 Coastal Oregon._______________________________________________ 96 Records of previous floods and flood frequencies._____-____--__-__----- 97 The Great Basin____._____________________________________ 98 Central-coastal California___'_____-______________-_---_--_---_- 98 San Joaquin Valley.___________________________________________ 100 Sacramento Valley.____________________________________________ 102 CONTENTS VII Records of previous floods and flood frequencies Continued Page North-coastal California__________-__-_______-__________-_______ A 105 West-central Idaho.___________________________________________ 107 Willamette Valley..____________________________.___.__ 109 Coastal Oregon________________________________________________ Ill Areas of minor flooding in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.._______ 114 Determination of flood discharge_________-__-__--_____-_____________ 115 Summary of flood stages and discharges._-____--_-_____-__-_--____-__ 116 Station data_______________________________________________________ 151 Index.___________________________________________________________ 153 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE 1. Isohyetal map of total precipitation, Dec. 15-27, 1955-___ In pocket FIGUBE 1. Map showing aeas of severe flooding during December 1955- January 1956. _______________________________________ A3 2. Map of The Great Basin region showing location of flood-data sites __-_-____-_________________-_____-_-___--___---- 14 3. Discharge hydrographs at selected gaging stations