Rickreall Watershed Assessment Mud Slough Confluence with Willamette R Ellendale Baskett Canyon Cr Slough Rockhouse Cr Cr # # NF & SF of # Rickreall Cr # # # # # # # # # # Dallas WWTP Water Mercer intake Hayden Rickreall Reservoir Slough # Independence Rickreall Watershed Council 289 E. Ellendale, #504 Dallas, OR January 25, 2001 i Rickreall Watershed Assessment Prepared for The Rickreall Watershed Council January 25, 2001 By Ecosystems Northwest Mt. Shasta, CA ([email protected]) Contributing Authors: Kim Mattson Watershed Characterization, ([email protected]) History, Water Quantity, Aquatic Resources, Economics Andy Gallagher Water Quality and Quantity, ([email protected]) Soil Quality and Land Health Acknowledgments The following is a partial list of those who offered assistance in many ways: Randy Stinson, Jackie Hastings, Charles Hazel, Ken Hale, Kenn Carter, Greg, Nelson, Gene Clemens, Dan Rosenbaum, Arlie Holt, Robert Marsh, Claude White, Gene Stevens, Dean Anderson, Glen Scatterday, Stephanie Preuitt, Roger Jordan, June Olson, Sharon Clarke, Ryan Dalton, Becky Johnson, Barb Rosenbaum, Steve Mamoyac, David Teel, Jane Keppinger, Todd Wollman, David Anderson, Greg White, Brett Bruhn, Jock Dalton, Louie Kazemier, Mark Knaupp, Tom Thompson, Cliff Alton. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS : (click on page # to go to that page) TABLE OF CONTENTS :...................................................................................... ii TABLE OF FIGURES, TABLES, AND MAPS ..................................................... vii DOCUMENT SUMMARY......................................................................................1 Chapter 1 : WATERSHED CHARACTERIZATION...............................................5 Character of Westslope Watersheds.................................................................5 Character of the Rickreall..................................................................................5 Distinct Areas within the Watershed..................................................................6 Ownership, Population, and Roads...................................................................8 Geology and Landforms ....................................................................................9 Climate and Hydrology ....................................................................................10 Chapter 2 : HISTORICAL CONDITIONS ............................................................20 The Kalapuyan Landscape: pre-Columbian–1845 ..........................................20 American Pioneers: 1846–1879 ......................................................................25 Transition to Modern Times: 1880–1940.........................................................27 Summary.........................................................................................................32 Chapter 3 : WATER QUALITY............................................................................33 Beneficial Uses and Standards .......................................................................33 Rickreall Creek and the 303(d) List .................................................................36 City of Dallas Wasterwater Treatment Plant (WWTP).....................................36 Other Industrial Dischargers............................................................................37 Stormwater Management ................................................................................37 Water Quality of Rickreall Creek Watershed ...................................................38 Historical conditions.....................................................................................38 Current water quality qata............................................................................38 Aquatic weeds and algae.............................................................................41 Fecal coliform bacteria.................................................................................41 Conductivity .................................................................................................41 Copper.........................................................................................................41 Dissolved oxygen.........................................................................................42 Flow Modification.........................................................................................43 Macroinvertebrate survey data ....................................................................43 iii Ammonia .....................................................................................................43 Nitrate ..........................................................................................................43 Phosphorus (total P) ....................................................................................43 pH ................................................................................................................44 Sediment .....................................................................................................44 Temperature ................................................................................................44 Total dissolved solids...................................................................................44 Toxics ..........................................................................................................45 Turbidity.......................................................................................................45 Groundwater Quality .......................................................................................45 Contamination of Groundwater........................................................................47 Water Quantity and its Relationship to Water Quality......................................48 Rickreall Creek Water Quality Summary .........................................................48 Chapter 4 : WATER QUANTITY .........................................................................51 Hydrologic Data...............................................................................................51 Patterns of Low and High Flow Discharges for Rickreall Creek ......................55 Surface Water Withdrawals.............................................................................57 Mercer Reservoir and other Reservoirs...........................................................59 Lakes...............................................................................................................61 Wetlands .........................................................................................................62 Chapter 5 : AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL RESOURCES ...............................65 Fish Diversity and Sensitive Species...............................................................65 Winter Steelhead.............................................................................................66 Cutthroat Trout ................................................................................................68 Chinook Salmon..............................................................................................71 Coho Salmon ..................................................................................................71 Oregon chub ...................................................................................................71 Pacific lamprey................................................................................................72 Sand rollers .....................................................................................................72 ODFW Survey Data Sets for Rickreall Watershed ..........................................72 Survey of Lower Rickreall Creek by CH2MHill ................................................78 Channel Habitat Types....................................................................................79 Culverts and Fish Barriers...............................................................................81 iv Riparian Zones and Wetlands .........................................................................83 Sensitive Species other than Fish ...................................................................87 Biodiversity......................................................................................................88 Chapter 6 : SOIL QUALITY AND LAND HEALTH ..............................................89 Soil Groups .....................................................................................................89 Soil Erosion and Delivery to Streams..............................................................89 Forest Uplands................................................................................................90 Forest Practices Impacts on the Forested Uplands of the Watershed.........90 Soil Compaction and Displacement in the Forested Uplands ......................90 Mass Erosion in the Forested Uplands............................................................91 Reference Conditions ..................................................................................91 Mass Erosion: Historical and Current Conditions.........................................91 Fire and Flood in the Watershed .....................................................................92 Rockhouse Creek Fire 1987 ........................................................................93 Debris Flows in February Storms 1996........................................................93