Oak City Watershed Areawide Resource Plan Millard County, Utah May 2009 Oak City, Utah Oak City Watershed Millard County, Utah Areawide Resource Plan Developed in cooperation with: Oak City Area Landowners Oak City Town Representatives Oak Creek Irrigation Company Millard Conservation District Millard County Commission Prepared by: United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Oak City Areawide Plan Millard County, Utah 2 May 2009 Table of Contents Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................3 1.0 Preface ............................................................................................................................5 1.1 Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................ 5 1.2 Areawide Planning ........................................................................................................ 5 1.3 Authority ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.0 Executive Summary.........................................................................................................6 2.1 Purpose.......................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Existing Situation.......................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Objectives...................................................................................................................... 7 2.4 Expected Results........................................................................................................... 7 3.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................8 3.1 Background .................................................................................................................. 8 3.2 Critical Issues............................................................................................................... 8 3.3 Opportunities ............................................................................................................... 9 3.4 Planning Objectives ..................................................................................................... 9 4.0 Planning Area - Inventory.............................................................................................10 4.1 Location .......................................................................................................................10 4.2 History and Settlement...............................................................................................10 4.3 Topography .................................................................................................................10 4.4 Demographics – Oak City, Utah..................................................................................11 4.5 Land Ownership ..........................................................................................................12 4.6 Landuse .......................................................................................................................12 4.7 Climate ........................................................................................................................12 4.8 Geology........................................................................................................................13 4.8.1 Sedimentation ..........................................................................................................14 4.9 Soils .............................................................................................................................15 4.10 Hydrology – Water Resources ..................................................................................16 4.10.1 Hydrologic Soil Groups ............................................................................................16 4.10.2 Storm Runoff..........................................................................................................18 4.10.3 Storm Runoff Concern Recommendations - Alternatives .............................................19 4.11 Ground Water.............................................................................................................20 5.0 Economics ....................................................................................................................21 6.0 Rangeland-Vegetation .................................................................................................22 6.1 Major Land Resource Areas (MLRA)...........................................................................22 6.2 Ecological Zones..........................................................................................................23 6.2.1 Desert Zone .............................................................................................................23 6.2.2 Semidesert Zone.......................................................................................................23 6.2.3 Upland Zone.............................................................................................................24 6.2.4 Mountain Zone .........................................................................................................24 6.2.5 High Mountain Zone..................................................................................................24 6.3 Ecological Sites ...........................................................................................................24 6.3.1 Inventory of Ecological Sites ......................................................................................25 6.4 Invasive Species..........................................................................................................25 6.5 Livestock Forage .........................................................................................................26 6.6 Rangeland – Community Fire Risk .............................................................................26 6.7 Soil Erosion by Wind ...................................................................................................26 6.8 Rangeland Hydrologic Cycle .......................................................................................27 6.9 Range Alternatives - Recommendations....................................................................27 6.9.1 Grazing Land Conservation Plans................................................................................27 6.9.2 Seeding Selected Sites ..............................................................................................28 6.9.3 Green Strip Fire Breaks .............................................................................................29 Oak City Areawide Plan Millard County, Utah 3 May 2009 6.9.4 Green Strip Fire Break Installation Budget - Summary..................................................29 7.0 Fish & Wildlife ..............................................................................................................30 7.1 Sensitive Species.........................................................................................................33 7.2 Threatened & Endandered Species (T&E) ..................................................................36 8.0 Cropland - Agronomy ...................................................................................................36 8.1 Cropland-Agronomy Alternatives/Recommendations .......................................................37 9.0 Oak Creek Stream Channel and Irrigation Canal .........................................................38 10.0 Achieving Planning Goals...........................................................................................39 11.0 Technical and Financial Assistance ............................................................................39 12.0 Monitoring..................................................................................................................39 13.0 NEPA Compliance .......................................................................................................40 14.0 Historical and Archaeological Resources ...................................................................40 15.0 Public Participation and Scoping ...............................................................................42 16.0 Potential Funding Sources ..........................................................................................42 Non-Discrimination Statement ...........................................................................................43 Figure 1. Summary Table - Potential Resource Improvements – Oak City Watershed Plan Area, Millard County, Utah ................................................................................................................. 5 Figure 2. Oak City Demographics - 2000 Census.............................................................................. 11 Figure 3. Oak City Watershed Ownership/Management .................................................................... 12 Figure 4. Oak City Water-Related Landuse ...................................................................................... 12 Figure 5. Oak City Climate Diagram ...............................................................................................