Little Butte Creek Watershed Assessment Little Butte Creek Watershed Council August 2003 Abstract The Little Butte Creek Watershed Assessment has been prepared for the Little Butte Creek Watershed Council with funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB). The Assessment was prepared using the guidelines set forth in the Governor’s Watershed Enhancement Board’s 1999 Oregon Watershed Assessment Manual. The purpose of this document is to assess the current conditions and trends of human caused and ecologic processes within the Little Butte Creek Watershed and compare them with historic conditions. Many important ecological processes within the watershed have been degraded over the last 150 years of human activity. This Assessment details those locations and processes that are in need of restoration as well as those that are operating as a healthy system. The Assessment was conducted primarily at the 5th field watershed level, that of the entire Little Butte Creek Watershed. List and describe field watershed levels below. Where possible, the analyses was refined to the smaller 6th field watershed level, thirteen of which exist within the Little Butte Creek Watershed. The assessment also notes gaps in data and lists recommendations for future research and data collection. It is intended that this document, and the Little Butte Creek Watershed Action Plan be used as guides for future research and watershed protection and enhancement over the next decade. The document was developed using existing data. No new data was collected for this project. Where data was lacking, it was detailed for future work and study. Acknowledgements This assessment was compiled and written by Steve Mason. Numerous helpful people including Lu Anthony, Chuck Fustich and Tom Dover provided editorial comments and suggestions. However, this document and its companion, the LBCW Action Plan, were completed through the collaborative efforts of the Little Butte Creek Watershed Council; local, state, and federal agencies and their representatives including BLM, ODFW, USFS, Jackson SWCD, and Jackson County government; as well as the numerous other private citizens and public and private organizations. For more information about the Little Butte Creek Watershed Council or to obtain electronic copies of this report, please contact: Lu Anthony, Coordinator Little Butte Creek Watershed Council 1094 Stevens Road Eagle Point, OR, 97524 (541) 826-2908 [email protected] Table of Contents Chapter I - Introduction 1 Physiographic Characteristics 1 History 2 Climate and Weather 5 Geology 5 Land Use – Ownership 7 Water Use 7 Watershed Function 8 Document Organization 8 Chapter II – Channel Habitat Type 10 Introduction 10 Methods 10 Results and Discussion 11 Chapter III – Hydrology and Water Use 13 Introduction 13 Results 14 Discussion 43 Data Gaps 43 Chapter IV – Fish and Fish Habitat 45 Introduction 45 General Salmonid Life History Pattern 45 Spring Chinook Life History Pattern 46 Fall Chinook Life History Pattern 46 Coho Life History Pattern 46 Winter Steelhead Life History Pattern 47 Summer Steelhead Life History Pattern 47 Sea-run Cutthroat and Resident Trout Life History Pattern 48 Fish Summary 48 Fish Habitat 48 Methods 50 Results 52 Discussion 69 Data Gaps 71 Chapter V – Water Quality 72 Introduction 72 Methods 75 Results 76 Discussion 93 Data Gaps 94 Table of Contents (continued) Chapter VI – Riparian Zone 95 Introduction 95 Results 96 Discussion 99 Data Gaps 100 Chapter VII – Sediment Sources 101 Introduction 101 Results 102 Discussion 111 Data Gaps 112 Chapter VIII – Channel Modification 113 Introduction 113 Results 114 Discussion 118 Data Gaps 119 Chapter IX – Conclusions 121 Hydrology 121 Fish and Fish Habitat 122 Water Quality 123 Sediment Sources 123 Riparian 124 Channel Modification 124 Overall Watershed Health 124 List of Tables CHT1 – Channel Types 10 CHT2 – Channel Type Distribution (%) at the 6th field watershed level 11 CHT3 – Channel Habitat Types 12 HT1 – General Characteristics of the Little Butte Creek Watershed and the 13 subbasins 16 HT2 – Precipitation regime within the Little Butte Creek Watershed 19 HT3 – Risk of peak flow enhancement due to forestry practices 21 HT4 – Breakdown of land use zoning in the Little Butte Creek Watershed and the 13 subbasins 21 HT5 – Soil groups within the Little Butte Creek Watershed 22 HT6 – Potential impact of forest roads on peak flow enhancement 24 HT7 – Potential impact of rural agricultural area roads on peak flow enhancement 24 HT8 – Potential impact of rural residential roads on peak flow enhancement 25 HT9 – OWRD’s Beneficial Use Codes for the Little Butte Creek Watershed 26 HT10 – Water rights breakdown for the Little Butte Creek Watershed 27 HT11 – Water rights breakdown for the Mainstem subbasin 28 HT12 – Water rights breakdown for the Antelope subbasin 29 HT13 – Water rights breakdown for the Dry subbasin 30 HT14 – Water rights breakdown for the Salt subbasin 31 HT15 – Water rights breakdown for the Lick subbasin 32 HT16 – Water rights breakdown for the Lake subbasin 33 HT17 – Water rights breakdown for the Lost subbasin 34 HT18 – Water rights breakdown for theNorthfork subbasin 35 HT19 – Water rights breakdown for the Southfork subbasin 36 HT20 – Water rights breakdown for the Soda subbasin 37 HT21 – Water rights breakdown for the Dead Indian subbasin 38 HT22 – Water rights breakdown for the Beaver Dam subbasin 39 HT23 – Water rights breakdown for the Upper Southfork subbasin 40 HT24 – Water availability for the 13 WABs in the Little Butte Creek Watershed 42 HT25 – Restoration potential for WABs based on % water allocated to consumptive uses 42 HT26 – Hydrologic issue identification summary 44 F1 – Current estimated fall Chinook distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 52 F2 – Current estimated spring Chinook distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 52 F3 – Current estimated coho distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 52 F4 – Current estimated summer steelhead distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 53 F5 – Current estimated winter steelhead distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 53 F6 – Current estimated distribution for anadromous salmonids in Little Butte Creek Watershed 54 F7 – Salmonid population counts at the ODFW smolt trap on Little Butte Creek 63 F8 – Pool habitat conditions in Little Butte Creek Watershed 64 F9 – Riffle habitat conditions in Little Butte Creek Watershed 65 F10 – Large woody debris habitat conditions in Little Butte Creek Watershed 66 F11 – Riparian habitat conditions in Little Butte Creek Watershed 67 WQ1 – Beneficial uses of water within Little Butte Wastershed 73 WQ2 – Criteria for metal contaminants parameter 75 List of Tables (continued) WQ3 – Level of impairment for water quality parameters based on number of Data points that exceed the criteria 76 WQ4 – Streams in Little Butte Creek Watershed Listed on 2002 DEQ 303d list 77 WQ5 – Breakdown of 303d listed streams by subwatershed as % of streams in subwatershed 78 WQ6 – Streams flowing during 2001 FLIR project 86 WQ7 – Temperature ranges for streams assessed during 2001 FLIR project 90 R1 – Breakdown of vegetation classification for larger streams in Little Butte Creek Watershed 96 R2 – Breakdown by subwatershed of vegetation classification for larger streams In Little Butte Creek Watershed (acres) 96 SS1 – Erosion potential of soils in Little Butte Creek Watershed 103 SS2 – Road densities in Little Butte Creek Watershed 104 SS3 – Percent of road miles within 60 meters of a stream 107 SS4 – Stream crossings in Little Butte Creek Watershed 108 CM1 – Channel modification activities 113 CM2 – Instream diversion within LBCW 115 CM3 – Miles of roads within 10 m of streams 117 C1 – Impacts of land uses practices in LBCW 122 C2 – Summary scoring of the subwatersheds in the LBCW 125 C3 – Data gaps and information needs in LBCW 126 List of Figures HM1 – Little Butte Creek Watershed 15 HM2 – Precipitation pattern for Little Butte Creek Watershed 17 HM3 – Zoning types in Little Butte Creek Watershed 18 HM4 – Transient snow zone in Little Butte Creek Watershed 20 F1 – Fall Chinook counts at Gold Ray Dam 60 F2 – Spring Chinook counts at Gold Ray Dam 60 F3 – Coho counts at Gold Ray Dam 60 F4 – Winter steelhead counts at Gold Ray Dam 61 F5 – Summer steelhead counts at Gold Ray Dam 61 WQ1 – Surface water temperatures for Little Butte Creek 91 WQ2 – Surface water temperatures for Antelope Creek 91 WQ3 – Surface water temperatures for NF of Little Butte Creek 92 WQ4 – Surface water temperatures for SF of Little Butte Creek 92 WQ5 – Surface water temperatures for Upper SF of Little Butte Creek 93 List of Maps I1 – Location of Little Butte Creek Watershed within state of Oregon 1 I2 – Little Butte Creek Watershed shaded relief elevations 2 I3 – Little Butte Creek Watershed 3 I4 – Human population distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed in 2000 4 I5 – Ecoregions in Little Butte Creek Watershed 6 CHT1 – Channel habitat types 12 HM1 – Little Butte Creek Watershed 15 HM2 – Precipitation pattern for Little Butte Creek Watershed 17 HM3 – Zoning types in Little Butte Creek Watershed 18 HM4 – Transient snow zone in Little Butte Creek Watershed 20 F1 – Current estimated fall chinook distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 54 F2 – Current estimated spring chinook distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 55 F3 – Current estimated coho distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 56 F4 – Current estimated summer steelhead distribution in Little Butte Creek Watershed 57 F5 – Current estimated