PREFACE

This report is based upon planning data secured from the Bureau of Reclamation prior to April 1953 and presents an evaluation of fish and wildlife resources which would be influenced by the Talent division, Rogue River project, Oregon, as these resources would have existed without the project and as they are expected to exist after development. In connection with this project, reference is made to two previously issued reports titled, "An Interim Report on Fish and Wildlife Resources in Relation to Plan A, Rogue River, Oreg.," dated January 1950, and a report of the same title with the subtitle "Supplement A, Revision of Recommended Streamflows," dated March 1950. The 2 reports were reissued in February 1951 in 1 binding. Mention is made here that features of the proposed Talent division are somewhat different in the present plan of development than in plan A.

Fishery resources are appraised in this report on the following: South Fork of Little Butte Creek and its tributaries, Emigrant Creek, and existing Emigrant Reservoir, all in the Rogue River Basin; and Jenny Creek and its tributaries, proposed Howard Prairie Reservoir, and existing Hyatt Prairie Reservoir in the Klamath River watershed. Wildlife resources are evaluated for the proposed Howard Prairie Reservoir area, existing Hyatt Prairie and Emigrant Reservoirs, and the irrigation area of 28,480 acres of which 17,240 acres will be irrigated. The proposed project is not expected to have adverse effects on the small wildlife resources of the streams utilized for reservoir storage, and consequently they are not evaluated. The planned diversion of surplus flows into collection canals from several small streams tributary to the South Fork of Little Butte Creek and Jenny Creek should not affect the minor wildlife values of the sections concerned since these streams become dry or contain little water or aquatic habitat during late summer and fall under normal conditions and are of no significance to the wildlife utilization of the affected habitat.

Acknowledgment is made to the Oregon State Game Commission for furnishing data of value in the preparation of this report.

REPORT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE OF PROJECT

1. The Talent division of the Rogue River project is essentially an irrigation and power development with some flood-control benefits. Water for irrigation will be released from the enlarged Emigrant Reservoir which will be refilled by reregulating flows from the power operation releases and minor irrigation releases from existing Hyatt Prairie and proposed Howard Prairie Reservoirs.

LOCATION OF PROJECT

2. The Talent division is located in Jackson County, Oreg., in the upper reaches of Bear Creek and its tributaries. The irrigation area extends approximately 24 miles along the Bear Creek Valley, including a large portion of land between Medford and Jacksonville southward to about 7 miles southeast of Ashland, Oreg. The proposed and existing storage reservoirs, proposed diversion structures and canals are east and southeast of Medford in the upper headwaters of the Rogue and Klamath River Basins.

DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA

PHYSICAL FEATURES

3. Bear Creek Basin, an upper tributary of the Rogue River, Oreg., is bounded on the south and west by the divides of the Siskiyou Mountains; on the east by hills of the Cascade Mountains; and on the north the valley merges with that of the Rogue River. Bear Creek Valley is approximately 35 miles long and is quite narrow in the upper reaches, averaging about 2 miles in the vicinity of Ashland, Oreg. At Medford, the valley is about 8 miles wide and continues at this width to the Rogue River. Elevations within the valley range from 1,2001 feet to 2,300 feet, with crests reaching 5,000 feet in the headwater regions at the Cascade Divide.

4. The principal tributaries of Bear Creek are Wagner, Ashland, Walker, Emigrant (on which existing Emigrant Reservoir is located), and Neil Creeks. These tributaries rise in the foothills of the Cascade and Siskiyou Mountains and are relatively short with steep gradients. 5. The Talent Irrigation District, a large development in the basin, comprises 9,120 acres of irrigated land located in upper Bear Creek Valley surrounding the communities of Ashland and Talent. The district receives water from storage at Hyatt Prairie and Emigrant

1 This elevation, as well as subsequent elevations in this report, refers to U. S. G. S. mean sea level datum.

Reservoirs; by canal diversions from Bear, McDonald, Greely, Wagner, and Neil Creeks; and other minor diversions.

6. Minor streams in the upper headwaters of the Rogue and Klamath River Basins from which diversions will be made are: South Fork of Little Butte Creek and its tributaries, Big Draw, Daley, Deadwood, and Dead Indian Creeks, in the Rogue River Basin; and Soda, Big Beaver, Little Beaver, Corral, and Keene Creeks, all tributaries of Jenny Creek in the Klamath River Basin. These streams are all located in comparatively remote, mountainous terrain.

7. Hyatt Prairie Reservoir, built for irrigation storage in 1920, is located on Keene Creek, tributary to Jenny Creek in the Klamath Basin. This reservoir, formed by a rock-and-earth-fill dam about 43 feet high, has a reservoir capacity of 16,200 acre-feet and a surface area of 880 acres at its normal pool elevation of 5,016.5 feet. Flows released from Hyatt Prairie Reservoir into Keene Creek are diverted several miles downstream by Keene Creek diversion dam into Sampson Creek, then tunneled under Emigrant Creek into Ashland lateral canal.

8. Emigrant Reservoir lies on Emigrant Creek approximately 6 miles southeast of Ashland, Oreg. This reservoir, formed by a thin concrete-arch-type dam, has a storage capacity of 8,000 acre-feet and a surface area of 240 acres at its average annual maximum pool elevation of 2,175 feet. Water released from Emigrant Reservoir is conveyed to canals which irrigate both sides of Bear Creek Valley.

9. Runoff of all the streams involved in the project is derived from snowmelt and rainfall. Streams having a large percentage of their drainage areas above elevation 4,000 feet have more sustained latesummer flows, due to snowmelt, than the tributaries fed primarily by rainfall on the lower valley slopes.

10. Floods usually occur during the winter season generally after storms of long duration or a series of storms closely following each other. Runoff from such storms takes place immediately, and the resulting floods are of short duration but with a high peak discharge. Spring floods from melting snow at higher elevations have large volumes, but peak discharges are generally not high enough to cause material damage.

11. The upland tributaries and small streams are usually intermittent during the fall and winter months. The runoff from the small drainage areas is affected by the porous lava and pumice stratas, the amount of snowpack, and the rate of snowmelt.

12. The valley floor of Bear Creek is underlain by soft sandstone and shales. The Siskiyou Mountains on the southwest side of Bear Creek Valley are composed of granite and metamorphic rocks (altered volcanic rocks) of the Paleozoic age. The Cascade Mountain Range which rises to the east is composed of a series of alternating lava flows, tuffs, and agglomerate materials.

13. Soils within Bear Creek Basin are derived from igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary materials of various geologic ages. In Bear Creek Valley, the residual, old valley-filling, and recent alluvial soils vary from sandy to clay loams and are very fertile when sufficient water is available.

14. Temperature and precipitation are in general a direct result of air masses progressing inland from the Pacific Ocean. Differences