in pool fluctuations is 5 feet, while the maximum range from the extreme high to extreme low is 28 feet. Data on existing and proposed operation levels of Hyatt Prairie Reservoir are shown in table 1. 33. The enlarged Emigrant Reservoir will provide irrigation water and some flood protection to the Talent Irrigation District. Active capacity of 43,500 acre-feet will be available for the existing and increased irrigation in the Talent division. After the irrigation season is over, the reservoir begins filling from the unregulated flows of Emigrant Creek and reregulated flows from power production at the Green Springs powerplant. Proposed operation studies show that the maximum pool elevation of 2,247 feet would have been reached 16 times in a period of 23 years. Generally the maximum reservoir stage will be reached in April although occasionally the range will extend from February through May. Irrigation releases will usually begin during the latter part of April and extend through the middle of October, with the maximum release made during July. The average annual range in pool fluctuations will be 84.4 feet, while the maximum range will be 115.5 feet. The value of the enlarged Emigrant Reservoir for flood control is evident by comparing the record floods downstream with the proposed operating reservoir surface elevations. From 1927 through 1948 there were 20 floods in the Talent Irrigation District, yet during the same period there would have been sufficient storage for additional flows in the reservoir. Present and proposed operation levels of Emigrant Reservoir are indicated in table 1. 34. The Ashland lateral diversion canal will receive its water supply from powerplant operations early in the irrigation season. Later in the season the runoff from Soda, Little Beaver, Corral, Keene, and Emigrant Creeks is insufficient to meet the needs of the Ashland diversion channel and will be supplemented by releases from Howard Prairie and Hyatt Prairie Reservoirs. 35. Except for the Ashland lateral and a few tributary diversions downstream, most of the water in the Talent division will be obtained from storage releases of Emigrant Reservoir. Approximately 43,500 acre-feet will be available during the irrigation season that begins April 15 and extends to October 15. FISHERIES WITHOUT THE PROJECT Sport fishery for resident species 36. As creel censuses have not been conducted on the streams and reservoirs involved in the project, there are no good data upon which to base the estimates of the annual yield of these comparatively remote waters. Estimates of the number of angler-days of annual fishing effort expended on each body of water within the project area have been made by two local fishery biologists who are longtime residents of the area and are consequently familiar with existing conditions. These estimates multiplied by the estimated cost per angler-day (as derived from creel-census data collected elsewhere in the Rogue River Basin in 1952) have been used to produce the estimated annual values of the sport fishery for resident species. Young silver salmon and steelhead trout are included with resident species. in evaluating the various streams involved. 37. Without the project, the South Fork of Little Butte Creek and its tributaries-Big Draw, Daley, Deadwood, and Dead Indian Creeks from which water will be diverted to proposed Howard Prairie Reservoir (see diagrammatic map) furnish a limited fishery for rainbow trout from June to August. Occasionally an eastern brook trout is taken from the tributaries. As with the remainder of the Rogue River system, this fishery for resident trout depends principally on stocking by the State. On the foregoing basis, the South Fork of Little Butte Creek is assigned an estimated annual fishery value of $3,000 and its above-mentioned tributaries, a value of $2,500. 38. In the portion of the project area within the Klamath River drainage lie Jenny Creek and its small tributaries, Big Beaver, Soda, Little Beaver, Corral, and Keene Creeks. Very little fishing effort is expended on any of these streams except in the lower reaches during early spring because of the steepness of the terrain, the lack of roads, and the intermittent flows. Their estimated annual fishery value without the project is $1,300. 39. Hyatt Prairie Dam was constructed on the upper reaches of Keene Creek in 1922. Present releases from the reservoir are diverted at Keene Creek diversion dam to Sampson Creek and then by siphon to the Ashland Canal, which serves the western side of the existing Talent Irrigation District (as shown in the diagrammatic map). Hyatt Prairie Reservoir has been stocked with crappies and other so-called warm-water species and is believed to attract more tourist fishermen than does Emigrant Reservoir. Without the project, it is assigned an estimated annual fishery value of $9,000. 40. Emigrant Creek above Emigrant Reservoir provides some rainbow trout fishing early in the season, and a few cutthroat trout are taken each year from upper Emigrant Creek. This fishery is assigned an annual value of $1,000. The 8 miles of Emigrant Creek between Emigrant Dam and the confluence with Bear Creek are not evaluated because the project will not significantly affect the sport fishery for resident species in these waters. Small, intermittent Sampson and Hill Creeks are rarely frequented by anglers and support no appreciable fisheries. 41. Emigrant Dam was constructed on Emigrant Creek in 1924 to store water for irrigating lands on the eastern side of Bear Creek Valley in the existing Talent Irrigation District. The best fishing in Emigrant Reservoir usually occurs in May or June, when a few large rainbows are taken by trolling. During the remainder of the year, angling is largely confined to shore fishing for yellow perch and brown bullheads. An annual fishery value of $6,000 is assigned to the reservoir without the project. 42. The total annual value of the sport fishery for resident species without the project is estimated at $22,800. Sport fishery for anadromous species 43. There are no anadromous species in Jenny Creek due to an impassable falls about 21⁄2 miles above this stream's confluence with the Klamath River in California. 44. Very few, if any, steelhead or other anadromous fish spawn in Neil or Emigrant Creeks, but considerable numbers of steelhead trout spawn in Walker Creek and Bear Creek below the mouth of Walker Creek. It is anticipated that the new operational plan for Emigrant Reservoir will have no detrimental effect on anadromous fish in Bear Creek as it will not affect the natural flows of Walker or Frog Creek, which are responsible for the present constant flows in upper Bear Creek. Hence, Bear Creek is not evaluated. 45. Some idea of the magnitude of the spawning escapements of steelhead trout and silver salmon that use the gravels of lower South Fork of Little Butte Creek may be obtained from redd (nest) counts made in the winter of 1949-50. These redd counts indicated that approximately 1,000 silver salmon spawned in the lower 3 miles of the South Fork in the late fall and that approximately 65 steelhead trout spawned in the same area in the spring. This estimated escapement of steelhead trout in 1950 is considered average, but counts at Raygold Dam indicate that the magnitude of the 1949 silver salmon run to the Rogue River was higher than any of the 12 previous years of record. By use of direct ratio it was computed that an average annual escapement of 522 silver salmon may have occurred in the South Fork over the past 12 years. Although these adult spawning steelhead trout and silver salmon are of relatively small importance to the sport fishery within the project area, their progeny materially contribute to the adult steelhead and silver salmon segment of the existing world-famous sport fishery of the main stem Rogue River. Furthermore, many of the young steelheads and a few young silver salmon are taken by anglers before migrating to the sea to reach full maturity before reentering their native spawning waters. It is estimated that 10 percent of the adults from the total silver salmon run and 20 percent of the adults in the steelhead run are taken by anglers on the main Rogue River before arrival at the spawning grounds. The average total run of silver salmon is therefore computed to be 580 fish, and for steelhead trout, 81 fish. On the basis of the above escapement figures for the South Fork of Little Butte Creek, it is readily computed by applying these percentages that approximately 58 adult silver salmon and 16 adult steelhead trout would be taken annually by sportsmen. The annual value of the above-estimated annual catches is computed to be about $1,000 for silver salmon and $500 for steelhead trout. Commercial fishery for anadromous species 46. It is estimated that the annual escapement of approximately 500 silver salmon to the South Fork of Little Butte Creek would contribute an equal number of fish to the commercial troll fishery conducted off the coast of northern California and Oregon which represents an annual value to the fishermen of about $600. WITH THE PROJECT Sport fishery for resident species 47. Plans for the project provide for diversion of about half of the flows of the South Fork of Little Butte Creek between November 1 and March 15 and all of the spring floodwaters up to the channel capacity of the collecting canals. This operation will not alter the present water regimen seriously and consequently will not adversely affect the resident trout fishery. On the contrary, the general increase in use of the area which is expected to result from the recreational development at Howard Prairie Reservoir may increase the fishing pressure in the South Fork of Little Butte Creek so that the fishery will have an annual value of about $4,500 with the project. 48. The Howard Prairie collecting system will collect the entire flows of the tributaries to the South Fork of Little Butte CreekDead Indian, Big Draw, Daley, and Deadwood Creeks-and will thereby dewater about 3 miles of lower Big Draw Creek and almost all of Dead Indian Creek (see diagrammatic map). This will result in almost complete loss of these streams as trout waters, and they will have an estimated value with the project of only $300 annually. 49. The proposed Green Springs powerplant located at the terminus of Howard Prairie delivery canal will discharge the canal waters into Emigrant Creek. Under present plans, the proposed low diversion dam below the plant will become a barrier to upstream-migrating fish when waters are diverted into the Ashland Canal for irrigation. It is believed that the 3 miles of Emigrant Creek between this dam and Emigrant Reservoir will thus be dewatered from May to August in most years. Although no flow records are available, it is claimed by |