Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks

299 Pages·1927·6.02 MB·English

by  The Watershed Analysis Team

KRIS edition
Watershed Analysis
for
Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
Watershed Analysis
For
Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
Almanor Ranger District
Lassen National Forest

Prepared By The Watershed Analysis Team:

Scott Armentrout
Howard Brown
Susan Chappell
Mignon Everett-Brown
JoAnn Fites
Judy Forbes
Melanie McFarland
Jules Riley
Ken Roby
Anita Villalovos
Roger Walden
Diane Watts
Michael R. Williams
Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
TABLE OF CONTENTS

WATERSHED ANALYSIS SUMMARY................................... 1
I. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1
II. Environmental Setting................................................................................................ 3
III. Historical Setting ...................................................................................................... 5
IV. Issues and Questions................................................................................................. 9
IV.1. Anadromous Fish (Populations and Habitats) ................................................ 11
IV.2. Native Fish Assemblages................................................................................. 14
IV.3. Late Seral Vegetation, Old Growth, Spotted Owls and other Old Growth
Dependent Species .................................................................................................... 15
IV.4. Economic and Social Outputs......................................................................... 17
IV.5. Cultural and Heritage Resources .................................................................... 17
IV.6. Reductions in Aquatic-Dependent Herpetile Species Populations................. 18
IV.7. Eastern Tehama Deer Herd............................................................................. 19
IV.8. Changes in Vegetation and Fire Regime ........................................................ 19
IV.9. Changes in Flow Regime, Especially Baseflow............................................. 21
IV.10. Changes in Erosion Regime.......................................................................... 22
IV.11. Changes in Human Uses................................................................................ 25
IV.12. Changes in channel condition, and levels of nearstream disturbance ........... 26
IV.13. Soil Productivity ............................................................................................ 27
V. Recommendations.................................................................................................... 27
V.1. Long Term Strategy .......................................................................................... 28
V.2. Roadless Areas.................................................................................................. 28
V.3. Roads................................................................................................................. 28
V.4. Erosion Control ................................................................................................. 29
V.5. Large Woody Debris (LWD) ............................................................................ 30
V.6. Heritage and Cultural Resources....................................................................... 30
V.7. Fire and Vegetation Management ..................................................................... 31
V.8. Range Management........................................................................................... 31
V.9. Tehama Deer Herd ............................................................................................ 31
V.10. Recreation ....................................................................................................... 31
V.11. Lands (exchange opportunities) ...................................................................... 32
V.12. Additional Cooperative Efforts....................................................................... 32
V.13. Riparian Habitat Conservation Areas (RHCAs) ............................................. 32
V.14. Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 36
V.15. Riparian Management Objectives & Watershed Management Objectives.... 37
Acknowledgments......................................................................................................... 41
References Cited ........................................................................................................... 41
APPENDIX A WATERSHED GEOLOGY ........................... A-1
REGIONAL SETTING .............................................................................................. A-1
LOCAL GEOLOGY................................................................................................... A-1
GEOMORPHOLOGY ................................................................................................ A-2
FEATURES UNIQUE TO THE MILL CREEK WATERSHED .............................. A-2
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Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
APPENDIX B - SOILS.................................................................. B-3
Introduction................................................................................................................. B-3
DEER CREEK............................................................................................................ B-3
Current Conditions...................................................................................................... B-5
APPENDIX C - WILDLIFE ANALYSIS........................................ C-8
PART I: Introduction ................................................................................................. C-9
PART II: Species of Concern or at Risk.................................................................. C-11
PART III: Management Indicator Species............................................................... C-19
Other MIS ............................................................................................................. C-21
PART IV: Habitats of the analysis area................................................................... C-22
PART V: Conclusion ............................................................................................... C-24
SOURCES CITED.................................................................................................... C-24
APPENDIX D - AQUATIC SPECIES REPORT............................. D-1
CHARACTERIZATION ............................................................................................ D-1
Anadromous Salmonids .......................................................................................... D-2
Anadromous Habitat Character and Distribution ................................................... D-7
CURRENT AND REFERENCE CONDITIONS....................................................... D-8
Anadromous Fish Population Numbers, Range and Distribution........................... D-8
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... D-13
APPENDIX E -ANADROMOUS FISH HABITAT ......................... E-1
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................E-1
UPSTREAM ADULT MIGRATION (timing)............................................................E-3
HABITAT CONDITIONS (upstream migration)........................................................E-5
HABITAT RANGE/DISTRIBUTION (Migration, holding and spawning) ...............E-6
HABITAT CONDITIONS.........................................................................................E-13
SPAWNING AND INTERGRAVEL HABITAT .....................................................E-20
JUVENILE REARING..............................................................................................E-22
OUTMIGRATION ....................................................................................................E-24
REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................E-24
Personal Communications .....................................................................................E-27
Attachment 1 – spring-run migration timing .............................................................E-29
Attachment 2 – steelhead migration timing ...............................................................E-30
Attachment 3 – spring-run migration timing .............................................................E-31
Attachment 4 – water exchange agreement ...............................................................E-32
Attachment 6 – habitat typing reaches.......................................................................E-35
APPENDIX F - RIPARIAN-DEPENDENT HERPETILES ............. F-1
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................F-1
Recent Surveys.............................................................................................................F-2
Cascades Frog ..........................................................................................................F-3
Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog ..................................................................................F-4
Western Pond Turtle ................................................................................................F-5
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................F-6
Personal Communications .......................................................................................F-7
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APPENDIX G - EROSION, WATERSHED DISTURBANCE AND
STREAM CHANNELS .................................................................G-1
I. Erosion Processes .................................................................................................... G-1
I.I. Changes in Sediment Regime .......................................................................... G-1
I.II. Estimating Watershed Disturbance as a Means of Assessing Risk of Increased
Surface Erosion....................................................................................................... G-4
I.III. Trend in Watershed Disturbance .................................................................... G-7
I.IV. Nearstream Disturbance ................................................................................ G-7
II. Stream Channels.................................................................................................. G-16
II.I Changes to Channels....................................................................................... G-17
III. Watershed Condition vs Channel Condition...................................................... G-35
IV. Conclusions......................................................................................................... G-37
V. Changes in Water Yield and Timing................................................................... G-38
APPENDIX H - STREAM DISCHARGE.......................................H-1
Discharge Records ...................................................................................................... H-1
Runoff Characteristics ................................................................................................ H-1
Longer Term Climatic Conditions .............................................................................. H-6
Diversions ................................................................................................................... H-6
APPENDIX I - RECREATION USE............................................... I-1
Current Conditions........................................................................................................I-1
SOUTH ANTELOPE DRAINAGE..............................................................................I-4
DEER CREEK DRAINAGE ........................................................................................I-4
APPENDIX J - FIRE AND FUELS.................................................J-1
Introduction.................................................................................................................. J-1
Fuel Profile................................................................................................................... J-1
Fire History .................................................................................................................. J-1
Fire Frequency ............................................................................................................. J-2
APPENDIX K -FUEL LOADING & FIRE RISK ASSESSMENT ...K-1
Overview..................................................................................................................... K-2
Project Objectives ....................................................................................................... K-2
Project Area ................................................................................................................ K-2
Fuels Map Development ............................................................................................. K-2
Change-Detection Analysis ........................................................................................ K-3
Historical Conditions .................................................................................................. K-3
Fire Simulation............................................................................................................ K-4
Results......................................................................................................................... K-4
Suggested Readings .................................................................................................... K-7
APPENDIX L - FIRE HISTORY................................................... L-1
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................L-1
METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................L-1
RESULTS ....................................................................................................................L-2
CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................L-3
REFERENCES CITED................................................................................................L-4
Attachment 1: Summary of data by site.......................................................................L-5
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Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
APPENDIX M - HISTORIC RANGE OF VEGETATION ............. M-1
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .............................................................. M-1
ASSESSMENT.......................................................................................................... M-2
Modeling Potential Natural Vegetation ................................................................. M-2
Comparison of Existing Tree Canopy Cover with Modeled Historic Ranges....... M-2
Analysis of Historic (1870's) General Land Survey Forest Data........................... M-2
Summary Analysis of Ecology Plot Data .............................................................. M-4
ASSESSMENT FINDINGS ...................................................................................... M-4
Landscape Patterns of Potential Natural Vegetation ............................................. M-4
Relationships of Potential Natural Communities and Historic Fire Frequency:
Implications for Reconstructing Historic Ranges of Tree Cover........................... M-5
Comparison of Existing and Estimated Historic Tree Cover: Implications for
Priorities in Restoration ......................................................................................... M-7
Historic Tree Overstory Composition Data from the 1870's GLO...................... M-10
Historic Tree Structure: Data from 1870's GLO and Ecology Plots.................... M-10
Foothill Vegetation and Influences of Grazing on the Hydrologic Cycle ........... M-10
APPENDIX N - POTENTIAL NATURAL VEGETATION............. N-1
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... N-1
Map Units vs. Individual Ecological Groups or Series........................................... N-3
DESCRIPTIONS OF MIXED CONIFER ECOLOGICAL GROUPS....................... N-6
Douglas-Fir Mixed Conifer Series.......................................................................... N-6
Ponderosa Pine – Mixed Conifer Series ............................................................... N-11
Wild Fir Mixed Conifer Series ............................................................................. N-13
MAPPED TYPES NOT INCLUDED IN MIXED CONIFER MODEL.................. N-17
Canyon Live Oak Series ....................................................................................... N-17
Red Fir Series........................................................................................................ N-17
Jeffrey Pine Series................................................................................................. N-18
APPENDIX O – RANGE USE.......................................................O-1
Introduction................................................................................................................. O-1
Regional Range History.............................................................................................. O-1
Regional Historic Range Impacts ............................................................................... O-2
Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creek Range History.......................................................... O-3
Condition and Trend Monitoring ................................................................................ O-9
Summary ................................................................................................................... O-13
Literature Cited ......................................................................................................... O-14
APPENDIX P - WATERSHED ELEMENT DESCRIPTIONS ........ P-1
Watershed Sensitivity Elements ..................................................................................P-1
Watershed Disturbance Elements ................................................................................P-1
Near Stream Disturbance .............................................................................................P-3
Watershed Disturbance ................................................................................................P-4
Stream Data..................................................................................................................P-4
APPENDIX Q -CULTURAL RESOURCES...................................Q-1
Introduction................................................................................................................. Q-1
Southern Cascade Pre-history ..................................................................................... Q-1
Early Holocene (9000 B.C. - 6000 B.C.)................................................................ Q-2
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Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
Early Archaic (6000 B.C. - 3000 B.C.)................................................................... Q-3
Middle Archaic (3000 B.C. - A.D. 500) ................................................................. Q-3
Deadman Complex (1500 B.C. - 500 B.C.) ............................................................ Q-6
Kingsley Complex (500 B.C. - A.D. 500) .............................................................. Q-6
Dye Creek Complex (A.D. 500 - A.D. 1500) ......................................................... Q-7
Mill Creek Complex (A.D. 1500 - 1845)................................................................ Q-8
Historic (Protohistoric) - Ethnographic Yana Complex (A.D. 1845 - A.D. 1911). Q-8
Sacramento Valley Sites ......................................................................................... Q-9
Regional Land Uses .............................................................................................. Q-10
Aboriginal Land Use............................................................................................. Q-13
HISTORIC LAND USE ........................................................................................... Q-14
Mexican Land Grants............................................................................................ Q-14
Lassen Trail........................................................................................................... Q-17
Ranching ............................................................................................................... Q-17
Lumber Industry.................................................................................................... Q-19
Agriculture/Water Diversions............................................................................... Q-22
Mining................................................................................................................... Q-28
Land Ownership/Homesteads/Squatters ............................................................... Q-28
Recreation ............................................................................................................. Q-29
Summary of Land Use .............................................................................................. Q-29
References Cited ....................................................................................................... Q-31

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Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.- Vicinity map of Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creek watersheds. ........................... 6
Figure 2.- Adult spring-run chinook salmon escapement estimates for the Sacramento
River. No estimates were made between 1960 and 1966. ....................................... 12
Figure 3.- Adult steelhead escapement estimates for the Sacramento River at Red Bluff
diversion dam. Estimates only available between 1967 and 1993........................... 12
Figure 4.- Adult spring-run chinook escapement estimates for Mill Creek. No estimates
were made during 1965-1969, 1976-1977, 1979, 1981, 1983. ................................. 13
Figure 6.- Sierra Nevada old growth and areas of late successional emphasis in the Mill,
Deer, and Antelope Creek watersheds. ..................................................................... 16
Figure 7.- Cumulative fire events for twelve sites investigated by Norman and Taylor
(1996) in the Mill and Deer Creek watersheds. ........................................................ 20
Figure 8.- Number of disturbance criteria exceeding moderate risk in sub-basins of Mill,
Deer, and Antelope Creek watersheds. ..................................................................... 23
Figure 9.- Rhyolitic soils as a percentage of sub-basin in Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creek
Watersheds................................................................................................................ 24
Attachment 1 – spring-run migration timing .................................................................E-29
Attachment 2 – steelhead migration timing ...................................................................E-30
Attachment 3 – spring-run migration timing .................................................................E-31
Figure 8-G.- Number of disturbance criteria exceeding moderate risk in sub-basins of
Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creek watersheds. .......................................................... G-6
Figure 2-G.- Mill Creek road densities by decade from 1930 to 1990. ........................ G-10
Figure 3-G.- Deer Creek road densities by decade from 1930 to 1990. ....................... G-11
Figure 4-G.- Antelope Creek road densities by decade from 1930 to 1990. ................ G-12
Figure 5-G.- Photographs taken of Mill Creek from the Highway 36 bridge looking
upstream. The top photo was taken in 1934, the bottom photo was taken in 1994.
Note the cedar tree to the right, present in both photos. ....................................... G-21
Figure 6-G.- Cross sectional #1 in the alluvial reach of Mill Creek showing comparing
1996 and 1998 profiles. This cross section is located approximately 200 meters
downstream of the Hwy 171 slide. ....................................................................... G-31
Figure 7-G.- Cross sectional #2 in the alluvial reach of Mill Creek showing comparing
1996 and 1998 profiles. This cross section is located approximately 20 meters
downstream of the Hwy 171 slide ........................................................................ G-32
Figure 1-K. Cross-walk of CALVEG map to NFFL fuel type map. ............................. K-3
Figure 2-K. Pre-burn and postburn Landsat TM images (top) were used to create a map
of change (bottom).................................................................................................. K-3
Figure 3-K. Fire simulation results from a three watershed fire on the Lassen National
Forest....................................................................................................................... K-4
Figure 4K. Comparison of FARSITE data outputs and automated change detection
analysis........................................................................................................................ 6
Figure 1-L.- Cumulative fire events for all sites in Deer, and Mill Creek watersheds....L-9
Figure 3-L.- Time since last fire at ECOS site 157........................................................L-10
Figure 1-M. Frequencies of different species of trees based upon general land survey data
from the 1870's. Data is grouped by township and range. Species codes: 0- non-
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Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
forested; 1 -Douglas-fir, I 0- yellow pine, 13-sugar pine, 15-pitch pine, 16- gray
pine, 17-lodgepole pine, 18-1 9-other hardwoods, 30 - fir (likely includes white fir
and possibly Douglas-fir), 51 -incense cedar, 80- oak......................................... M-12
Figure 1-O. Animal unit months on each allotment within the Mill Creek basin from
1920 to 1995. .......................................................................................................... O-4
Figure 2-O. Animal unit months on all allotments within the Mill Creek basin from
1920 to 1995. .......................................................................................................... O-5
Figure 3-O. Animal Unit months on each allotment within the Deer Creek basin from
1920 to 1995. .......................................................................................................... O-6
Figure 4-O. Animal unit months on all allotments within the Deer Creek Basin from
1920 to 1995. .......................................................................................................... O-6
Figure 5-O. Number of livestock grazed on each allotment within the Deer Creek basin
from 1920 to 1995................................................................................................... O-7
Figure 6-O. Animal unit months on all allotments within the Antelope Creek Basin from
1920 to 1995. .......................................................................................................... O-8
Figure 7-O. Animal unit months grazed within each WA basin from 1920 to 1995.... O-8
Figure 8-O. Soil condition ratings for allotments within the Mill Creek basin from 1957
to 1967. ................................................................................................................... O-9
Figure 9-O. Vegetation condition ratings for allotments within the Mill Creek basin from
1957 to 1967. .......................................................................................................... O-9
Figure 10-O. Soil condition ratings for allotments within the Deer Creek basin from
1957 to 1986. ........................................................................................................ O-10
Figure 11-O. Vegetation condition ratings for allotments within the Deer Creek basin
from 1957 to 1986................................................................................................. O-11
Figure 13-O. Vegetation condition ratings for allotments within the Antelope Creek basin
from 1957 to 1976................................................................................................. O-12
Figure 1-Q. Tehama Watershed Analysis Project Area.................................................. Q-5
Figure 2-Q.- Land Grants.............................................................................................. Q-16
Figure 3-Q.-Operations of Sierra Flume and Lumber Company.................................. Q-23
Figure 4-Q.-Calfornia Family Tree of Diamond National............................................ Q-24
Figure 5-Q.-Los Molinos Land Subdivision Map ........................................................ Q-26
Figure 6-Q.-Los Molino Water Company Ditch System.............................................. Q-27

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Watershed Analysis for Mill, Deer, and Antelope Creeks
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.- Watershed Analysis: Issues and questions with important stressors................. 10
Table 2.- RMOs for Alluvial Stream Types (Rosgen C and E types); monitoring reaches
at Gurnsey Creek, Upper Mill Creek, Carter Creek.................................................. 38
Table 3.- RMOs for Perennial Stream Reaches (including alluvial); monitoring reaches at
3 sites on Deer Creek, 3 on Mill Creek, 1 on Antelope Creek, and 1 site each on
Carter, Slate, Gurnsey, Elam, North Fork Calf, and Rocky Gulch Creeks............... 39
Table 4.- Watershed Management Objectives (WMOs) for Anadromous Watersheds.... 40
Table 1-B.- Soil series in the Deer Creek watershed. ..................................................... B-4
Table 2-B.- Soil series in the Mill Creek watershed....................................................... B-4
Table 3.- Soil series within the Antelope Creek waterhsed. ........................................... B-4
Table 4-B.- Summary of soils of concern in the Deer Creek watershed. ...................... B-5
Table 5.- Summary of soils of concern in the Mill Creek watershed. ............................ B-6
Table 6-B.- Summary of soils of concern in the Antelope Creek watershed. ................ B-7
Table 1-C.- Old Growth Habitat Size Classes (% of Area) ......................................... C-23
Table 2-C.- Habitats of the Analysis Area................................................................... C-23
Table 1-D.- Introduced (non-native) aquatic species are known to occur in Mill, Deer,
and Antelope Creek drainages. ............................................................................... D-2
Table 1-E.- Approximate period of spring-run chinook migration by percentage of total
population ..............................................................................................in Mill Creek. E-3
Table 2-E.- Carcass and redd counts and percentages by reach in 1941. ........................E-8
Table 3-E.- Deer Creek Holding data collected from 1992 to 1999..............................E-10
Table 4-E.-Deer Creek Spawning data collected from 1992 to 1999. ...........................E-10
Table 5-E.-Mill Creek spring-run chinook spawning survey data collected between 1992
and 1999. Due to poor water visibility holding surveys are not effective and
spawning data is used for the population estimate of holding adult. .....................E-11
Table 6-E. Antelope Creek Holding data collected from 1992 to 1999. .......................E-12
Table 7-E.- Antelope Creek Spawning data collected from 1992 to 1999. ...................E-12
Table 9-E.- Maximum (near) surface water temperatures (in degrees Fahrenheit)
recorded during the month of July or August for the years 1963-1964; 1992-1995
and the two month (July/August) average maximum temperatures (in parenthesis)
within the range of spring-run chinook salmon holding and spawning habitat in Mill
Creek, Deer Creek, and Antelope Creek, Tehama County, CA. ...........................E-17
Table 10-E.- Water temperature summaries for mainstem Deer Creek, Mill, Antelope
Creeks and their major tributaries..........................................................................E-18
Attachment 6 – habitat typing reaches ..........................................................................E-36
Table1-G.- Watershed disturbance by sub-basin. ........................................................... G-3
Table 2-G.- Number of watershed disturbance criteria exceeding levels of moderate risk,
by sub-watershed .................................................................................................... G-5
Table 3-G.- Road Density by Decade ............................................................................. G-8
Table 4-G.- Watershed Disturbance-1975 .................................................................... G-13
Table 5-G.- Near Stream Disturbance-Deer, Mill, Antelope Creek. ............................ G-15
Table 6-G.-Miles (and % of total) of Stream by Montgomery-Buffington Type*....... G-16
Table 8-G.- Stream Condition Inventory (SCI) Data for Mill Creek tributaries. ........ G-25
Table 9G.- Stream Condition Inventory (SCI) for Antelope Creek and Judd Creek.... G-25
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