Chewaucan River
Encyclopedia
The Chewaucan River is part of the Great Basin
drainage. It flows 53 miles (85.3 km) through the Fremont–Winema National Forests, Bureau of Land Management
land, and private property in southern Oregon
. Its watershed
consists of 651 mi2 of conifer forest, marsh, and rural pasture land. The river provides habitat for many species of wildlife including native desert redband trout
.
. The sources of the Chewaucan are Elder Creek and Dairy Creek. Both have their headwaters in the east drainage of the Gearhart Mountain. The Chewaucan is the result of their merger east of the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness
near Dairy Point. From there, the Chewaucan flows north through the Fremont-Winema National Forests where waters from Ben Young Creek, Coffeepot Creek, Antelope Springs, Corral Creek, Dog Creek, Sage Hen Creek, Bear Creek, and Mill Creek flow into it before the river passes out of the forest near Paisley
.
The Chewaucan flows through Paisley and into what was once the Upper Chewaucan Marsh east of the town. The marsh is now pasture land, and the river’s flow through this area is controlled by a system of weir
s and irrigation
canals. The river is consolidated for a short distance as it leaves the upper marsh at The Narrows, where two fingers of high desert
uplands force the river into a single narrow channel. The river then opens into the Lower Chewaucan Marsh approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest of Valley Falls
. Finally, Crooked Creek joins the Chewaucan just one mile (1.6 km) before it empties into Abert Lake, which has no outlet.
, lodgepole pine
, and white fir
with aspen
groves near springs and meadows.
Below Paisley, the river flows through the 42000 acres (16,996.8 ha) Chewaucan Marsh. In native condition, the marsh was probably covered with tufted hairgrass, redtop
, sedges, and rushes
. However, the river’s flow through this area is controlled by a system of weirs and canals that provide water to irrigate the pasture lands that have replaced the marsh. The marsh is surrounded by semi-desert country with strongly alkaline soil that support arid, alkali-tolerant plants.
.
In the late 19th century, cattlemen turned the Chewaucan Marsh into pasture land by building a series of dams, weirs, and canals to provide irrigation. Over time, the stock of native trout dwindled. In the 1925, the Oregon Game Commission (forerunner of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
) began stocking the Chewaucan with hatchery
raised trout.
By 1994, the desert redband trout was being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act
. To help boost the redband population, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stopped stocking the Chewaucan in 1998. This was a very unpopular decision in the Paisley community.
Genetic testing revealed that native trout had not interbred with the hatchery fish. As a result, the native redband population began to increase more quickly than expected once the annual stocking was stopped. However, the dam and weir system still prevented fish from using the full length of the river. For any fish passing beyond the Paisley town weir, it was a one-way trip with little chance for survival in the irrigation canals and no chance to return up stream to spawn.
In 1996, biologists discovered a small population of native redband trout in River's End Reservoir, a private impoundment dam collecting the Chewaucan water just before it flows into Abert Lake. This discovery proved that redband trout could repopulate the entire Chewaucan watershed, if they could get past the man-made obstacles into the upper river to spawn.
The United States Forest Service
and Oregon Fish and Wildlife biologist partnered with the Paisley community and local ranchers to make the entire Chewaucan a fish-friendly river once again. As a result of this cooperation, the Forest Service and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board funded several projects to reopen the Chewaucan to migrating fish. In 2002, the Forest Service began replacing old culverts along the Chewaucan with new fish-friendly ones. In 2003, work began to replace the Paisley town weir, and four more watershed improvement projects were funded in 2004. While the Chewaucan Marsh cannot be returned to its natural state, since the completion of the Paisley weir project in 2006, large redband trout are once again passing down stream in the spring and then returning from the marsh area into the upper river. The town of Paisley now holds an annual fishing derby to celebrate the return of the river’s native redband trout population.
In addition to the fish habitat, the Chewaucan Marsh supports a diverse population of nesting ducks and sandhill crane
s. It also has nesting colonies of white-faced ibis
, great egret
s, and snowy egret
s. The area provides excellent migration staging habitat for double-crested cormorant
s, snow geese
, tule white-fronted geese, and black-crowned night-herons.
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
drainage. It flows 53 miles (85.3 km) through the Fremont–Winema National Forests, Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
land, and private property in southern Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Its watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
consists of 651 mi2 of conifer forest, marsh, and rural pasture land. The river provides habitat for many species of wildlife including native desert redband trout
Redband trout
Redband trout is a fish name that may be a synonym for the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, but is also used more narrowly for inland subspecies with well-defined geographical distributions in the United States...
.
Course
The Chewaucan flows for 53 miles (85.3 km) through Lake County, OregonLake County, Oregon
Lake County is a county in the high desert south central region of the U.S. state of Oregon, so named for the many lakes found within its boundaries, including Lake Abert, Hart Lake Reservoir, and Goose Lake. While Lake is among Oregon's largest counties, it is sparsely populated with 7,895...
. The sources of the Chewaucan are Elder Creek and Dairy Creek. Both have their headwaters in the east drainage of the Gearhart Mountain. The Chewaucan is the result of their merger east of the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness
Gearhart Mountain Wilderness
Gearhart Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area located within the Fremont National Forest in Lake County and Klamath County, south-central Oregon. This area was established in 1943 as a Wild Area and designated as Wilderness with the Wilderness Act of 1964. In 1984, an additional were added...
near Dairy Point. From there, the Chewaucan flows north through the Fremont-Winema National Forests where waters from Ben Young Creek, Coffeepot Creek, Antelope Springs, Corral Creek, Dog Creek, Sage Hen Creek, Bear Creek, and Mill Creek flow into it before the river passes out of the forest near Paisley
Paisley, Oregon
Paisley is a city in Lake County, Oregon, United States. It is located along Oregon Route 31, between Summer Lake and Lake Abert. The population was 247 at the 2000 census.-History:...
.
The Chewaucan flows through Paisley and into what was once the Upper Chewaucan Marsh east of the town. The marsh is now pasture land, and the river’s flow through this area is controlled by a system of weir
Weir
A weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream. In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind the structure , but allows water to flow over the top...
s and irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
canals. The river is consolidated for a short distance as it leaves the upper marsh at The Narrows, where two fingers of high desert
High Desert (Oregon)
The Oregon High Desert is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon, located east of the Cascade Range and south of the Blue Mountains, in the central and eastern parts of the state. Divided into a southern region and a northern region, the desert covers most of five Oregon counties and averages above...
uplands force the river into a single narrow channel. The river then opens into the Lower Chewaucan Marsh approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest of Valley Falls
Valley Falls, Oregon
Valley Falls is an unincorporated community in Lake County, Oregon, United States. Valley Falls lies on U.S. Route 395 just south of its junction with Oregon Route 31 near Lake Abert....
. Finally, Crooked Creek joins the Chewaucan just one mile (1.6 km) before it empties into Abert Lake, which has no outlet.
Watershed
The Chewaucan watershed drains 651 mi2 of forest, marsh and rural ranch land. The upper drainage, from its headwaters until it flows out of the mountains just west of Paisley, is forest country dominated with ponderosa pinePonderosa Pine
Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
, lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
, and white fir
White Fir
White Fir is a fir native to the mountains of western North America, occurring at altitudes of 900-3,400 m. It is a medium to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 25–60 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m . It is popular as an ornamental landscaping tree and as a Christmas Tree...
with aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
groves near springs and meadows.
Below Paisley, the river flows through the 42000 acres (16,996.8 ha) Chewaucan Marsh. In native condition, the marsh was probably covered with tufted hairgrass, redtop
Agrostis gigantea
Agrostis gigantea, known by its common name Redtop, is a perennial grass of the Agrostis genus.It is native to Europe, but in the cooler areas of North America was widely used as a pasture grass until the 1940s. Although it has largely been replaced by soybeans and more palatable grasses, it still...
, sedges, and rushes
Scirpus
The plant genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae , many with the common names club-rush or bulrush . Other common names are deergrass or grassweed.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, and grows in wetlands and moist soil...
. However, the river’s flow through this area is controlled by a system of weirs and canals that provide water to irrigate the pasture lands that have replaced the marsh. The marsh is surrounded by semi-desert country with strongly alkaline soil that support arid, alkali-tolerant plants.
Habitat
In its natural state, desert redband trout moved freely from the river’s headwaters near Gearhart Mountain to the Chewaucan Marsh, which was covered with marsh grasses and still supports prolific insect life. Feeding in the marsh area, the native trout often grew to 30 inches (76.2 cm) inches in length before they returned to the Chewaucan headwaters to spawnSpawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
.
In the late 19th century, cattlemen turned the Chewaucan Marsh into pasture land by building a series of dams, weirs, and canals to provide irrigation. Over time, the stock of native trout dwindled. In the 1925, the Oregon Game Commission (forerunner of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats....
) began stocking the Chewaucan with hatchery
Fish hatchery
A fish hatchery is a "place for artificial breeding, hatching and rearing through the early life stages of animals, finfish and shellfish in particular". Hatcheries produce larval and juvenile fish primarily to support the aquaculture industry where they are transferred to on-growing systems...
raised trout.
By 1994, the desert redband trout was being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
. To help boost the redband population, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stopped stocking the Chewaucan in 1998. This was a very unpopular decision in the Paisley community.
Genetic testing revealed that native trout had not interbred with the hatchery fish. As a result, the native redband population began to increase more quickly than expected once the annual stocking was stopped. However, the dam and weir system still prevented fish from using the full length of the river. For any fish passing beyond the Paisley town weir, it was a one-way trip with little chance for survival in the irrigation canals and no chance to return up stream to spawn.
In 1996, biologists discovered a small population of native redband trout in River's End Reservoir, a private impoundment dam collecting the Chewaucan water just before it flows into Abert Lake. This discovery proved that redband trout could repopulate the entire Chewaucan watershed, if they could get past the man-made obstacles into the upper river to spawn.
The United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
and Oregon Fish and Wildlife biologist partnered with the Paisley community and local ranchers to make the entire Chewaucan a fish-friendly river once again. As a result of this cooperation, the Forest Service and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board funded several projects to reopen the Chewaucan to migrating fish. In 2002, the Forest Service began replacing old culverts along the Chewaucan with new fish-friendly ones. In 2003, work began to replace the Paisley town weir, and four more watershed improvement projects were funded in 2004. While the Chewaucan Marsh cannot be returned to its natural state, since the completion of the Paisley weir project in 2006, large redband trout are once again passing down stream in the spring and then returning from the marsh area into the upper river. The town of Paisley now holds an annual fishing derby to celebrate the return of the river’s native redband trout population.
In addition to the fish habitat, the Chewaucan Marsh supports a diverse population of nesting ducks and sandhill crane
Sandhill Crane
The Sandhill Crane is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest...
s. It also has nesting colonies of white-faced ibis
White-faced Ibis
The White-faced Ibis is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae.This species breeds colonially in marshes, usually nesting in bushes or low trees. Its breeding range extends from the western USA south through Mexico, as well as from southeastern Brazil and southeastern Bolivia south to...
, great egret
Great Egret
The Great Egret , also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret, White Heron, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized...
s, and snowy egret
Snowy Egret
The Snowy Egret is a small white heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World Little Egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas....
s. The area provides excellent migration staging habitat for double-crested cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
The Double-crested Cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It occurs along inland waterways as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico...
s, snow geese
Snow Goose
The Snow Goose , also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed...
, tule white-fronted geese, and black-crowned night-herons.
Recreation
There are several campgrounds on the Chewaucan River. The most used site is the Chewaucan Crossing campground. The campground is located along the Chewaucan River in the Fremont–Winema National Forest approximately 8.5 miles (13.7 km) southwest of Paisley on a paved access road. It has five developed campsites with picnic tables, fire gates, and restrooms. Chewaucan Crossing is the trailhead for access to the middle section of the 115 miles (185.1 km) long Fremont National Recreation Trail. The elevation at Chewaucan Crossing is 4810 feet (1,466.1 m) above sea level. Because of harsh winters, the Forest Service normally closed the campground in November and reopens it in April.See also
- List of rivers of Oregon
- List of longest streams of Oregon