Cheney Creek Watershed Assessment

Identification Information

Citation

Originator: Applegate River Watershed Council

Publish Date: 2001

Online Link: None

BPA Project #:

Contact Information

Agency: Watershed Councils

Name: Chris Vogel

Job Position: Monitoring Project Manager

Telephone: (541) 899-1749

E-Mail Address: cvogel@arwc.org

Description

Abstract: To date, Applegate watershed assessments have focused on 5th field tributary streams that drain more than 50,000 acres. The Little Applegate and Williams Creek Assessments, which are nearing completion or have been completed, examine watersheds of 72,000 and 52,000 acres respectively. The Cheney Creek sub-watershed, in contrast, contains approximately 7,036 acres and represents a much smaller geographic, socio-economic, and aquatic component of the Applegate Watershed than the larger 5th field tributary streams. This smaller scale watershed assessment was undertaken as an experiment to determine the value of conducting watershed assessments at varied spatial scales. Cheney Creek residents and regional land managers can look to the Cheney Creek Watershed Assessment to provide an evaluation of stream health within the Cheney Creek Watershed. This assessment details the environmental history of Cheney Creek and documents trends in water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, agricultural land use, and forest management. The information presented here may provide a means of better integrating fish and wildlife habitat needs with ecologically appropriate and sustainable land use strategies. The ARWC assessment of the Cheney Creek watershed began in 1999. The assessment includes two complementary projects that focus on upslope vegetation and aquatic and riparian resources separately. An Oregon Department of Forestry Grant funded the upslope vegetation component of this project, while the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board funded the aquatic and riparian resource assessment. The focus of this report is the aquatic/ riparian assessment. The upslope vegetative resources and stewardship planning components will be documented in a separate report.

Purpose: The Cheney Creek Assessment project set out to accomplish the following objectives: 1. Compile historical and current data on physical and chemical conditions of the watershed, focusing primarily on riparian and aquatic areas. 2. Evaluate changes in watershed processes and identify specific conservation and restoration needs, particularly where human land use activities alter stream and riparian ecosystems. 3. Develop an action plan, involving Cheney Creek residents and other local stakeholders and outlining community goals for watershed health. Develop specific conservation and restoration projects.

Time Period of Content:

Geographic Extent: Cheney Creek Watershed, Cheney Creek is a tributary of the Applegate River and is located in the Siskiyou Mountain Province of Southern Oregon in the Rogue River Basin. The Cheney Basin covers approximately 7,036 acres.

Status: Complete

Use Constraints:

Format: Zip of MS PowerPoint and Word documents

Data Quality Information

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Data Information

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Entity and Attribute Information

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Is a physical copy maintained for reference at Headquarters? Unknown