Watershed Special Characteristics

 Watershed Special Characteristics

Municipal Water Supply:
  • Lake Oroville, behind Oroville Dam (built 1962-1967) is where Upper Feather watershed water drains into. It can hold 3.5 million-acre-feet of water, making it the largest water storage. It provides water to 27 million people that live in California. It is also an irrigation source for 750,000 acres of farmland (supplies the country with over a third of its vegetables and about 2/3s of the nuts and fruits). 
Watershed Physical structure and scale:
  • The watershed captures rain and snowmelt which goes into creeks, rivers, etc. and flow into a large body of water. Lake Oroville has the West Branch, North Fork, Middle Fork, and South Fork Rivers converging together into this lake. 
  • Middle Fork River is a state designated wild and scenic river while the North Fork is mainly for hydropower generation. 
  • 3,200 sq mile watershed. 
  • Over 100 lakes
  • Hundreds of miles of trails
  • Beautiful public lands such as Lassen Volcanic National Park, Lassen National Forest, Plumas-Eureka State Park, and Lake Basin. 
  • 65% of the Feather river watershed is Plumas National Forest. 
  • Has varied landscape
    • forests
    • desert-like serpentine 
    • Volcanic soils
  • 10,000 foot in elevation for Alpine ecosystem
  • 2,000 foot in elevation for Arid Rocky foothill canyons 
Hydrologic and Hydraulic Processes:
  • Upper North Fork Feather River Hydroelectric Project (UNFFR): 
    • Has three reservoirs with dams:
      • Lake Almanor
      • Butt Valley
      • Belden Forebay
    • Five Powerhouses that has eight hydroelectric generating units
Biodiversity:
  • A biodiversity hotspot
  • Gray wolves live here: only place in California
  • Has rare and endangered frogs 
    • Foothill yellow-legged
    • Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged
    • California Re-legged
  • Stronghold for western bumble bee
  • Triple-junction where species mingle such as sagebush and red fir, pronghorn, and pine marten
    • Cascades
    • Sierra Nevada
    • Great Basin 
  • Thousands of native plants 
  • abundant wildlife
  • largest bird population in the Sierra 
Disturbances:
  • Drought
  • Bark Beetle infestation
  • Fires that have burnt 1.2 million acres combined 
    • North Complex Fire
    • Dixie Fire
  • 100 years of mining, grazing, timber harvesting, roads, railroads, fire suppressions, rural residential developments have cause impacts to the watershed. 
Restoration Plans and Organizations (Identifying problems and opportunities): 
  • For streams base flow, Improve retention of water
  • Improve water quality (mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and agricultural chemicals) 
  • streambank protection
  • improve vegetation management
  • For major aquifers, improve groundwater retention
  • Improvement and protection of habitat conditions 
  • Salmon and steelhead aquatic habitat conditions
  • Monitoring stations 
    • precipitations
    • stream flow
    • soil moisture: dry soil absorbs more water, but soil already wet will shed water creating inflows into rivers, reservoirs and lakes. 
    • temperature
    • solar radiation
    • wind speed and direction
  • Snow Sensor
    • https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/
Existing programs and Partnerships:
  • California’s State Water Project (SWP)
  • National Weather Service 
  • U.S. Forest Service 
  • PG&E
Resources:
  • Jamison Creek near Plumas-Eureka State Park. (2024). Upper Feather River Watershed. https://sacriver.org/explore-watersheds/feather-river-subregion/upper-feather-river-watershed/#:~:text=The%20Upper%20Feather%20River%20Watershed,the%20California%20State%20Water%20Project.
  • Middle Fork Feather River. (2024). Feather River Subregion. https://sacriver.org/explore-watersheds/feather-river-subregion/#:~:text=This%20subregion%20includes%20all%20waters,healthy%20and%20sustainable%20watershed%20conditions.
  • DeRuiter, Darla. Where I Stand: Feather River Watershed: A confluence of history, habitat, and call for preservation. (2022). Plumas News. https://www.plumasnews.com/where-i-stand-feather-river-watershed-a-confluence-of-history-habitat-and-call-for-preservation/#:~:text=Wildlife%20habitat%20&%20biodiversity&text=Our%20conifer%20forests%2C%20mammal%2C%20bird,two%20were%20able%20to%20attend!
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 2105. (2020). State Water Resources Control Board. https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/unffr_ferc2105.html
  • FEATHER RIVER WATERSHED MANAGEMENT STRATEGY. (2004). Plumas County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. https://www.plumascounty.us/DocumentCenter/View/11657/Feather-River-Watershed-Management-Strategy?bidId=
  • Monitoring Stations in the Feather River Watershed Inform Statewide Water Supply. (2021). California Department of Water Resources. https://water.ca.gov/News/Blog/2021/May/Monitoring-Stations-in-the-Feather-River-Watershed-Inform-Statewide-Water-Supply
  • For the Love of the Feather River Watershed. (2024). Plumas County. https://plumascounty.org/blog/explore/feather-river-watershed/

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