Umpqua River
Status: YELLOW ALERT
Length: 112 miles
Basin area: approximately 5,000 square miles
Almost the entire length of the Umpqua River has high water temperatures and bacteria contamination.
photo by Gary Sharp
One of the principal rivers of the Oregon coast, the Umpqua drains an expansive network of valleys west of the Cascade Range and south of the Willamette Valley. It is one of only two Oregon rivers (the Rogue is the other one) that begin in the Cascades and cut through the Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean. The Umpqua Basin is a timber-producing area, and 90% of the basin is federal, state and private forestland. “Umpqua” is the native name for the country around the river and it became used as a word for both the river and local tribes. The river provides habitat for a number of species of anadromous fish, including coho salmon, fall and spring chinook salmon, summer and winter steelhead, and seagoing and resident cutthroat trout. A major tributary, the North Umpqua River, is world-famous for salmon fishing.
A Closer Look
Temperature and fecal coliform bacteria are the primary water quality problems on the Umpqua River. High stream temperatures typically occur during mid to late summer. The removal of streamside vegetation in some areas contributes to warmer temperatures. In addition, stream flow has been modified by straightening, diking, and constriction due to management and diversion structures. Studies by DEQ indicate that sources of fecal coliform bacteria in the Umpqua may include wildlife, livestock wastes, failing residential septic systems, wastewater treatment plant malfunctions, and stormwater runoff.
While the Umpqua's water quality is fairly good, its tributaries - the North and South Umpqua rivers, Elk Creek and Calapooya Creek - have more water quality problems. For example, the Umpqua Basin is home to the abandoned Formosa and Bonanza mines, which leach mercury and arsenic into tributary creeks and create fish-killing acidic waters. Additional pollution problems in the tributaries include sediment, phosphorous, chlorine, chlorophyll, weeds and algae, plus fecal coliform and temperature. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently developing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan to reduce pollution in the Umpqua Basin.
Water for Fish and Farms
In 2000, a diversion structure was removed from South Myrtle Creek, a tributary of the South Umpqua River, allowing passage of salmon and trout to a stream that had been blocked for nearly a century. The dam spanned the entire creek and was fourteen feet high in the summer, diverting water into a 2-1/2 mile irrigation ditch. It contributed to the creek's high stream temperatures and low flows.
The project was initiated by a landowner who contacted the Oregon Water Resources Department and recruited all the other landowners who used water from the diversion. The Umpqua Basin Watershed Council received funding for the project from numerous sources including DEQ, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Umpqua Fisheries Enhancement Derby. All the landowners contributed to the project, donating services and supplies. They worked with the watershed council to remove the dam, install a more efficient sprinkler system with individual pumps drawing from the stream instead of the ditch, and plant vegetation alongside the stream. The improved irrigation efficiency removes less water from the creek during the summer, which helps with flows and water temperatures.
The landowners discovered that by working together and mobilizing available resources, they were able to restore their local creek, improve water quality and fish habitat, and continue to irrigate their lands.
Mike Danielle, landowner of the site, stands proudly on the spot where a local irrigation dam had once blocked South Myrtle Creek. © Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers. © Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers.
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