HABITAT IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT
Fishery Division
ottiON Siam
--411.4444
NAME COMMISSION
OREGON STATE GAME COMMISSION
P. 0. BOX 3503
Fall Creek Reservoir
PORTLAND, OREGON 97208
Number 17
STATE OF OREGON
OREGON STATE GAME COMMISSION
FISHERY DIVISION
C. J. CAMPBELL, CHIEF OF OPERATIONS
FALL CREEK RESERVOIR
Pre-impoundment chemical treatment
to remove undesirable fish
Completion report for U. S. Army Engineer
Contract No. DA-35-026-CIVENG-66-19
By
Ralph L. Swan
District Aquatic Biologist
Fall Creek Reservoir
Number 17
FALL CREEK RESERVOIR
PRE-IMPOUNDMENT CHEMICAL TREATMENT TO REMOVE UNDESIRABLE FISH.
1965
Abstract
Fall Creek Reservoir is a unit of the comprehensive plan of the U. S.
Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and multiple use of the water
resources of the upper Willamette Basin.
The reservoir is located on Big Fall
Creek, nineteen miles southeast of Eugene in Lane County.
The reservoir will cover 1,880 acres at maximum pool.
The watershed con-
tains approximately 200,000 acres, most of which is under administration of
the United States Forest Service.
Undesirable fish species that compete with anadromous fish were to be
eliminated from the watershed.
Rough fish problems could conceivably make
expensive fish facilities useless by depleting runs.
Funds for the project were provided to the Oregon State Game Commission
by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The dam was completed shortly after chemical treatment and was scheduled
to operate for flood control purposes in October, 1965.
The watershed above the dam was treated with 360 gallons of synergized
rotenone (Pro-Noxfish) applied at a concentration of 2.0 ppm.
The chemical
eliminated populations of coarse scaled suckers, squawfish, and redside
shiners.
Approximately twenty-four miles of Big Fall Creek and fifteen miles
of tributaries were treated.
Preliminary work began on August 2, 1965 and the chemical treatment of
Big Fall Creek and tributaries was conducted from August 31 to September t, 1965.
1
Rotenone dispensing stations were established four miles apart on major
Small streams, sloughs, and
streams and above barriers on, the tributaries.
isolated pools were treated with backpack sprayers.
The upper sections of
Big Fall Creek were toxic for twenty-four hours, but the duration of the
toxicity increased as the rotenone moved downstream.
Water flowing past the
dam at a rate of 35 feet per second was toxic over eighty hours.
Since water could not be impounded in sufficient volume for dilution of
the rotenone, it was necessary to establish a detoxification station below
the dam.
Potassium permanganate was introduced at a rate of 2,0 ppm. to
counteract the rotenone.
A total of 1,200 pounds of potassium permanganate
was used over a period of eighty-eight hours.
Location and Past History
Fall Creek Dam is located at river mile 7.2 on Big Fall Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River,
The dam is in Lane County,
in Township 19 South, Range I West, section 1, approximately one mile east of
the community of Unity.
Figure 1 is a vicinity map of the Fall Creek Reservoir
and drainage.
Steelhead trout and spring chinook salmon enter Big Fall Creek.
Facili-
ties for handling both upstream and downstream migrants were incorporated in
the dam structure.
It has been estimated from redd counts that up to 100
steelhead and 600 chinook have spawned in Big Fall Creek annually.
trout harvest has been estimated at 12,000 fish.
Annual
The stream has had an annual
stocking of 10,000 rainbow trout of catchable size, that are usually stocked
above the dam.
(Figure 7).
It had not been necessary to chemically treat the watershed prior to the
construction of Fall Creek Dam because the rough fish populations were static
2
CLACKAMAS
SALEM
POLK
CO
MARION
CO.
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DETROIT
RESERVOIR
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REREGULATING
RESERVOIR
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LINN CO.
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GREEN PETER
RESERVOIR
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REREGULATING
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LANE
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DAMSITE
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FALL CREEK
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Fall Creek Rood Relocation
1
DEXTER
REREGULATING
RESERVOIR
5
LOOKOUT POINT
RESERVOIR
Ai
G
32
34
GROVE
DAMSITE
HILLS CREEK
4_
oximum Poo/ EI.834
/5 MILES
CAPACITY AT MAX. POOL
115,000 ACRE FEET
6
1
5
LEGEND
4
VICINITY MAP
SCALE IN MILES
5
T 18 S
T 19 S
USABLE RESERVOIR
1
--
35
SPRINGFIELD
RESERVOIR
13,
RESERVOIR
L
I
FALL CREEK
TRUE
NORTH
DORENA
RESERVOIR
CO.
1
.36
1
I_Cottage Grove
DOUGLAS
.....
1
1
0
5
1
10
I
15
I
1
20
PROPOSED ROAD RELOCATION
Peninsula Rood Location
1
I
PROPOSED PUBLIC USE AREA
1
12
Win berry ,creek
Rood Relocation
9
7
1
1
1
-
1
71./are 1
1
1
FALL CREEK RESERVOIR
1
5
1
18
1-0
VS, Pc,/
1
17
FALL CREEK, OREGON
LOOKOUT PT.
RESERVOIR
SCALE IN MILES
0
1
I
I
1
I
I
I
U.S. AR MY ENGINEER DISTRICT, PORTLAND'
CORPS OF ENGINEERS
FE8. I9 ,
FL -I6588 -61
Defoxiccri-ion Station
0 Cot Isiatd Flow Roienorre Slat/on,
Side 7.7.6cd-ary Cot Isfani- Mow Rote/70/7e Slid.
POMIS /sola7Lec/ From Sfream.
derY
Forest
oaf
Figure 2
B/G FALL CREEK
WATERSHED
Scale is= / mile
in a stream situation.
Public access to Big Fall Creek and tributaries has been by county roads
along the streams in the lower sections and by U. S, Forest Service logging
roads in the upper regions.
Access to the new reservoir will be provided by
the U, S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Lane County Parks Department.
Access to the upper portions of the watershed will remain unchanged.
Figure 2
is a sketch of the Big Fall Creek watershed above the dam.
Preparation
Chemical treatment activities were coordinated with the U. S. Army Corps
of Engineers, the construction contractor (Montag-Halvorson-McLaughlin), the
Fish Commission of Oregon, the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the U. S. Forest
Service, and the Lane County Parks Department.
Local residents were informed
as to the time and duration of the treatment.
Past experience with other reservoirs in the Willamette Valley indicated
that, unless undesirable fish species were eliminated prior to water impoundment, they would become so numerous that they would be competitors with and
predators on small salmonids.
It was on that basis that plans were made to
chemically treat the watershed above Fall Creek Dam,
The watershed could be treated most effectively and economically when
Fortunately, they were at the lowest
the streams were at low summer levels,
levels in many years when they were treated.
Water flows in the upper portions of Big Fall Creek and tributaries were
determined by field methods.
The flow of Big Fall Creek at the dam was
determined by U. S. Corps of Engineers personnel.
The two ponds treated
contained little water and their volumes were estimated.
5
The Big Fall Creek watershed extends from the foothills to the higher
Elevations range from 750 feet at the dam
portions of the Cascade Mountains.
Broadleaf trees and shrubs border the
to over 5,000 feet at the headwaters.
streams and old-growth conifers and open logging units cover the adjacent
lands above the reservoir basin.
The reservoir basin was farm and pasture
land.
Most of Big Fall Creek is confined to a rock-walled channel which ranges
from twenty to thirty feet deep.
The channel contains many long, deep, slow-
moving pools which are ideal habitat for suckers and other undesirable fish.
Except in the reservoir basin, there were few isolated pools and slough areas.
One abandoned pond was found in the reservoir basin and a private pond was
found near the mouth of Portland Creek.
Big Fall and Winberry Creeks were known to contain rough fish from
observations made in previous years.
Fish population studies, utilizing an
electric shocker, were made in 1964 by personnel of the River Basins Division
of the Oregon State Game Commission.
Table 1.
Data from their work is presented in
Figure 3 is a list of abbreviations for fish used in this report.
Rotenone was used for sampling prior to the chemical treatment to determine the range of rough fish in Big Fall Creek and its tributaries.
Coarse
scaled suckers and whitefish were present up to the falls on Big Fall Creek,
nearly twenty-four miles above the dam.
in the reservoir basin.
Squawfish and shiners were numerous
Squawfish, suckers, whitefish, and shiners were
present in Winberry Creek up to a falls approximately four miles above the
mouth.
Only trout, cottids and dace were found above the falls.
Whitefish
and dace were found in Portland Creek up to a falls about a mile above the
mouth.
Only dace and cottids were found in He He Creek although suckers had
been reported to be present.
Only dace and cutthroat were found in the
6
Figure 3
FISH ABBREVIATIONS
AS
Ch
Atlantic salmon
bullhead catfish
black bass, or bass
black crappie
bluegill sunfish
black bullhead
blue catfish
brown trout
brown bullhead
bridgelip sucker
brook trout
crappie
channel catfish
chinook salmon
ChF
ChJ
chinook salmon fall
chinbok salmon jack
ChS
Clm
Co
CoJ
Cot
Cp
CRC
CS
CSu
chinook salmon spring)
chiselmouth
coho salmon
coho salmon (jack)
cottid
carp
Columbia River chub
Chum salmon
coarsescale sucker
cutthroat trout
dace
Dolly Varden trout
flounder
flathead catfish
goldfish
greenling
green sunfish
green sturgeon
golden trout
B
BB
BC
Bg
B1B
B1C
Br
BrB
BSu
BT
C
CC
Dt
DV
F
FC
Gf
Gr
GS
GSg
GT
Lam
LB
Lc
LT
Mt
Mu
P
Pk
PS
Rb
RbF
RbS
Ro
REIS
SB
SCt
Sg
Sh
Skb
Sq
SS
St
StB
StS
StW
Su
To
WC
Wf
Wm
WSg
YB
YP
kokanee
lamprey
largemouth bass
lingcod
lake trout
madtom
mullet
perch
pumpkinseed sunfish
pink salmon
rockfish
rainbow trout
rainbow trout fall)
rainbow trout (spring)
roach
redside shiner
smallmouth bass
blackspotted cutthroat
sturgeon
shad
stickleback
squawfish
sockeye salmon
steelhead
striped bass
steelhead summel
steelhead winter
sucker
tomcod
white crappie
whitefish
warmouth bass
white sturgeon
yellow bullhead
yellow perch
North Fork of Big Fall Creek.
Table 1.
1964 Fish Population Study
on Fall Creek and Tributaries
Stream
Date
Temperature
in Degrees F
Stream
mile
Species and numbers of fish
Rb
Ct
Big Fall Creek
Aug. 20
62
13.3
Delp Creek
July 14
57
.2
2
He He Creek
July 14
61
.5
4
Pernot Creek
July 14
58
.0
5
Portland Creek
July 14
62
.8
5
Winberry Creek
July 13
73
.5
4
Winberry Creek
July 13
71
5.2
N.F. Winberry
July 13
63
S.F. Winberry
July 13
67
Chs
Cot
1
8
D Wf
14
2
3
13
8
3
8
13
7
1
2
2
1.2
10
10
.7
5
6
2
1965 Fish Population Study Data
on Fall Creek and Tributaries
Table 2.
Stream
Date
RsS
CSu
x
x
Species
D
Cot
Sq
WF
x
x
Rb
Ct
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Aug. 11
x
x
x
x
Aug. 11
x
x
x
x
Big Fall Creek
Aug. 13
N.F. Big Fall Creek
Aug. 9
Winberry Creek
Aug. 4
Portland Creek
Aug. 9
Alder Creek
He He Creek
x
x
x
ChS
x
Largemouth bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, white crappie, bluegill, and brown
bullhead catfish were found in an abandoned farm pond in the reservoir basin
approximately four miles above the dam.
watershed are listed in Table 2.
8
Fish found in various streams in the
Various agencies, both public and private, were informed of the plans to
chemically treat the Fall Creek watershed prior to the completion of the dam.
A helicopter flight was taken to locate ponds or other water not mapped
or otherwise known to exist in the drainage.
Arrangements were made with the U. S. Corps of Engineers and the U. S.
Forest Service for storage space for supplies and equipment.
A landowner below the dam was contacted regarding the use of his irrigation pump to introduce potassium permanganate to detoxify the rotenone.
The only special equipment used on the project was a modified U. S. Forest Service slurry mixing device which was used to mix the potassium permanganate with water to obtain a liquid solution.
An equipment trailer containing back-pack spray cans, tools, pumps, and
miscellaneous equipment was moved to the Fall Creek Dam construction area.
Lumber was purchased for use in the construction of drip barrel stands.
Five
new fifteen-gallon barrels were obtained for use as drip barrels on small
streams.
Insulation material was purchased to use on the drip barrels to
maintain a nearly constant temperature of the rotenone to insure an even flow
into the stream.
Live-boxes containing rainbow trout were distributed throughout the
treatment area prior to the application of rotenone.
A box was placed above
each drip station and two live-boxes were used in connection with the detoxification station.
One was placed immediately above the station and the other
a short distance below.
(Figure 8).
Replacement and control fish were held in a large live-box in Winberry
Creek above five miles above the dam.
It was necessary to remove the control
fish during the treatment of Winberry Creek.
Rotenone and some of the supplies were stored at the U. S. Forest Service
Guard Station about nine miles above the dam to facilitate distribution to
the various waters -Co be treated.
The guard station was centrally located
and Forest Service personnel were present at all times to prevent theft or
molestation of the equipment and supplies.
Because of limited manpower and the slow movement of water in Big Fall
Creek, it was decided to use twenty-four rotenone dispensing stations.
The
drippers could be turned on the night before the crews started downstream
with the back-pack spray cans.
Samples of water from Big Fall Creek and its major tributaries were sent
to a commercial laboratory for analysis.
Fineings are presented in Table 3.
It was noted that Winberry Creek, which had the highest readings of all items
tested, also had the most and largest cutthroat trout.
Portland Creek, which
had the next highest readings, contained mostly rainbow and the cutthroat
averaged smaller in size.
Table 3.
Water Analysis, Big Fall Creek System
August 16, 1965
Big Fall
Test
7.02
pH value
Total Dissolved Solids in ppm
Alkalinity (as CaCO
Winberry
7.11
He He
Portland
6.93
7.03
54.0
60.0
56.0
58.0
0.0
23.3
0.0
30.3
0.0
26.3
0.0
28.2
)
3
Carbonate
BiCarbonate
Conductivity
(micromhos per cm)
-199
-100
-100
-190
A temperature recording station was established on Big Fall Creek near
the Fall Creek Guard Station in 1962 by personnel of the Eugene office of the
U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.
Data from that station will be found
in Table 4.
10
Table 4. Summary of Thermograph Readings
from Fall Creek at USFS Guard Station
Upstream from Proposed Fall Creek Reservoir Site 1962
Day
June
Max. Min.
July
Max. Min.
1
64
58
2
*
*
*
*
*
*
61
65
66
67
68
68
67
68
65
64
64
66
66
64
65
68
69
7o
71
71
59
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Il
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
3o
31
61
60
59
60
60
59
61
61
60
62
63
63
65
65
65
67
66
65
65
65
65
68
64
-
53
55
52
52
53
54
53
54
56
55
56
56
57
57
58
6o
61
60
59
58
58
6o
57
-
72
73
72
72
72
71
69
57
58
61
62
60
61
61
59
57
57
59
61
59
59
61
63
63
65
66
67
66
66
66
66
65
65
August
Max. Min.
67
69
66
62
65
64
62
60
62
66
67
67
68
67
67
67
67
66
67
68
67
64
64
66
66
64
62
62
62
62
63
64
64
62
6o
59
62
60
59
59
6o
62
62
63
63
63
63
64
64
62
63
64
6o
58
61
62
61
58
57
57
57
58
* Clock stopped
11
September
Max.
Min.
63
63
63
63
64
64
63
61
60
58
58
57
59
61
61
61
61
62
62
62
62
61
6o
6o
59
58
58
58
59
59
59
59
56
55
56
56
54
55
54
57
58
58
57
58
58
58
6o
60
59
58
57
56
57
57
55
53
52
-
-
59
58
57
October
MR 7-77E.
55
56
55
54
51
52
50
51
51
5o
5o
51
50
50
50
49
48
49
52
52
51
52
50
49
51
52
51
50
50
50
51
53
55
54
53
50
50
49
50
5o
49
49
50
50
50
49
48
46
47
5o
51
5o
51
49
48
5o
50
49
49
49
49
50
November
Max.
Min.
50
49
48
50
51
5o
46
5o
50
50
49
49
48
46
49
48
47
48
5o
46
45
47
49
49
48
48
47
45
-
-
-
MO
-
-
.
The data were gathered through the summer and fall months.
Since the
station was nine miles above the dam, the data do not reflect the rise in
temperature of the lower portion of the stream where the streamside cover was
limited.
The weather was cooler than normal in the summer of 1962.
Miscellaneous temperatures were recorded by the Oregon State Game Commission River Basins personnel in connection with their fish population sampling in the drainage in 1964 and are recorded in Table 1.
Little time was available to conduct any further studies on temperatures
or fish populations because of the short time between authorization of the
treatment and the actual work.
Samples of insect life were taken from the
major streams in the drainage prior to, immediately after, and two months
after the chemical treatment.
Insect life was scarce in all streams because
of severe erosion of the stream beds during the 1964-65 flood.
Table 5 pre-
sents the aquatic food items collected before and after chemical treatment.
Crayfish were noted but they were not numerous.
The giant salamander
(Dicampdedon) was numerous in Portland Creek and present in the other streams.
Most of the insects collected on November 24 were very small, and were
probably in the egg stage during and immediately after the chemical treatment.
Chemical Treatment
Procedures followed in the chemical treatment of Big Fall Creek and tributaries were similar to those used on other reservoir projects in the past.
Isolated pools in the reservoir basin were treated first, followed by tributary
streams and connected waters.
Barriers were constructed on tributary streams
near their mouths and rotenone drip stations were established above them when
the main stream was treated.
(Figures 4 and 5).
12
An abandoned pond in the
Aquatic Food Samples
Table 5.
Collected Before and After Chemical Treatment
in Fall Creek and Tributaries, 1965
Stream
Big Fall Creek
Winberry Creek
Portland Creek
He He Creek
Insects
Date of Collection
November 2L
September 9
After
Later
August 19
Prior
Plecoptera
3
-
Tricoptera
1
4
Ephmeroptera
7
-
Coleoptera
2
1
Diptera
1
Snails
14
Worms
1
Plecoptera
-
Tricoptera
2
1
Ephmeroptera
5
3
Odonata
1
Hemiptera
1
Diptera
17
1
2
3
-
-
-
-
2
2
1
Snails
2
3
1
Worms
-
-
1
Plecoptera
3
-
1
Tricoptera
5
Ephmeroptera
2
-
6
Snails
2
1
1
Worms
3
Plecoptera
1
-
Tricoptera
4
-
3
Ephmeroptera
5
-
14
Coleoptera
1
Snails
5
13
10
1
1
reservoir basin and a private pond near the mouth of Portland Creek were also
treated prior to Big Fall Creek (Figure 6).
Even-flow rotenone dispensing apparatus was used on stations four miles
apart on Big Fall Creek and Winberry Creek.
Big Fall Creek contained many
long, deep, slow-moving pools, which necessitated the operation of the drip
stations for twenty-four hours to insure a complete kill.
The rotenone was introduced at a rate of 2.0 ppm. and new stations downstream were put into operation while the water was still toxic.
Winberry
Creek was treated simultaneously with the lower two sections of Big Fall Creek
so there would be no chance of fish escaping the chemical.
The rotenone dispensing stations were activated the night before the men
with the back-pack spray cans started downstream to treat standing water and
minor tributaries.
The actual treatment of Big Fall Creek began on August 31,
1965, and once the rotenone was turned on at the headwaters, the treatment
was continuous.
day.
Two crews of two men each covered eight miles of stream each
The crews reached the dam at the end of the third day.
Toxic water
continued to flow past the dam for an additional three days.
The Eugene office of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U. S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, provided two men for one of the back-pack spray crews
during the final stages of the treatment.
Table 6 outlines the waters treated and rotenone used on the project.
14
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
Upstream fish movement barrier constructed near
the mouth of He He Creek, Big Fall Creek system.
Rotenone dispensing station No. 4 on Big Fall
Unit is of the constant pressure type.
Creek.
15
Table 6. Waters Treated and Rotenone
Used on Fall Creek Project
Water
Volume*
Miles
Rotenone - gals.
Drip
Big Fall Creek
Ppm.
4;-*
Spray
35 cfs.
2)4.0
1)40
56
2.0
North Fork Fall Creek
3 cfs.
.5
5
1
2.0
Winberry Creek
6 cfs.
8.0
20
10
2.0
Portland Creek
4 cfs.
1.0
8
3
2.0
He He Creek
5 cfs.
4.o
13
7
2.0
Abandoned Pond
1
acre feet
1
3.0
Portland Creek Pond
1 acre feet
1
2.5
Reservoir Basin
95
186
17)4
360 Total
*
At lowest station
** Includes pre-treatment sampling
Result of Treatment
Rotenone dispensers were activated on upper Big Fall Creek late in the
afternoon of August 31, 1965.
Dead and dying fish were observed three miles
downstream the following morning.
All fish were dead by the time the spray
crews reached the next station.
Over sixty spring chinook salmon adults had been transported around the
dam and released upstream early in the summer, but only seven dead chinook
were found in the course of the chemical treatment.
It was learned later that
the fish had been transported in fifty-five gallon barrels without the benefit
of aeration.
It is believed that survival was low.
It was also possible that
some of them could have been killed in the pre-treatment sampling.
The only chinook juveniles observed were in a small slough at the upstream base of Fall Creek Dam.
Water conditions were such that an accurate
16
Figure 6.
Spraying rotenone on
surface of abandoned
pond in reservoir
basin.
Figure 7.
Upstream view of outlet
structure of Fall Creek
Dam, showing fish horns
for collection of downstream migrants at
various water levels.
-astor-.0;-'t-k
17
count could not be made.
It was estimated that the slough contained approx-
imately 500 juvenile chinook ranging in size from three to five inches.
Coarse-scaled suckers were predominant in the numbers of large rough
fish killed.
They were present up to falls on Winberry and Big Fall Creeks.
Squawfish were found in the reservoir basin in both of the above streams but
were not found in any of the other waters treated.
of the streams treated.
Dace were present in all
Redside shiners were confined to the reservoir basin.
Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) and brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri)
were present in all moving water treated.
Ammocoetes of both forms were
present in the reservoir area.
Representative samples of fish were taken prior to treatment to determine
percentages present in the streams.
Total kill estimates of all species were
not practical because of the minute sizes and varied densities of all but the
larger species.
present.
Pre-treatment sampling also reduced the numbers of fish
It was estimated from spot checks that Winberry Creek contained
about 5,000 adult coarse-scaled suckers and 200 adult squawfish at the time
of treatment.
On the same basis, Big Fall Creek contained roughly 40,000
coarse-scaled suckers and 1,500 squawfish.
The numbers of all rough fish
decreased toward the headwaters of the streams.
Table 7 is a listing of the fish population encountered in the Big Fall
Creek watershed.
Heavy growths of algae formed within ten days of the time the fish populations were eliminated in lower Big Fall and Winberry Creeks.
It is believed
that the combination of nutrients released by the dead fish and the reduction
of insect life was responsible for the accelerated algae growth.
18
Table 7.
Fish Population Composition
of Big Fall Creek Watershed
as Determined by Chemical Treatment
Size range
in inches
Species
Dace
(3 species - Apocope & Rhinicthys)
Percentages
1 - 6
35
Redside shiner
(Richardsonius balteatus)
- 5
20
Coarse scaled sucker
(Catostomus macrocheilus)
2 - 18
15
Cutthroat trout
(Salmo clarki)
2 - 12
13
Rainbow trout
(Salmo gairdneri)
3 - 10
8
Cottids
(Cottus sp.)
1 -
4
Squawfish
(Ptychoheilus oregonensis)
4 -15
Whitefish
(Prosopium wiIliamsoni)
8 - 12
Chinook salmon
(Oncorhynchus tshawytsha)
4
2.4
2
40
In addition to the fish listed in Table 7, an abandoned farm pond in the
reservoir basin contained largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), white
crappie (Pomoxis annularis), Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus), and brown bullhead catfish (Ictalurus nebulosus).
Table 8 is a list of equipment, personnel, and chemicals used in the
project.
19
Equipment, Personnel and Chemicals
Used on Big Fall Creek and Tributaries, 1965
Table 8.
Equipment
Number used
Pickup I ton
2
Fourwheel drive vehicle
Station wagon
Flatbed truck
Equipment trailer and small tools
Barrel stands
Drip barrels - 15 gallon
Drip barrels - 30 gallon
Drip barrels - 55 gallon
Even-flow drip valves
Live boxes
Rotenone pump
Barrel bung opener
Graduate cylinders
Insulating material
Slurry mixer
Five H.P. electric pump
Heavy-duty drill motor
One and One-half inch hose
Hose nozzle
Gasoline driven pump - li" discharge
Helicopter
Back-pack spray cans
1
Personnel needed
7 men
180 man days *
Chemicals used
Rotenone - 360 gallons
Potassium permanganate - 1,200 pounds
* Based on eight-hour work day
20
1
1
1
5
5
2
6
8
1
1
2
2 rolls
1
1
20 feet
1 (standby)
1
6
It had been hoped that the chemical treatment of the Big Fall Creek
watershed could be carried out to coincide with the closure of the gates in
the dam.
The procedure would have confined the toxic water in the reservoir
The new roads
area until it was sufficiently diluted to release downstream.
around the reservoir were not completed at that time, so it was necessary to
establish a detoxification station below the dam.
approximately one-half mile below the dam.
The station was located
The system was activated when
live-boxed fish, one-half mile above the dam, began to show distress symptoms.
The station was deactivated eighty-eight hours later when the captive fish
Rainbow trout,
immediately above the station had survived over four hours.
held in a live-box below the station, survived the entire operation.
Potassium permanganate was used as the detoxifying agent, introduced at
the rate of 2.0 ppm.
The granular material was reduced to a liquid and in-
troduced to the stream through a slurry mixing device that was designed to
mix borate solutions for fire fighting.
The unit was manufactured by Western
The chemical
Fire Equipment Company, San Francisco, California (Figure 9).
was supplied in a powdered and slightly granular form, then metered through
a garden-type fertilizer spreader mounted on the slurry machine hopper.
total of 1,200 pounds of potassium permanganate was used.
A
The agitator in
the spreader was operated by a heavy-duty, slow-speed drill motor.
It was
difficult to maintain an even flow of chemical through the spreader, and constant surveillance was necessary.
for future operations.
A new hopper with motor is being designed
A five H.P. electric irrigation pump was used to
supply water pressure for the slurry machine.
A gasoline-driven pump was
held on standby in case of a power failure or other difficulty.
Figure 10 is a drawing of the slurry unit as used on the project.
21
Figure 8.
Figure 9.
Live-box above station number 3 on Big Fall Creek.
Rainbow trout were used as test fish.
Detoxification station below Fall Creek Dam.
The slurry machine reduced the potassium permanganate to a liquid as shown by discharge hose.
KAIII0+ is placed into Calibrated Fertilizer Spreader A, Electric
Gearma7lor B rotates .5_prectoler- Shaft ( (/Orprn) alischargin9 irhinC20
into Slurry Machine Hopper D, Efec/ric Puny, E pic,& up I-40
Throu9h /niake Screen F
Mrou9,4 Venturi
G-(/oOpsi) which mixes the
Perenio I.."
e44o,04 and NO. 74e
is Men cit'schaeryea'
Hose 11 into /he s/recim.
Fiqareo.
DETOXICATION STATION
it5L
Z3
Testing for Completeness of Kill
Stream sections of Big Fall Creek and Winberry Creek that had been
heavily populated with rough fish were re-treated within a week of the initial
treatment and no additional fish were killed.
Observations were made on other
sections,, both from shore and with the use of SCUBA equipment, and no fish
were found.
The pond that had contained warm-water game fish was re-treated
twice to be certain that all fish were dead.
An additional 25 gallons of
rotenone were used in the post treatment project.
Testing for Toxicity
Since little impounded water was involved, the only toxicity tests necessary were those used in connection with the detoxification station.
A new supply of test fish was live-boxed in Winberry Creek on September 5, l965.
On the same day, a live-box containing six rainbow trout was
placed in Big Fall Creek one-half mile above the dam.
All of the fish died
within a few minutes.
September 6, new fish were placed above the dam and immediately above
the detoxification station.
All fish were still alive four hours later and
the test was terminated.
Restocking
The streams in the reservoir basin were stocked with rainbow trout following the chemical treatment and before storage of water behind the dam.
The stocking in the middle of September included the following rainbow trout.
Number
Pounds
Big Fall Creek
119,830
4,120
Winberry Creek
44,943
2,247
He He Creek
15,000
375
Portland Creek
10,000
250
189,773
6,992
Additional stocking of rainbow trout, coho salmon, and chinook salmon is
planned for 1966.
Cost of Chemical Treatment
Under Memorandum of Understarding by and between the Oregon State Game
Commission and the United States Corps of Engineers dated 18 August 1965, the
Corps agreed to contribute the funds for the actual cost of treatment, but
not to exceed a total of $12,000.00.
March 1, 1966 have been $7,396.96.
Total costs of the project up to
The cost of printing the report will be
the only additional expenditure.
The Willamette basin in general and the Big Fall Creek system had one of
the lowest summer flows on record.
The low flows were responsible for a
considerable saving in the amount of chemicals necessary for the project.
25