Big Elk Creek Watershed
Prepared by:
Ross A. Waite
ES 592 – Winter 2007
Watershed Location
General Geology
The Big Elk Creek Watershed is located primarily in Lincoln County, Oregon. The
far eastern edge of the watershed crosses into Benton County, however. (See
Figures 1 & 2)
The Big Elk Creek Watershed sits primarily on a single type of bedrock. There are
three small areas of dissimilar rock (See Figure 8). Numerous types of soil exist
throughout the watershed (See Figure 9). For interpretation of the symbols in the
figures, see Dr. Steven Taylor in the Natural Science building, room 210.
Figure 1 – Watershed location
Hydrologic Summary
The Big Elk Creek Watershed covers an area of over 230 square kilometers. It
has fourteen sub-basins, which have an average area of over 16 square
kilometers (See Figure 10). There are a total of 1463 stream segments in the
watershed, all eventually flowing out of the area to the northwest (See Figure 11).
Figure 2 – Watershed counties
Physiography
The Big Elk Creek Watershed ranges in elevation from over 3600 ft (near the
summit of Mary’s Peak in the far eastern part) to only about 13 ft (in the far
northwestern part) (See Figure 3). It is typically rugged western Oregon terrain,
with many tree-filled canyons cut by ever-present creeks (See Figure 4). Annual
rainfall varies from under 30 inches in the northern parts to almost 50 inches in
the southern, higher parts (See Figure 5). Topographic and photographic
representations of the area can be seen in Figures 6 & 7 respectively.
Figure 8 – Watershed bedrock
Figure 3 – Watershed elevation
Figure 4 – Watershed vegetation
Figure 5 – Annual rainfall
Figure 9 – Watershed soils
Figure 6 – Watershed topography
Figure 10 – Watershed sub-basins
Figure 7 – Overhead photos
Figure 11 – Watershed streams