Week 2.1 What is a Watershed?

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Week 2.1What is a Watershed?

• Educational Solutions High School Dialogue
  Project
• Sharing the Klamath Watershed Bringing Together
  the Next Generation of Stakeholders
• Fall 2008 Project
• This project has been funded in part by generous
  grants from
• The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and the
  Walter S. Johnson Foundation

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Objectives

• Week 2.1 What is a Watershed?
• When you finish Week 2.1, you should be able to
• Define a watershed
• List the three basic elements of a watershed
• List the three major steps that describe how a
  watershed works
• Know your schools watershed address
• List three reasons why the Klamath Watershed is
  remarkable
• Describe what the Klamath Watershed was like
  before human impacts

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Project Plan Form Due This Week

• Fill out Project Form and turn in to teacher on
  Friday for 100 of the 300 project points
• Fill in the information you will put on your
  project identification slide
• Name(s)
• Solution
• School, State, Date
• Identify the specific problem you are addressing
• Explain the solution you plan to promote
• In a complete sentence, write the message of your
  project
• Include some facts you will use to support your
  point
• Identify which websites, articles or books you
  are using for your facts
• Identify which stakeholders will be helped by
  your solution
• State the form (video, poster, PowerPoint etc.)
  of your message
• List of materials you need to complete your
  project

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Tune In The Water CycleAdapted from worksheet
found at www.educationoasis.com

• The Water Cycle
• The suns heat causes water from oceans, lakes,
  rivers, trees, and plants to turn into water
  vapor or steam and go into the air. This is
  called __________.
• The water vapor in the air cools and changes back
  into liquid and forms clouds. This is called
  __________.
• When the clouds cannot hold anymore water, it
  falls back to earth in the form of rain, snow,
  hail, or sleet. This is called __________.
• The water that falls back to earth may seep into
  the ground. This is called __________.
• Or, the water may run over the soil and back into
  bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and
  oceans. This is called __________. Then the cycle
  begins again.

 
Image from http//www.fotosearch.com/ARP112/wtr_cy
cl/
Word Choice evaporation condensation precipitatio
n infiltration collection
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What is a Watershed?

• A watershed is everything in a drainage basin
• It includes everything from the ridge-tops to the
  mouth of the largest river (Oregon State
  University Extension, 2002 1)
• If a drop of water falls on the top of a ridge,
  it flows down one side or the other, into one
  watershed or the other (Oregon State University
  Extension, 2002 1)
• All land is part of one watershed or another
• All humans live in one watershed or another

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• Watershed Illustration. N.d.

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Basic Elements of a Watershed

• Water Source rain, snow and melting snowpack
• Water Flow
• measured at different points in the tributaries
  and the Klamath River (tributaries are smaller
  rivers that flow into the largest mainstem
  river)
• affected by ground water storage/flow patterns
  and by storage in lakes and reservoirs,
• affected by human use as well
• Water Quality determined by natural and human
  factors, as well as amount of flow

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How Does a Watershed Work?

• A healthy watershed needs to
• Capture water
• Store water, and
• Release water in timely manner

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1. Capture Water

• Uplands of the watershed
• need to absorb water into the soil
• aided by vegetative cover that helps soil hold
  water
• Otherwise, water will quickly run off, carrying
  sediment (soil washed into river)

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2. Store Water 

• Some water stored in soil slowly flows through
  the soil to streams (subsurface flow)
• Other water moves slowly through rocks for
  storage in underground aquifers (underground
  lakes)
• Water is stored as surface water in wetlands and
  lakes
• Humans can restore wetlands and create artificial
  lakes to store water

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Underground Aquifer
Image courtesy of USGS http//ga.water.usgs.gov/ed
u/graphics/aquifersandwells.gif
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3. Release Water 

• Water stored underground seeps out during dry
  periods to supply streams
• Humans tap underground aquifers through wells

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About the Klamath Watershed

• The Klamath Watershed
• 12,000 square miles of Northern California and
  South-Central Oregon
• Centered on the Klamath River, about 350 miles
  long from its headwaters east of Crater Lake, OR,
  to its mouth at Requa, CA, at the Pacific Ocean
• Collection of smaller watersheds/basins
• Each watershed drains into different smaller
  river that flows into the Klamath River

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Crater Lake
Mt. Mazama erupting. Photo from
http//pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2002/fs092-02/images/rockw
ood.jpg
Crater Lake caldera. Photo from
http//pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2002/fs092-02/images/rockw
ood.jpg
Crater Lake panorama. Photo from
http//www.skimountaineer.com/CascadeSki/CraterLak
e/CraterLakePanorama.jpg
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Mouth of the Klamath River
Photo courtesy of Matt Baun, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service
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Klamath River Sub-Watersheds

• Upper Klamath River Basins/Watersheds, OR and CA
• Wood River Watershed
• Sprague River Watershed
• Williamson River Watershed
• All above drain into Agency Lake/ Upper Klamath
  Lake and then into the eastern Klamath River
• Lost River Watershed sometimes drains into
  Klamath River
• Mid/Lower Klamath River Basins/Watersheds, CA
  Shasta River Watershed
• Scott River Watershed
• Salmon River Watershed
• Trinity River Watershed
• All drain into western Klamath River

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What is your Schools Watershed Address?

• Is your school in the Upper or Mid/Lower Klamath
  River Watershed or is it on the Pacific Coast?
• What river or lake are you nearest?

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(c) Educational Solutions 2008
(c) Educational Solutions 2008
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Why is the Klamath Watershed Remarkable?

• Klamath Watershed contains
• Part of Crater Lake National Park, deepest lake
  in U.S.
• Upper Klamath Lake, the largest lake in Oregon
• Seven National Forests
• Six National Wildlife Refuges
• A National Monument
• A National Recreation Area
• If climate change causes extensive extinction,
  the Klamath Basin will be an important place to
  preserve species for biodiversity

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Klamath WatershedBefore Human Impacts

• Streams flowed freely with natural fluctuations
  in the river level from winter to late summer
• Tributaries had substantial riparian cover
  producing cold, clear water. Riparian refers to
  the zone of plants and animals that borders a
  stream, lake, or wetland
• Summer flows were naturally low and water
  temperatures were cooler than present due to
  riparian shading in tributaries
• (Waldvogel, 2005)

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Riparian Zone
Cooling Shade
Photo from http//www.fisheries.org/units/educatio
n/fisheries_techniques/Chapter4/Stream20riparian
20zone201.jpg
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Klamath Watershed Before Human Impacts (continued)

• Due to snow melt-off and rain, spring flows were
  cool and high and unimpeded by dams
• Winter flows were occasionally very high,
  flushing out the system and providing new gravel
  spawning beds
• Fish passage to the Upper Basin was unimpeded and
  spring Chinook runs to the Williamson and Sprague
  Rivers existed
• (Waldvogel, 2005)

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Gravel Spawning Beds
Photo from http//landscape.ced.berkeley.edu/kond
olf/topics/spawning/spawning1.gif
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Klamath Watershed Before Human Impacts (continued)

• Fall Chinook and steelhead runs existed as far as
  Klamath Falls and the Link River
• Old Growth Douglas Fir and Redwoods overhung the
  tributary streams in the Lower Klamath Watershed
• The estuary (interface between fresh and salt
  water) was deep and free flowing to the ocean
  during summer months 
• (Waldvogel, 2005)

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Klamath River Estuary
Photo courtesy of Matt Baun, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service
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Blue-Green Algae in Upper Klamath Lake

• Regarding algae in Upper Klamath Lake, sediment
  core samples demonstrate that until the 1900s,
  there was no Aphanizomenon (AFA) present,
  although there was a heavy concentration of a
  variety of other algae. (AFA is now by far the
  dominant form of algae in Upper Klamath Lake. AFA
  crashes deplete oxygen for fish.)
• (Larson, 2008)

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Aphanizomenon sp.
Upper Klamath Lake. Photo courtesy of Larry
Dunsmoor
Photo courtesy of CYANOBACTERIA Platform
http//www.cyanobacteria-platform.com/Material/Bil
d2.JPG
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Brain Game
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Brain Game

• Option 1 Klamath River Watershed Before Human
  Impacts
• Materials
• Paper
• Pencils 
•  
• Directions
• In five minutes, write a paragraph describing
  the Klamath River Watershed before human impacts
• Students in turn read their descriptions

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Brain Game

• Option 2 Our Watershed Address Revisited with
  Google Maps
• Materials
• Internet and Computer
• Projector
• Map of participating schools
• School Addresses
• Directions
• Use the addresses provided on the next slides to
  locate on Google Maps the watershed address of
  your school and the other eight schools
  participating in the Education Solutions
  Sharing the Klamath Watershed Bringing Together
  the Next Generation of Stakeholders project.

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Klamath Union High School - Klamath Falls, OR
Chiloquin High School - Chiloquin, OR
Eagle Ridge High School - Klamath Falls, OR
Del Norte High School - Crescent City, CA
Lost River High School - Merrill, OR
Klamath River Early College of the Redwoods -
Klamath, CA
Henley High School - Klamath Falls, OR
Discovery High School - Yreka, CA
Hoopa Valley High School - Hoopa, CA
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Schools in Project

• Oregon
• Chiloquin High School
• 300 Elm Street, Chiloquin, OR 97624
• Eagle Ridge High School
• 422 North 9th Street, Klamath Falls, OR 97601
• Henley High School
• 8245 Highway 39, Klamath Falls, OR 97603
• Klamath Union High School
• 1300 Montclaire, Klamath Falls, OR 97601
• Lost River High School
• 23330 Highway 50, Merrill, OR 97633

California Del Norte High School 1301 El Dorado
Street, Crescent City, CA 95531 Discovery High
School 609 S. Gold Street, Yreka, CA 96097 Hoopa
Valley High School 11400 State Highway 96, Hoopa,
CA 95546 Klamath River Early College of the
Redwoods 168 Klamath Boulevard, Klamath, CA 95548
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2.1 Quiz Questions

• A watershed is everything in a ______________
  basin. It includes everything from mountain 
  ridge-tops to the mouth of the largest river.
• A healthy watershed captures water, ___________
  water, and __________ water.
• Water source, water ____________ and water
  quality are the three basic elements of a
  watershed.
• The Klamath Watershed is remarkable because it
  contains the deepest lake in the USA, seven
  national forests and six wildlife refuges. If
  climate change persists and causes extensive
  extinction, the Klamath Basin will be an
  important place to preserve species for
  _______________.
• Before ______________________ on the Basin, fish
  passage to the Upper Basin was unimpeded and
  spring Chinook runs to the Williamson and Sprague
  Rivers existed.
• The Oregon/California Klamath Watershed is
  ______________ watershed(s) because all water
  drains into the Klamath River.
• Word Choice
• biodiversity flow stores one
• releases drainage human impacts

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2.1 Short Answer Question

• 1. Identify your watershed address by writing
  down the river or lake that is nearest your
  school?

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References

• Klamath River Basin map. Complied by Dr. Larry
  Dunsmoor and Carl Ullman
• Larson, Ron. 2008. Personal communication with
  Ron Larson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  Advisor.
• Oregon State University Extension. 2002.
  Watershed Stewardship A Learning Guide.
• Waldvogel, Jim. 2005. Jim Waldvogel, California
  Sea Grant Marine Advisor.
• Watershed Illustration. N.d. Kids Recycle
  Works. Retrieved February 19, 2008 from
  http//www.recycleworks.org/kids/watershed.html