Butte County Watershed

The Watersheds of Butte County

By, Cora, Emma, Harper, Quinn, Reed

• Big Chico Creek,
  • Big Chico creek is 45 miles long also the size of the water shed big chico creek is 152,254 acres long.
• Little Chico Creek:
  • The water is from Sierra Nevada Mountain snow melt. It rises in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada from a spring off Headwaters Road in Forest Ranch, Ca.
  • Flows westward into the Parrot Grant which is just south of Ord Ferry Road and west of Seven Mile Lane where it just disappears.
  • It flows through Chico and forms the southern boundary of the downtown area. In the area just west of the railroad tracks it becomes seasonal.
• Butte creek:
  • Butte Creek is a tributary to the Sacramento River
  • There are many dams in it's upper reaches
  • Butte Creek is right next to Centerville and Honey Run Roads
• The Sacramento river:
  • The Sacramento river is the largest river in California and the river flows south for 400 miles (640 km) before reaching the Sacramento-Joaquin river Delta and San Francisco Bay.
• The Feather river:by: Quinn
• The Feather River is the main river and also the largest that dumps into the Sacramento River. The river is about 73 miles long. The Feather River is listed as a National Wild and Scenic river, with different sections classified as wild, scenic, and recreational.
• Red Bluff diversion dam:
  • This dam provides irrigation water for two canals that serve 150,000 acres on the west half of the Sacramento Valley
  • It is a concrete gated weir design 5,985 feet long with a structural hight of 52 feet
  • The Red Bluff diversion dam is to control the outflow of the Sacramento River
• Sacramento River Basin:
  • The Sacramento River is the largest river and watershed system in California (by discharge, it is the second largest U.S. river draining into the Pacific, after the Columbia River).
  • This 27,000–square mile basin drains the eastern slopes of the Coast Range, Mount Shasta, the western slopes of the southernmost region of the Cascades, and the northern portion of the Sierra Nevada.
  • The Sacramento River carries 31% of the state’s total surface water runoff.
  • Primary tributaries to the Sacramento River are the Pit, Feather, and American Rivers.
  • The Sacramento River Basin provides drinking water for residents of northern and southern California, supplies farmers with water for all of California’s agricultural industry, and is important for hundreds of wildlife species, including four separate runs of Chinook salmon.
• Horseshoe lake:
  • Is a man made lake in Upper Bidwell Park.
  • The name comes from the fact that it is U-shaped
  • Although it was originally built to serve as a reservoir, it is now exclusively used for recreational purposes.
  • The lake is stocked with catfish annually for the "Hooked on Fishing" events held for kids in Chico.
  • Horseshoe Lake is a man made lake near monkey face and is in a u shape just like a horseshoe so thats why its called Horseshoe Lake
  • Lake Oroville: by:Quinn
  • The Feather River is the main river and also the largest that dumps into the Sacramento River. The river is about 73 miles long. The Feather River is listed as a National Wild and Scenic river, with different sections classified as wild, scenic, and recreational.
• Lower Tuscan Aquifer:
  • The lower tuscan is a major potential source of deeper water in the Northern Sacramento Valley
  • This watershed is from 500-1,500 bellow ground surface
  • It is made from cemented interbedded clay, sand, and gravel
• Upper Tuscan Aquifer:
  • The Upper Tuscan aquifer system is exposed on the east side of the valley along the foothills and is found at a depth of about 800 feet in the central portion of the valley.
  • This aquifer system extends west past the Sacramento River under the surface, and underlies the Alluvial aquifer system.