Wallowa River and many of it3 tributaries have been greatly depleted. 

 The stream has great potential value to salmon, but it is useless to 

 attempt to re-establish these runs unless the young fish are safe- 

 guarded from the numerous open water diversions. 



Lake Wallowa is located approximately £0 miles above the mouth 

 of the Wallowa River. The lake is about 3| miles long and 1 mile wide, 

 and has a reservoir capacity of about Ul,000 acre-feet. It formerly 

 provided an excellent rearing area for blueback salmon. There is 

 little liklihood that the lake will ever again be accessible to ana- 

 dromous fish, its chief values now being as a recreational area and as 

 a reservoir for irrigation and power uses* 



The Wallowa River extends for approximately 1 mile above 

 Lake Wallowa, where it is formed by the confluence of the west and 

 east forks. The flow at the forks ranges from a minimum of about 

 16 c.f .s. to a maximum of about 700 c.f ,s# This portion of the 

 river is of some value to land-locked blueback salmon and resident 

 trout. 



13U-(1). Howard Creek . — (Not surveyed) Howard Creek enters 

 the Wallowa River 2 miles above the mouth. It is a small stream, 

 about 10 miles long, and is of little present value to salmon, al- 

 though it may be utilised to some extent by steelhead trout. 



13U-(2). Minam River , — (October lU, 19U0j Parkhurst and Frey.) 

 The Minam River is one of the principal tributaries of the Wallowa, 

 and enters the latter stream approximately 10 miles above the mouth. 

 It extends for a distance of about h$ miles to its source at Minam 

 Lake. The lower portion of the stream extends through a very narrow 

 valley, which becomes a steep walled canyon upstream as the topo- 

 graphy becomes increasingly mountainous. The stream was slightly 

 more than 100 feet wide near the mouth, and was discharging about 

 150 cf.s. at the time pf the survey. Flow records for the years 

 1912-191U show that the discharge never drops below 100 c.f »s., and 

 at high water stages may exceed 1;,000 c.f.s. (Water Resources of the 

 State of Oregon). The stream gradient is moderate to fairly steep, 

 with numerous shallow riffles and an abundance of excellent spawning 

 area in the lower section, but few good resting pools. There is an 

 earth dam 10 feet high at the source, giving Minam Lake a reservoir 

 capacity of 1,000 acre-feet. This high, mountainous, headwater 

 portion of the stream is of no possible value to migratory fish. 

 The stream was reported formerly to have supported good runs of Chi- 

 nook and silver salmon and steelhead trout. Like the condition in 

 the entire Wallowa system, these runs have been greatly depleted, 

 the steelhead maintaining itself somewhat better than the other species* 

 The Minam River is of great potential value in any possible program 

 for the rehabilitation of the runs of anadromous fish in the Grande 

 Ronde and Wallowa River systems. 



13U-(3)« Big Canyon Creek ,— (October ill, 19U0; Parkhurst and 

 Frey.) Big Canyon Creek enters the Wallowa River approximately ll£ 

 miles above the mouth, and extends for a distance of about 20 miles. 

 It was discharging about 5 c.f.s. at the time of the survey, and 



was reported to become nearly dry at times in late summer* The stream 



43 



