Battle Creek (California)

Battle Creek
Battle Creek in January 2007
Battle Creek (California) is located in California
Battle Creek (California)
Location of the mouth in California
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
Physical characteristics
SourceConfluence of North Fork and South Fork
 • locationNear Manton, California
 • coordinates40°25′23″N 121°59′49″W / 40.42306°N 121.99694°W / 40.42306; -121.99694
 • elevation868 ft (265 m)
MouthSacramento River
 • location
Southeast of Anderson
 • coordinates
40°21′19″N 122°10′33″W / 40.35528°N 122.17583°W / 40.35528; -122.17583
 • elevation
338 ft (103 m)
Length47 mi (76 km)[1]
Basin size365 sq mi (950 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationUSGS gage #11376550, 5.7 miles (9.2 km) from the mouth
 • average501 cu ft/s (14.2 m3/s)
 • minimum102 cu ft/s (2.9 m3/s)
 • maximum24,700 cu ft/s (700 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftSouth Fork Battle Creek, Spring Branch Battle Creek
 • rightNorth Fork Battle Creek

Battle Creek is a 16.6-mile-long (26.7 km)[2] creek located in Shasta and Tehama counties, California.[3] It is a major tributary to the Sacramento River.

The eastern side of the Battle Creek watershed falls within the northernmost part of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, as it transitions into the southern Cascade Range. The undisturbed part of the watershed is richly diverse in both plant and animal species.[4] The tributaries of Battle Creek originate from dozens of underground springs.

The creek is part of a $67 million Chinook salmon restoration project, a PG&E Battle Creek Hydroelectric Project. Many adjacent properties hold conservation easements protecting them from development.

In addition to the Chinook salmon, the creek has steelhead, rainbow, and brown trout. Counterintuitively, first-year data from a post-wildfire soil erosion study funded by Sierra Pacific Industries, a large industrial timber company, show that control sites disturbed only by fire produced substantially more water runoff and soil erosion than did sites that received post-wildfire salvage logging.[5] However, given this document was written by an employee of the large timber company which has extensively salvage logged the watershed, the results are questionable. Reviews of the document prepared by two hydrologists on behalf of Battle Creek Alliance, a local environmental group, argued that it contained substantial flaws.[6][7]

The industrial timberland in the Battle Creek watershed is upstream of the restoration project. The clearcutting and post-fire salvage logging which has been occurring since 1998 is the subject of the documentary film "Clearcut Nation", produced by Battle Creek Alliance.[8] A Citizen’s Water Monitoring Project has been collecting water quality data both upstream and downstream of the industrial timberland since 2009. This data was analyzed by a statistical hydrologist in 2014.[9]

Battle Creek was named in commemoration of an 1849 battle between Indians and early white trappers.[10]

Gallery
  • South fork of Battle Creek in June 2016 downstream of industrial timberland after one inch of rain
    South fork of Battle Creek in June 2016 downstream of industrial timberland after one inch of rain
  • Battle Creek in March 2010
    Battle Creek in March 2010
  1. ^ Including the South Fork
  2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 10, 2011
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Battle Creek (California)
  4. ^ Cal Photos http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?where-photographer=Marily+Woodhouse&orderby=taxon
  5. ^ James, Cajun "Post Wildfire Salvage Logging, Soil Erosion, and Sediment Delivery, Ponderosa Fire, Battle Creek Watershed, Northern California"
  6. ^ Myers, Tom "Review of Study: Inspection of Sierra Pacific Industries’ Ponderosa Post-Fire Sediment Study, Shasta County, California"
  7. ^ Lewis, Jack Topographic Characterization of Swales in Sierra Pacific Industries’ Ponderosa Post-Fire Sediment Study, Shasta County, California [1]
  8. ^ "CDFW Program Manager will speak at third Earth, Water, Climate Series Program". CDFW Northern Region News. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  9. ^ Lewis, Jack "An Analysis of Turbidity in Relation to Timber Harvesting in the Battle Creek Watershed, northern California September 2014"
  10. ^ "Place Names" (PDF). Tehama County Department of Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2018.