Laserfiche WebLink
saturated. There 'a re two hay fields in the upper _po rti.on of Sage Creek (Sections 30 and <br />19). {One of the fields. has the. potential for being flood irrigated. Ln._order to create • <br />the field, it was necessary to relocate the stream channel. The channelized portion of <br />the stream runs alongside the road and has the potential. for being used as an irrigation <br />ditch. The other field occurs at the base of .s side tributary to Sage Creek. This field <br />} <br />(_is subirrigated but not flood irrigated' The third hay field is located approximately 1.5 <br />miles downstream (Section 18 ). It occurs on valley fill material and was created in much <br />the same way as the upstream fields. The stream was relocated along the western side of <br />the valley so that the field occupies the central portion of the valley bottom. The field i <br />is subirrigated and is used to produce grass hay. ~ <br />Just downstream from the third hay field is the site of Sage Creek Reservoir. This <br />reservoir was breached and drained in May, 1985. Currently, a, portion of the old) <br />reservoir site supports native wetlands, is subirrigated, and is used for livestock <br />~grazing3 <br />Downstream from Sage Creek Reservoir, the stream channel is deeply incised and the only <br />areas that are subirrigated are confined to the stream channel itself. The upland areas . <br />support native dryland shrub communities. The valley maintains this pattern until the <br />stream leaves the mountain valley. <br />~/,/~ -~ . <br />1 ~ y <br />The lower portion of Sage Creek is similar to Clry Creek. The only subirrigated areas are ~ ~ ~~ <br />~, A, <br />those immediately within the stream channel. Most of the alluvial areas along Sage Creek <br />L~ <br />are used for dryland agriculture or native rangeland. There is one segment (in Section J ~p~' ~ `MJ~ <br />30, T6N, R88W)~of the alluvial deposits that is used for production of alfalfa hay and / <br />,appears to be flood irrigated with water from Sage Creek. <br />There is very little potential for developing additional irrigation along either of the <br />streams. The upper portions of the streams are too narrow to develop significant <br />irrigated fields. it would be necessary to move the stream channel to- one side of the <br />valley or the other, fill the existing channel, and smooth the existing valley deposits. <br />Also, all of the existing dryland vegetation would need to be removed. It would not be <br />feasible to try to develop hay fields on the existing topography because access for <br />equipment would be too difficult, especially in portions of the valley where the stream is <br />so deeply incised. The capital expenditures for developing fields in these valleys is • <br />probably too high to be cost effective. In the lower portions of Sage Creek and Dry J <br />18 <br />