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Bull Run River (Oregon)
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Bull Run River (Oregon)
The Bull Run River is a 21.9-mile (35.2 km) tributary of the Sandy River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the lower end of Bull Run Lake in the Cascade Range, it flows generally west through the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit (BRWMU), a restricted area meant to protect the river and its tributaries from contamination. The river, impounded by two artificial storage reservoirs as well as the lake, is the primary source of drinking water for the city of Portland, Oregon.
It is likely that Native Americans living along the Columbia River as early as 10,000 years ago visited the Bull Run watershed in search of food. Within the past few thousand years they created trails over the Cascade Range and around Mount Hood, near the upper part of the Bull Run watershed. By the mid-19th century, pioneers used these trails to cross the mountains from east to west to reach the fertile Willamette Valley. In the 1890s, the City of Portland, searching for sources of clean drinking water, chose the Bull Run River. Dam-building, road construction, and legal action to protect the watershed began shortly thereafter, and Bull Run water began to flow through a large pipe to the city in 1895.
Erosion-resistant basalt underlies much of the watershed, and streams passing over it are relatively free of sediments. However, turbidity increases when unstable soils sandwiched between layers of basalt and other volcanic rocks are disturbed and wash into the river during rainstorms. Despite legal protections, about 22 percent of the protected zone was logged during the second half of the 20th century, and erosion increased. For a time in 1996, Portland had to shut down the Bull Run supply because of turbidity and switch to water from wells. A law passed later that year prohibited most logging in or near the watershed, and since then the Portland Water Bureau and the United States Forest Service have closed many of the logging roads and removed culverts and other infrastructure contributing to erosion.
Mature trees, most of them more than 500 years old and more than 21 inches (53 cm) in diameter, cover about half of the watershed, and the rest of the watershed is also heavily forested. Annual precipitation ranges from 80 inches (2,000 mm) near the water supply intake to as much as 170 inches (4,300 mm) near the headwaters. More than 250 wildlife species, including the protected northern spotted owl, inhabit this forest. Downstream of the BRWMU, the watershed is far less restricted. In the late 19th century, an unincorporated community, Bull Run, became established near the river in conjunction with a hydroelectric project and a related railroad line. About 6 miles (10 km) of the lower river is open to fishing and boating, and the land at the confluence of the Bull Run and Sandy rivers has been a public park since the early 20th century.
The Bull Run River begins at Bull Run Lake, a natural body of water modified slightly by the Portland Water Bureau, near Hiyo Mountain in the Mount Hood Wilderness. Originating in Clackamas County north of Forest Road 18 (Lolo Pass Road), its unnamed headwater tributaries enter the lake. Flowing northwest from the lake, the river immediately enters Multnomah County and continues generally northwest for about 5 miles (8 km). Along this stretch, the river flows by a United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream gauge at river mile (RM) 20.9 or river kilometer (RK) 30.6, passes under Forest Road 1025 and Forest Road 10 and receives Blazed Alder Creek from the left and Log Creek and Falls Creek, both from the right. Then the river turns southwest and passes another stream gauge just before entering Bull Run River Reservoir 1 at RM 15 (RK 24). Also entering the reservoir are Fir Creek from the left, North Fork Bull Run River from the right, then Deer, Cougar, and Bear creeks, all from the right. The Bull Run River exits the reservoir via a spillway 11 miles (18 km) from the river mouth. Forest Road 10 runs roughly parallel to the right bank of the river from near the headwaters to Southwest Bull Run Road, near the mouth.
Entering Bull Run River Reservoir 2, the river receives Camp Creek from the left, re-enters Clackamas County, and receives South Fork Bull Run River from the left. The river exits the reservoir via a spillway at about RM 6 (RK 10). Below Reservoir 2, Forest Road 10 (Waterworks Road) is on the river's right bank, and Forest Road 14 is on the left. The river flows by a stream gauge at RM 4.7 (RK 7.6) and passes under Forest Road 14 before receiving the Little Sandy River from the left at about RM 2 (RK 3). The river then turns northwest, passes under an unnamed road and then under Southeast Bull Run Road near the unincorporated community of Bull Run, which is on the river's right, and the defunct powerhouse of the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project, which is on the left. Southeast Camp Namanu Road runs roughly parallel to the river along its right bank from here to the mouth. Along this stretch, the river receives Laughing Water Creek from the right and enters the Sandy River at Dodge Park, about 18.5 miles (29.8 km) from the larger river's confluence with the Columbia River.
The USGS and the water bureau operate a stream gauge at RM 4.7 (RK 7.6), which is 1.8 miles (2.9 km) downstream from Bull Run Reservoir 2 and the water system intake. Measurements are for the river only and do not include water diverted upstream of the gauge to the city water supply or to a former power plant. The maximum flow at this station was 24,800 cubic feet per second (700 m3/s) on December 22, 1964, and the minimum flow was 1.1 cubic feet per second (0.031 m3/s) on October 4, 1974. The drainage area above this gauge is 107 square miles (280 km2), about 77 percent of the whole watershed. The maximum flow occurred during the floods of December 1964 and January 1965, rated by the National Weather Service as one of Oregon's top 10 weather events of the 20th century.
Since 1966, the USGS has monitored the flow of the Bull Run River at a stream gauge 14.8 miles (23.8 km) from the mouth. The average flow between then and 2008 was 404 cubic feet per second (11.4 m3/s). This is from a drainage area of 47.90 square miles (124.06 km2), about 34 percent of the entire watershed. The maximum flow recorded during this period was 15,800 cubic feet per second (450 m3/s) on November 5, 1999. The minimum was 30 cubic feet per second (0.85 m3/s) on October 28–31, 1987.
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Bull Run River (Oregon)
The Bull Run River is a 21.9-mile (35.2 km) tributary of the Sandy River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the lower end of Bull Run Lake in the Cascade Range, it flows generally west through the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit (BRWMU), a restricted area meant to protect the river and its tributaries from contamination. The river, impounded by two artificial storage reservoirs as well as the lake, is the primary source of drinking water for the city of Portland, Oregon.
It is likely that Native Americans living along the Columbia River as early as 10,000 years ago visited the Bull Run watershed in search of food. Within the past few thousand years they created trails over the Cascade Range and around Mount Hood, near the upper part of the Bull Run watershed. By the mid-19th century, pioneers used these trails to cross the mountains from east to west to reach the fertile Willamette Valley. In the 1890s, the City of Portland, searching for sources of clean drinking water, chose the Bull Run River. Dam-building, road construction, and legal action to protect the watershed began shortly thereafter, and Bull Run water began to flow through a large pipe to the city in 1895.
Erosion-resistant basalt underlies much of the watershed, and streams passing over it are relatively free of sediments. However, turbidity increases when unstable soils sandwiched between layers of basalt and other volcanic rocks are disturbed and wash into the river during rainstorms. Despite legal protections, about 22 percent of the protected zone was logged during the second half of the 20th century, and erosion increased. For a time in 1996, Portland had to shut down the Bull Run supply because of turbidity and switch to water from wells. A law passed later that year prohibited most logging in or near the watershed, and since then the Portland Water Bureau and the United States Forest Service have closed many of the logging roads and removed culverts and other infrastructure contributing to erosion.
Mature trees, most of them more than 500 years old and more than 21 inches (53 cm) in diameter, cover about half of the watershed, and the rest of the watershed is also heavily forested. Annual precipitation ranges from 80 inches (2,000 mm) near the water supply intake to as much as 170 inches (4,300 mm) near the headwaters. More than 250 wildlife species, including the protected northern spotted owl, inhabit this forest. Downstream of the BRWMU, the watershed is far less restricted. In the late 19th century, an unincorporated community, Bull Run, became established near the river in conjunction with a hydroelectric project and a related railroad line. About 6 miles (10 km) of the lower river is open to fishing and boating, and the land at the confluence of the Bull Run and Sandy rivers has been a public park since the early 20th century.
The Bull Run River begins at Bull Run Lake, a natural body of water modified slightly by the Portland Water Bureau, near Hiyo Mountain in the Mount Hood Wilderness. Originating in Clackamas County north of Forest Road 18 (Lolo Pass Road), its unnamed headwater tributaries enter the lake. Flowing northwest from the lake, the river immediately enters Multnomah County and continues generally northwest for about 5 miles (8 km). Along this stretch, the river flows by a United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream gauge at river mile (RM) 20.9 or river kilometer (RK) 30.6, passes under Forest Road 1025 and Forest Road 10 and receives Blazed Alder Creek from the left and Log Creek and Falls Creek, both from the right. Then the river turns southwest and passes another stream gauge just before entering Bull Run River Reservoir 1 at RM 15 (RK 24). Also entering the reservoir are Fir Creek from the left, North Fork Bull Run River from the right, then Deer, Cougar, and Bear creeks, all from the right. The Bull Run River exits the reservoir via a spillway 11 miles (18 km) from the river mouth. Forest Road 10 runs roughly parallel to the right bank of the river from near the headwaters to Southwest Bull Run Road, near the mouth.
Entering Bull Run River Reservoir 2, the river receives Camp Creek from the left, re-enters Clackamas County, and receives South Fork Bull Run River from the left. The river exits the reservoir via a spillway at about RM 6 (RK 10). Below Reservoir 2, Forest Road 10 (Waterworks Road) is on the river's right bank, and Forest Road 14 is on the left. The river flows by a stream gauge at RM 4.7 (RK 7.6) and passes under Forest Road 14 before receiving the Little Sandy River from the left at about RM 2 (RK 3). The river then turns northwest, passes under an unnamed road and then under Southeast Bull Run Road near the unincorporated community of Bull Run, which is on the river's right, and the defunct powerhouse of the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project, which is on the left. Southeast Camp Namanu Road runs roughly parallel to the river along its right bank from here to the mouth. Along this stretch, the river receives Laughing Water Creek from the right and enters the Sandy River at Dodge Park, about 18.5 miles (29.8 km) from the larger river's confluence with the Columbia River.
The USGS and the water bureau operate a stream gauge at RM 4.7 (RK 7.6), which is 1.8 miles (2.9 km) downstream from Bull Run Reservoir 2 and the water system intake. Measurements are for the river only and do not include water diverted upstream of the gauge to the city water supply or to a former power plant. The maximum flow at this station was 24,800 cubic feet per second (700 m3/s) on December 22, 1964, and the minimum flow was 1.1 cubic feet per second (0.031 m3/s) on October 4, 1974. The drainage area above this gauge is 107 square miles (280 km2), about 77 percent of the whole watershed. The maximum flow occurred during the floods of December 1964 and January 1965, rated by the National Weather Service as one of Oregon's top 10 weather events of the 20th century.
Since 1966, the USGS has monitored the flow of the Bull Run River at a stream gauge 14.8 miles (23.8 km) from the mouth. The average flow between then and 2008 was 404 cubic feet per second (11.4 m3/s). This is from a drainage area of 47.90 square miles (124.06 km2), about 34 percent of the entire watershed. The maximum flow recorded during this period was 15,800 cubic feet per second (450 m3/s) on November 5, 1999. The minimum was 30 cubic feet per second (0.85 m3/s) on October 28–31, 1987.
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