Meeting Minutes – TWG Meeting August 23-24, 2004
IDWR Office – Boise, ID

In Attendance –

Rick Patten, Idaho Panhandle National Forest
Linda Davis, IDWR
Sandra Thiel, IDWR
Al Rea, USGS
Leigh Bailey, Payette National Forest
Ervin Cowley, BLM
Genna Ashley-Poulson, IDWR

Via Phone Conference –

No Attendees

The meeting began at approximately 1:00 p.m. Monday, August 23.

NEWS TO REPORT

Watershed news at the ESRI conference in San Diego – Al Rea reported that the watershed team is working on a set of tools, based on the ArcHydro model. These tools will be designed to run under ArcGIS 8.3 or 9.0, and should help with delineating concept lines and populating attributes. Specific details should be out soon from Kenny Legleiter (NRCS) in Fort Worth, TX, and that information will be available through the Idaho Watershed Website, as soon as it is available.

Al Rea reported that USGS continues to work on 4^th field boundary lines. Al showed a status map and stated that they will start sending 24k linework to Genna Ashley soon. When Genna Ashley receives this linework, she will incorporate it into the master draft watershed coverage and also forward it on to each data steward.

Because of the very small portion of the Pend Oreille and Little Spokane 4^th field units in Idaho, the IPNF didn’t delineate either of these areas, and Idaho will take whatever Washington sends as draft-approved.

HUC REVIEW

Priest 17010215 – The group reviewed this huc. It was noted that Priest Lake is a lake with a dam that actually raises the elevation approximately 2 feet. The 5^th fields were reviewed and the following changes were suggested:

There was some question whether to use reservoir or lake rules for the southern 4^th field boundary line of this huc. It was determined that if the Alder Creek channel originally went into the main stem of the Pend Oreille River upstream of the Priest River (if it is a Priest River trib), then the 4^th field boundary should be changed, and this area should be delineated into the Pend Oreille 4^th field unit and taken out of the Priest 4^th field unit. If not, then the delineated “Option 1” should be used, and the boundary line should be brought down to the centerline of the Pend Oreille River from the bank.
A portion of the Priest River below Priest Lake 5^th field huc was redrawn to the dam
A portion of the Upper West Branch Priest River 5^th field huc was redrawn to avoid cutting through a marsh area
A portion of the Upper West Branch Priest River 5^th field huc was redrawn to more accurately reflect the contour lines.
A portion of the East River 5^th field huc was redrawn at the confluence of the East River/Priest Rivers to more accurately reflect the contours.
A portion of the Lower West Branch Priest River 5^th field huc was redrawn to avoid crossing an unnamed stream.
A portion of the Lower West Branch Priest River 5^th field huc was redrawn to include Cuban Creek and bring the huc boundary down to the Lower West Branch Priest River and Priest River confluence.
A portion of the Upper Priest River above the Upper Priest Lake 6^th field huc was redrawn to bring the huc boundary down to the Upper Priest River/Hughes Creek confluence.
A portion of the Moores Creek 6^th field huc was redrawn to clean up the Moores Creek/Lower West Branch Priest River confluence.
A portion of the Big Creek 6^th field huc was redrawn to clean up the Prater Creek/Priest River confluence.
The Reynolds Creek and Reeder Creek 6^th field units will be combined into one 6^th field unit within the Priest Lake Basin 5^th to combine a 6^th field frontal unit. These two un-connected 6^th fields will form one unit with the same name/number.
The term “frontal’ will be added to all the huc names around the lake, pursuant to the directions in the standards.

Rick Patten and Greg Tensmeyer will incorporate these changes and send the coverage back to IDWR for incorporation into the draft master watershed coverage. After this linework is received, this huc will be considered draft-approved.

Moyie 17010105– The group reviewed this huc. There was one small change noted; the 6^th field unit Meadow Creek will be cleaned up and brought to the confluence. Rick Patten and Greg Tensmeyer will incorporate this small change and send the coverage back to IDWR for incorporation into the draft master watershed coverage. After this linework is received, this huc will be considered draft-approved.

Lower Kootenai 17010214 – The group reviewed this huc. The following changes were recommended:

A portion of the Boundary Creek 5^th field huc was redrawn to bring the huc boundary from the gaging station to the Idaho/Canada Border, which is closer to the Boundary Creek confluence.
A portion of the Smith Creek 5^th field huc was redrawn to bring the huc boundary up from the Kootenai River to the Smith Falls, which is more hydrologically correct.
A portion of the 5^th field line between Deep Creek and Kootenai River above Bonners Ferry will be redrawn to avoid crossing a hydrologic stream.
A portion of the Kootenai River above Bonners Ferry 6^th field was redrawn to avoid crossing a braided portion of the Kootenai River.
A portion of the Kootenai River above Dobson Creek 6^th field was redrawn and moved from the confluence of John Crowne Creek to the confluence of Sand Creek – to reflect the larger of the two confluences.
A portion of the Boulder Creek above Middle Fork Boulder Creek 6^th field unit will be moved from the Boulder Creek/Middle Fork Boulder Creek confluence to the Boulder Creek/East Fork Boulder Creek confluence.
A portion of the Fall Creek 6^th field unit was re-delineated along a different contour line to more accurately reflect the hydrologic features.
The Brown Creek (at Twenty Mile Creek) 6^th field unit will be brought down to the Brown Creek/Deep Creek confluence.

St. Joe 17010304 – The group reviewed this huc. The following changes were recommended:

      ·        St. Joe River below St. Mary’s River (Alder Creek 6^th) – a portion of this huc was redrawn to avoid crossing a hydrologic feature.
·        Slate Creek should be renamed Lower Slate Creek
·        Some label names may change, but Idaho will try to keep the current names unless edge-matching with other states.
·        Natural Lake rules have been applied with Benewah Lake.
·        A portion of the northern 4^th field boundary between the St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene Lake hucs was adjusted to follow the draw more accurately.

Rick Patten and Greg Tensmeyer will incorporate this small change and send the coverage back to IDWR for incorporation into the draft master watershed coverage. After this linework is received, this huc will be considered draft-approved.

Lower North Fork Clearwater River 17060308 – The group reviewed this huc. No changes or edits were suggested. Rick Patten Stated that he had worked closely with Nick Gerhardt at the Nez Perce National Forest for delineation of watershed boundaries they share in common. Genna Ashley will incorporate Rick Patten’s linework for his portion of this section, and this huc will be considered draft-approved.

South Fork Coeur d’Alene 17010302 – The group reviewed this huc. The following changes were recommended:

The South Fork Coeur d’Alene River below Placer Creek 5^th field unit was moved to the Placer Creek confluence.
The pour point for the Big Creek 6^th field unit will be adjusted and cleaned up.

Upper Coeur d’Alene 17010301 – The group reviewed this huc. The following changes were recommended:

There is a 5^th field line that crosses hydro at the Teepee Creek tributary on the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River main stem. There is a question as to whether or not there is actually a hydrologic feature at that location, and Rick Patten will field check this area and make a determination.
A portion of the Prichard Creek 5^th field unit was crossing a hydrologic feature, and a revised line following the contours was created.
A portion of the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River above Alden & Below Buckskin Creek was adjusted to more accurately reflect the contour lines.
A portion of the Teepee Creek above Trail Creek 6^th field unit was adjusted and brought down from the confluence of Ryan Creek to the confluence of Teepee Creek/Trail Creek.
A portion of the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River above Yellowdog Creek 6^th field unit was moved from the confluence of Beetle Creek to the confluence of Teddy Creek.

Coeur d’Alene Lake 17010303 – The group reviewed this huc. The following changes were recommended:

    ·        A portion of the 5^th field line between the Coeur d’Alene Lake Basin and the Coeur d’Alene River hucs was adjusted to include the small trib           draining into the lake into the Coeur d’Alene Lake basin 5^th.

   ·        A portion of the 4^th field line between the Coeur d’Alene Lake and the St. Joe huc was adjusted to more accurately reflect the contour lines.

The Wolf Lodge Bay 6^th and the Blue Lake Creek 6^th field hucs will be combined to form a frontal unit, and an additional line was drawn to make Fernan Creek a pure watershed..
A justification will be written (Genna Ashley) for the 6600 acre sub-sized Coeur d’Alene Lake East Face above Coeur d’Alene Reservoir 6^th field unit.

Upper Spokane 17010305 (Rathdrum Prairie) – The group reviewed this huc. The following changes were recommended:

The group decided that is was acceptable to treat Coeur d’Alene Lake as a Lake, using lake rules in the standards, and treat Spokane River to the dam as a reservoir, using reservoir rules.
The Rathdrum Prairie, Rathdrum Prairie Lakes, and Upper Spokane River south side 5^th fields were combined, (excepting the 6^th field delineations described below) to form a large 5^th field unit with three 6^th field units and one large leftover unit that will be coded “00”. See shapefile “edits.shp” for the linework completed during the meeting.
A portion of the Upper Spokane River South Side 5^th will be combined with the Rathdrum Prairie below Hayden Lake 5^th field to form a new 5^th unit to the North and South Post Falls Dams.
Houser Creek was broken out into it’s own 6^th field delineation. The portion left over was lumped into the large composite area coded “00”.
Rick Patten noted that the IPNF had no preference in the delineation of the remaining 5^th field huc on the Washington side (Spokane River 5^th), and IPNF would just go with whatever delineations they came up with. Genna Ashley will coordinate with Ken Adee and Dan Wickwire to get the latest linework and send them the latest Idaho linework for this huc.

Pend Oreille Lake 17010214 – The group reviewed this huc. The following changes were recommended:

The group worked and redefined several 5^th fields. The Lake will be coded as “01”, with the inlet (Gold Creek Frontal) coded as “02”.
A portion of the Pack River 5^th field unit was redrawn and brought down to Lake Pend Oreille.
The 6^th field line between Lower Sand Creek and Pend Oreille Lake Basin-Sandpoint will also become a new 5^th field division, consisting of 1) four 6^th field hucs to the east (Lower Sand Creek, Boyer Slough, Trestle Creek, and Strong Creek), and 2) two 6^th field hucs to the southwest. For a more specific scope of the changes made, please refer to the shapefile “edits.shp” that was created during the meeting.
The previously delineated 5^th field will create a frontal 5^th field on the west side of the lake consisting of two 6^th fields.
Trestle Creek was broken out into a separate 6^th field. The small composite area to the north (Kirby Creek) that was created by this action will be coded the same number as Strong Creek frontal.
A portion of the Pack River above Sand Creek 6^th field unit was redrawn to break at the Colby River/Pack River confluence.
A portion of the Pack River above Caribou Creek 6^th field unit was redrawn from the confluence of Pack River/Tavern Creek to break at the confluence of Pack River/Caribou Creek.

For all line edits completed during the TWG meeting, a shapefile called “edits.shp” was created. Please refer to this shapefile for any questions regarding specific line changes noted on any of the hucs above.

MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION

Rick Patten will get the Canadian contact person’s information and pass it along so that their data can be incorporated into the master draft watershed coverage. Rick mentioned that the current 4^th field boundary they are using for the Priest river huc actually came from Canada, and that Kootenai National Forest had contacted them initially.

Genna Ashley reported that she has incorporated several new hucs into the master draft watershed coverage. Genna will send this coverage to Al Rea so that he has the latest version for their 4^th boundary 24k project.

ACTION ITEMS:

Genna Ashley will send Rick Patten and Greg Tensmeyer the shapefile that was worked on during the TWG meeting, the updated standards, and the new link to the NRCS website.

Rick Patten and Greg Tensmeyer will incorporate the IPNF changes and send the coverage back to IDWR for incorporation into the draft master watershed coverage. After this linework is received, these huc will be considered draft-approved without the need for additional meetings.

Genna Ashley will send Al Rea the latest copy of the master draft watershed coverage.

NEXT SCHEDULED TWG MEETING (S):

Next TWG Meeting – Wednesday, September 29^th at the USGS office in Boise

For directions and/or NetMeeting connections, please contact Al Rea at (208) 387-1323, ahrea@usgs.gov.

***Subject to change before meeting***

Via Phone Conference –

MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION

The meeting concluded at approximately 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, August 24.