Meeting Minutes – TWG Meeting November 7, 2002

 

In Attendance –

 Linda Davis, IDWR

Sandra Thiel, IDWR

Genna Ashley, IDWR (Partial)

Ervin Cowley, BLM

Al Rea, USGS

Leigh Bailey, Payette National Forest

Betsy Rieffenberger, Salmon-Challis National Forest

Steve Garcia, USGS

Mike Beaty, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Steve Trulove, Boise National Forest

T.J. Clifford, Boise National Forest

 

Via Phone Conference –

 

Valdon Hancock (a portion of the morning and part of the afternoon)

 

HUC REVIEW

 

The meeting began at approximately 10:00 a.m. , MST

 

 

Huc 17060204 Lemhi – This huc was reviewed with Betsy Rieffenberger, Salmon-Challis National Forest.  The 6th field name of Lemhi-East Salmon will be changed to Lemhi-Lower Lemhi Valley, per group discussion.  A justification will be written for the Geertson 6th field huc and a write-up describing the rationale of the Middle and Lower 18-Mile Creek will be written.  After these minor changes and justifications are received, this huc will be considered draft-approved by the TWG.

 

Huc 17060202 Pahsimeroi – The TWG reviewed this huc and provided input to Betsy regarding delineations.  Betsy will begin work on this huc and bring her linework to the January 9th TWG meeting for a first review.

 

Huc 17060206 Lower Middle Fork – The South Fork Camas confluence needs to be fixed and Silver Creek/Camas needs to be checked.  Betsy will add the main River names to the 6th field names.  After these minor changes have been made, Betsy will send Genna Ashley the new linework/attributes and this huc will be considered draft-approved by the TWG.

 

Huc 17060201 Upper Salmon – this huc was reviewed by the group.   The names and numbering will need to be checked and possibly regions created at the 5th/6th level to avoid seeing the 7th level hucs.  Valdon will get with Bonnie Ross to make the changes and this huc will be reviewed again in the near future.

 

LUNCH BREAK – 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

 

Huc 17050113 South Fork Boise River – This huc was reviewed with T.J. Clifford and Steve Trulove, Boise Naitonal Forest, and Valdon Hancock, Sawtooth National Forest.  The Lime Creek 6th field huc needs to be brought down to the legacy channel, and some names needed to be corrected.  There was some discussion about the delineation of Big Smokey Creek.  It was suggested to combine this 6th field huc with the Salt Creek 6th field huc because the Big Smokey Creek actually extends into the Salt Creek 6th field huc.  Valdon is very much in favor of keeping the hucs as they are now, depicting a true watershed for each area.  This huc will be reviewed again during the January 9th TWG meeting.

 

Huc 17050103 Succor Creek – This huc was reviewed with Erv Cowley, BLM.  Erv will write a justification for the 6th field Snake River-Chattin Flats huc at 47,600 acres.  Some 6th fields will be renamed, i.e., Snake-River-Tadpole Lake to just Tadpole lake.  Also, the name “squaw” will be taken out of the huc names.  The delineation line between Little Succor Creek and Succor Creek-Spring Creek 6th’s need to be broken at the confluence.  Erv will make these changes and bring them to the December TWG meeting.

 

Huc 17050108 Jordan – This huc was reviewed by Erv Cowley.  There were miscellaneous  names that needed to be changed and confluences that needed to be checked.  The Soda Creek huc had two outlets, and that needs to be changed.  There was a line crossing hydro in the Upper Jordan Creek 6th field huc that needed to be checked.  Erv will make these miscellaneous changes and bring back to the group in December.  The TWG would like to get Oregon involved during the next TWG meeting to match edges between States. 

 

Huc 16010201 (Bear Lake) – Steve Garcia, USGS continues to work on the delineations for this huc.  He will send linework to Genna Ashley and this huc should be ready for a review during the December TWG Meeting.

 

Huc 16010202 (Middle Bear) – Steve Garcia, USGS continues to work on the delineations for this huc.  He will send linework to Genna Ashley and this huc should be ready for a review during the December TWG Meeting.

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION

 

The naming conventions for Warm Springs Creek were discussed by the TWG.  After a closer look it was determined that the names of the creeks actually differed, Warm Springs Creek and Warm Spring Creek.  It was decided that in a case where the names were actually the same, the trib/receiving waterbody names could be flipped, i.e., Salmon River-Warm Springs Creek, Warm Springs Creek-Salmon River.  It was decided to approach naming problems on a case-by-case basis as they arose if they should differ from the standards.

 

Al Rea stated that he has re-worked some of the DRG’s to include areas outside the Idaho border.  He has put them in Image Catalogs by huc and would be willing to share this data with IDWR.  The files are in .tif format.  A USB hard drive would be very useful for downloading purposes.  The cost is only in the $300-range and cuts data transfer time dramatically.

 

Genna Ashley will keep a “Master” watershed coverage at IDWR consisting of all agency linework and track progress and changes for each huc.  This will be done until the coverage is sent to USGS for certification, then it may be stored somewhere else.

 

The huc numbering dispute between the Kootenai National Forest and Idaho Panhandle National Forest was discussed.  Linda Davis stated that she would be willing to get the graphics specific to the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forest areas in question, then the issue could be brought to the TWG group in cooperation with both forests to help resolve the areas in question.

 

Erv Cowley stated that he would be looking at the Bruneau huc in the near future and would like to bring it to the TWG for a first review, to be scheduled.

 

Karen Hanson (Utah USGS) has a digitizing shop set up for watershed delineation work.  She is willing to do delineation work for agencies, has extensive watershed knowledge, and the per-huc price is competitive. 

 

The January TWG meeting was scheduled for January 9th, at 10:00 a.m. MST.

 

 

ACTION ITEMS:

 

Betsy Rieffenberger will work on the Lemhi and Lower Middle Fork hucs.  She will make some minor changes and write a justification for the Geertson 6th, and an explanation about 18-mile Creek.  After the minor changes have been made and justifications have been written, she will forward the linework to Genna Ashley.  Genna will then mark these hucs as “draft complete” and incorporate the linework into the IDWR draft watershed coverage.  Betsy will also begin delineating the Pahsimeroi huc and will bring this huc, along with the Little Lost Huc to the January 9th TWG meeting for a first draft review. 

 

Valdon Hancock will work with Bonnie Ross to update huc 17060201 Upper Salmon with the identified changes

 

T.J. Clifford, Steve Trulove and Valdon Hancock will continue to work on huc 17050113 South Fork Boise River.  They will bring their changes back to the TWG group in January

 

Erv Cowley will work on the Succor Creek and Jordan hucs.  He will bring these hucs back to the December TWG meeting for another review.  He will also be reviewing the Bruneau huc and will bring it to a future TWG meeting.

 

IDWR will check into getting the Al Rea’s Cataloged DRG files.

 

Linda Davis will get specific graphics to help illustrate the problems experienced by Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests.

NEXT SCHEDULED TWG MEETING(S):

 

December 6th at 10:00 a.m., MST – The TWG will final review the Snake River-Succor and Jordan hucs.  A first review will be done on the Bear Lake and Middle Bear hucs and Dick Jones from the Clearwater National Forest will bring hucs to the review meeting, to be determined.

 

January 9th at 10:00 a.m., MST -   Betsy Rieffenberger will bring the Pahsimeroi and Little Lost hucs for a first review.  The South Fork Boise huc (TJ Clifford, Steve Trulove, Valdon Hancock) will be final reviewed, and any other hucs left over from the December 6th meeting may be reviewed.

 

The meeting concluded at approximately 4:45 p.m., MST.