The Sacramento-Lower Cow-Lower Clear Creek Watershed is one of 12 watersheds located in Shasta County. All of these watersheds are located within a larger geographic area known as the Sacramento River Basin.
The Sacramento River Basin is one of 60 study units in the NAWQA (National Water Quality Assessment) Program administered by the United States Geological Service. The Sacramento River Basin covers approximately 27,000 square miles and spans 5 geographical regions: the Sacramento Valley, the Sierra Nevada, the Coast Ranges, the Cascade Range, and the Modoc Plateau.
The National Water Quality Assessment Program is designed to gather data about the quality of groundwater and surface water resources in the Sacramento Valley. According to the USGS, the major water quality issues of concern in the Sacramento River Basin study unit are: elevated levels of trace metals, pesticide contamination of surface water and potential contamination of groundwater, nitrate contamination of groundwater, and urban runoff and volatile organic chemical contamination.
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Our Watershed and Water Quality
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A watershed is the area of land that catches rain and snow and drains or seeps into a marsh, stream, river, lake or into the ground. As rain or snowmelt moves across the land, it picks up soil, fertilizers, pesticides and other contaminants. As more of these contaminants find their way into our water supply, the quality of that water supply is degraded.
Watersheds can range in size from a few acres to thousands of square miles. Watersheds cross county, state and even national boundaries. All of our drinking water originates in a watershed. The source may be a river or a lake or a groundwater well. Wherever you live, you live in a watershed.
The City of Redding is a water supplier located in the Sacramento-Lower Cow-Lower Clear Creek watershed. This watershed has a IWI (Index of Watershed Indictors) rating of 3. The scale goes from 1 -6, 6 meaning serious water quality issues are present. A score of 3 indicates less serious water quality problems and low vulnerability to stressors such as pollutants. These numbers provide us with data on the overall health of our water supply. The IWI looks at many indicators that point to how healthy our water sources are and to how activities in the watershed can affect the water quality.
Here are some statistics about our watershed:
- Name: Sacramento-Lower Cow-Lower Clear Creek Watershed
- United States Geological Services Cataloging Unit: 18020101
- Area: 423 square miles
- Watershed acres: 2,287.5
- Perimeter: 114.14 miles
- River and Stream Miles: 780.6
- Perennial River Miles: 252.8
- Lakes in Watershed: 47
- Rivers and Streams in Watershed
- Battle Creek
- Bear Creek
- Churn Creek
- Clear Creek
- Clover Creek
- Cottonwood Creek
- Cow Creek
- Dry Creek
- Little Cow Creek
- South Cow Creek
- Sacramento River
- Stillwater Creek
For more information regarding the water quality
of the Sacramento River Basin, please see the
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program.
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