Landslide Susceptibility and Soil Loss Estimates for Drift Creek Watershed, Lincoln County, Oregon

Abstract

ABSTRACTDrift Creek watershed, Lincoln County, Oregon, is a source of drinking water as well as a reproductive habitat for endangered salmon and trout species. Landslides, exacerbated by logging, are suspected as a cause of water quality deterioration in the watershed. To investigate the impact of landslides on water quality, we mapped landslide distribution and susceptibility, determined engineering properties of landslide-prone soil and rock, and estimated soil loss resulting from landslide-derived sediment within 30 m of Strahler third-order-or-higher streams in the watershed. We mapped 570 landslides using LiDAR imaging, orthophotographs, and field observations. We used logistic regression to determine the most significant variables contributing to landslide occurrence and to create a watershed-scale landslide susceptibility map. Siletz River Volcanics and the sedimentary Tyee Formation make up 85 percent of the watershed, with the sedimentary Yamhill and Nestucca formations making up the majority of the rest. Sedimentary rocks dominate in the Upper Drift Creek watershed, and volcanic dominate in the lower portion. The largest landslide deposits and the highest susceptibility occur in the sedimentary rock formations. The Siletz River Volcanics has a larger abundance of landslides than the sedimentary rock formations, but they are smaller in size with lower susceptibility of occurrence. The soil loss model indicates that the average annual soil loss from landslide deposits in the Upper Drift Creek watershed is 65 tons/acre/yr compared to 29 tons/acre/yr in the Lower Drift Creek watershed. The model also indicates that soil loss from areas along roads in the watershed is high.