Miller Creek is a National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data The National Map , U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
in western
Klamath County, Oregon
Klamath County ( ) is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 69,413. The county seat is Klamath Falls, Oregon, Klamath Falls. The Oreg ...
, United States. It originates above
Gerber Reservoir
Gerber Reservoir is an irrigation impoundment created by Gerber Dam. It is located in southern Klamath County, Oregon, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The reservoir covers . The dam and reservoir are named in honor of Louis C. Gerber, a ...
and empties into irrigation canals within Langell Valley southeast of
Bonanza
''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...
Miller Creek originates above Gerber Reservoir which is impounded by Gerber Dam east of the city of Bonanza. It descends southward to Langell Valley, where it turns into canals and pumping plants, paralleling the road to Miller Creek Road until it finally empties into the Lost River's mile 55.6 (km 89.5). There is on average a one-degree difference in temperature between Miller Creek and the Lost River at their confluence. Miller Creek has spatial variability in temperature thresholds, especially observed in the lower of the stream.
Gerber Reservoir, on Miller Creek, provides storage for irrigation and reduces flow into the reclaimed portions of
Tulelake
Tulelake ( ) is a city in northeastern Siskiyou County, California, United States. The town is named after nearby Tule Lake. Its population is 902 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,010 from the 2010 census.
Tulelake peace officers are authoriz ...
and the restricted Tule Lake Sumps in the
Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge
The Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States in northern California near the Oregon border. It covers in the Tule Lake basin. It is part of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and is ...
.
History
The name honors James Miller (1814–1890), an Irishman who came across the continent in 1844 with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party and settled on part of
Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita y Las Gallinas
Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita y Las Gallinas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Marin County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Timothy Murphy (Timoteo Murphy). Las Gallinas means "the hens" in Spanish. The gra ...
in 1845.
Ecology
Although not well documented or understood, in recent years,
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is a state government, government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats.
The agency operates hatcheries, i ...
for trout restoration potential because the creek has high-quality, connected riparian habitat; minimal barriers to fish passage; and flow is subject to the operation of Gerber Dam. There is a high likelihood that these fish are coastal
rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
(''Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus'') of hatchery origin.Oregon Native Fish Status Report – Volume II Upper Klamath Basin Redband Trout (PDF). Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
Link River
The Link River is a short river connecting Upper Klamath Lake to Lake Ewauna in the city of Klamath Falls in the U.S. state of Oregon.McArthur, p. 580 Draining a basin of , the river begins at the southern end of Klamath Lake and flows a short ...