The Upper Feather River Watershed (UFRW) is composed of three sub-watersheds defined primarily by three valleys:
- Sierra Valley
- Indian Valley
- American Valley
The precipitation that falls in the watershed flow to Lake Oroville, a principal water storage reservoir of the State Water Project. The UFRW Irrigated Lands Prop. 50 Project is centered on the 3 valleys, which contain the majority of irrigated agriculture. There are approximately 60,000 irrigated agricultural acres in UFRW. The 2002 Agricultural Crop report estimates approx. 160,100 acres of pasture and hay crops are grown in Plumas and Sierra counties with 15,000 head of cattle.
Irrigation agriculture on private lands takes place principally within the three large valley areas:
- Sierra Valley - drains to upper reaches of the Middle Fork Feather River above Portola
- Indian Valley - drains to Indian Creek near Greenville
- American Valley - drains to Greenhorn and Spanish Creeks near Quincy
Other irrigated lands are located at Goodrich Creek, a tributary to the East Branch of the North Fork Feather River.
*For more information about watershed, please see the report that the Prop. 50 team developed:
Irrigated Agricultural Practices in UFRW