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<document>
<title>Fanno Creek</title>
<authors>Wikipedia</authors>
<publisher>wikipedia.org</publisher>
<publishedplace>network</publishedplace>
<publishedyear>2010</publishedyear>
<edition></edition>
<category>Geography of Portland, Oregon</category>
<section id="46442" fatherid="0" title="" lv="" priority="-1" level="1">
Fanno Creek is a  tributary of the Tualatin River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about  in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, including about  within the Portland city limits.
From its headwaters in the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills) in southwest Portland, the creek flows generally west and south through the cities of Portland, Beaverton, Tigard and Durham, and unincorporated areas of Washington County. It enters the Tualatin River about  above the Tualatin's confluence with the Willamette River at West Linn.
For thousands of years, the Atfalati (Tualatin) tribe of the Kalapuya inhabited the watershed. The first settler of European descent, Augustus Fanno, for whom the creek is named, arrived in the mid-19th century. He established an onion farm in what became Beaverton. Fanno Farmhouse, the restored family home, is a Century Farm on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of 14 urban parks in a narrow corridor along the creek.
Although heavily polluted, the creek supports aquatic life, including cutthroat trout in its upper reaches. Watershed councils such as the Friends of Fanno Creek and government agencies have worked to limit pollution and to restore native vegetation in riparian zones.

</section>
<section id="46443" fatherid="0" title="Course" lv="" priority="-2" level="1">
<section id="46444" fatherid="46443" title="" lv="" priority="-1" level="2">
Fanno Creek arises at an elevation of  above sea level and falls  between source and mouth to an elevation of . The main stem begins at about river mile (RM) 15 or river kilometer (RK) 24 in the Hillsdale neighborhood of southwest Portland, in Multnomah County. The creek flows west along the north side of Oregon Route 10 (the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway), passing Albert Kelly Park and receiving Ivey Creek and Bridlemile Creek on the  before reaching the United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream gauge at Southwest 56th Avenue  from the mouth. Shortly thereafter and in quick succession, it enters Washington County and the unincorporated community of Raleigh Hills, crosses under Route 10, and receives Sylvan Creek on the . Here the stream turns south, passing through Bauman Park, where Vermont Creek enters on the  about  from the mouth, and then southwest to flow through the Portland Golf Club and Vista Brook Park, where Woods Creek enters on the . From here it flows west again for about , passing through Fanno Creek Trail Park and entering Beaverton about  from the mouth before turning sharply south and flowing under Oregon Route 217 (Beaverton-Tigard Highway).
Fanno Creek then flows roughly parallel to Route 217 for about  through Fanno Creek Park and Greenway Park. Near the southern end of Greenway Park, the creek passes under Oregon Route 210 (Scholls Ferry Road), and enters Tigard about  from the mouth. In quick succession, Hiteon Creek enters on the , Ash Creek on the , and Summer Creek on the  before the creek reaches Woodard Park, goes under Oregon Route 99W (Southwest Pacific Highway), and flows through Fanno Park and Bonita Park as well as residential neighborhoods. Between the two parks, Red Rock Creek enters on the  about  from the mouth. Slightly downstream of Bonita Park, Ball Creek enters on the . Fanno Creek then enters Durham, passes a USGS gauging station  from the mouth, flows through Durham City Park, and empties into the Tualatin River  from its confluence with the Willamette

</section>
<section id="46445" fatherid="46443" title="Discharge" lv="" priority="2" level="2">
The USGS monitors the flow of Fanno Creek at two stations, one in Durham,  from the mouth and the other in Portland,  from the mouth. The average flow of the creek at the Durham station is . This is from a drainage area of , more than 99 percent of the total Fanno Creek watershed. The maximum flow recorded there was  on February 6, 1996, and the minimum flow was  on September 13, 2001. Note: The average discharge rate for this location was calculated by adding the average annual discharge rates for the eight calendar years for which data was available and dividing by 8.  At the Portland station, the average flow is . This is from a drainage area of  or about 7 percent of the total Fanno Creek watershed. The maximum flow recorded there was  on February 8, 1996, and the minimum flow was  on September 4, 2001.The average discharge rate for this location was calculated by adding the average annual discharge rates for the 16 calendar years for which data was available and dividing by 16.
</section>
</section>
<section id="46446" fatherid="0" title="Watershed" lv="" priority="3" level="1">
The slopes at the headwaters of Fanno Creek consist mainly of Columbia River Basalt exposed in ravines but otherwise covered by up to  of wind-deposited silt. Silts and clays are the most common watershed soils, and significant erosion is  common. About  of precipitation, almost all of which is rain and about half of which arrives in November, December, and January, falls on the watershed each year. Although significant flooding occurred in 1977, the watershed has not experienced a 100-year flood since the area became urban.
Small watersheds adjacent to the Fanno Creek watershed include those of minor tributaries of the Willamette or Tualatin rivers. Tryon Creek, Balch Creek, and other small streams east of Fanno Creek flow down the eastern flank of the West Hills into the Willamette. To the northwest, Hall Creek, Cedar Mill Creek, and Bronson Creek flow into Beaverton Creek, a tributary of Rock Creek, which empties into the Tualatin River at the larger stream's RM 38.4 (RK 61.8), about  upriver from the mouth of Fanno Creek.

</section>
<section id="46447" fatherid="0" title="History" lv="" priority="-4" level="1">
Fanno Creek is named after Augustus Fanno, the first European American settler along the creek. In 1847, he started an onion farm on a  donation land claim in what later became part of Beaverton. Other 19th century newcomers along the creek engaged mainly in logging, farming, and dairy farming until the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Electric Railway lines made the watershed more accessible for urban development around the turn of the century. The Oregon Electric, a  system built between 1903 and 1915, ran between downtown Portland and Garden Home in the Fanno Creek watershed, where it split into branches leading to Salem and Forest Grove. The Southern Pacific began running electric passenger trains, known as the Red Electric, in the watershed in 1914. The company that eventually became Portland General Electric installed electric service in the area, and by 1915 the population of the upper Fanno Creek neighborhoods of Multnomah, Maplewood, Hillsdale, and West Portland Park had grown to 2,000.
The highways and railroads serve a population that increased most dramatically in the second half of the 20th century. When Beaverton became a city in 1893, it had a population of 400. In 1960, it still had only 6,000 residents, but the number soared to 76,000 by the year 2000, although not all of them lived in the watershed. Tigard, which did not exist as a city until 1961, grew to 41,000 by the year 2000,  all in the watershed. The estimated population of the entire watershed  reached 123,000 just before the 2000 census. Fanno Creek, which had few people living near it until 1850, "is surrounded by the most populous region in Oregon".

</section>
<section id="46448" fatherid="0" title="Pollution" lv="" priority="5" level="1">
Although the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) rated the average water quality of Fanno Creek as "very poor" between 1986 and 1995, it also noted steady improvement over that span. Historically, Fanno Creek has been polluted by urban and industrial sources, small sewage treatment plants, ineffective septic systems, farming and grazing operations, and illegal dumping. Health and environmental concerns led to the closing of substandard wastewater treatment plants in the 1970s, and urban development reduced the number of farms and farm animals along the creek. A ban in 1991 on phosphate detergents, increased connection to municipal sewers, stormwater management, and greater public awareness helped to reduce urban pollution not coming from point sources, and water quality improved.
DEQ monitors Fanno Creek at Bonita Road in Tigard, at about  from the mouth. On the Oregon Water Quality Index (OWQI) used by DEQ, water quality scores can vary from 10 (worst) to 100 (ideal). The average for Fanno Creek between 1986 and 1995 was 55 but steadily improved to 65, or "poor", by the end of the period. By comparison, the average in the nearby Willamette River at the Hawthorne Bridge in downtown Portland was 74 during the same years. Measurements of water quality at the Tigard site during the years covered by the DEQ report showed high concentrations of phosphates, fecal coliform bacteria, and suspended solids, and a high biochemical oxygen demand. Moderately high concentrations of ammonia and nitrate nitrogen occurred during high flows during fall, winter, and spring. High temperatures and low dissolved oxygen concentration in the summer were evidence of eutrophication.
The high fraction of impervious surfaces in the watershed makes it difficult to improve water quality in the creek. The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services estimates that one-third of the surface area of the watershed that lies within its jurisdiction is impervious. All of the roughly  of the surface of Tigard, much of it impervious, drains into Fanno Creek. The watershed watch coordinator for Tualatin Riverkeepers, a volunteer group, was quoted in a July 2008 newspaper article saying that "the biggest impact to Fanno Creek is the impervious area”. To slow run-off, reduce erosion, and keep pollutants out of streams, watershed councils, neighborhood groups, and government agencies have been planting native species of vegetation at selected sites throughout the watershed.

</section>
<section id="46449" fatherid="0" title="Biology" lv="" priority="-6" level="1">
<section id="46450" fatherid="46449" title="Fish and wildlife" lv="" priority="1" level="2">
About 100 bird species, several kinds of mammals, and a few fish species live in the watershed. Mammals commonly seen include beaver, raccoon, opossum, spotted skunk, Douglas squirrel, and Townsend's chipmunk; black-tail deer and coyotes are more rare. Fanno Creek supports non-migrating cutthroat trout that spawn in the fast-flowing, gravel-bottomed headwaters and grow to a maximum length of about . Other fish species found in the creek include sculpins, dace, and mosquitofish.
As of March 2009, the extreme upper reaches of Fanno Creek were colonized by beaver. Two ponds created by beaver dams were visible from Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, west of the intersection with Southwest Dosch Road. The City of Portland is taking remedial action to minimize damage to trees and brush by wrapping wire mesh around the bases of trees.  Willow tree cuttings will be  for the beaver to use.

</section>
<section id="46451" fatherid="46449" title="Vegetation" lv="" priority="-2" level="2">
The Tualatin Riverkeepers, a nonprofit watershed council based in Tigard; Clean Water Services, a public utility that protects water resources in the Tualatin River watershed, and the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District (THPRD) have formed the Tualatin Basin Invasive Species Working Group to identify and eradicate invasive plants that displace native plants, cause erosion, and diminish water quality. The five plants considered most threatening are Japanese knotweed, meadow knapweed, giant hogweed, garlic mustard and purple loosestrife. The Oregon Department of Agriculture and the city of Tigard are working to eradicate giant hogweed from lower Fanno Creek.
</section>
</section>
<section id="46452" fatherid="0" title="Parks" lv="" priority="7" level="1">
THPRD manages seven Fanno Creek parks in Beaverton and unincorporated Washington County. The district, tax-supported and governed by an elected board, is the largest special park and recreation district in Oregon.  The seven include Bauman Park, about  at about  from the mouth. Slightly downstream from Bauman Park are Vista Brook Park, about  with trails including one that is accessible to people with physical handicaps, a playground, and courts for basketball and tennis, and Fanno Creek Trail, about , with picnic tables and trails. Other THPRD parks lie along Fanno Creek from roughly  to roughly  from the mouth. These are Fanno Creek Park, about , with trails including one accessible to people with handicaps; Fanno Farmhouse, about  with an accessible trail and picnic tables as well as the Fanno family home, restored by THPRD and listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Greenway Park, about  with trails including an accessible trail, picnic tables, a playground, and sports fields, and Koll Center Wetlands, about  with wildlife.
The three Fanno Creek parks managed by the city of Tigard include Woodard Park,  of big trees, trails, and play structures;  Bonita Park, with a playground and picnic areas,  and Fanno Creek Park, a natural area behind City Hall. About 20 percent of the small city of Durham is parkland. Surrounded by the larger cities of Tigard and Tualatin, the city covers  occupied by about 1,400 people. Durham City Park, at the confluence of Fanno Creek and the Tualatin River, consists of  of heavily wooded floodplain with paved trails, children's play areas, and a picnic shelter.
Sections of trail along the main stem of Fanno Creek form part of a planned   Fanno Creek Greenway Trail linking Willamette Park on the Willamette River in southwest Portland to the confluence of the creek with the Tualatin River in Durham. The trail, for pedestrians and bicyclists, is accessible to people with disabilities. Many unfinished segments remained as of 2008.

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<section id="46453" fatherid="0" title="See also" lv="" priority="-8" level="1">
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<section id="46454" fatherid="0" title="Notes and references" lv="" priority="-9" level="1">
</section>
<section id="46455" fatherid="0" title="Works cited" lv="" priority="-10" level="1">
Tualatin Riverkeepers (2002). Exploring the Tualatin River Basin. Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University Press. ISBN 0-87071-540-2.
</section>
<section id="46456" fatherid="0" title="External links" lv="" priority="-11" level="1">
Category:Geography of Portland, Oregon
Category:Tualatin River
Category:Streams of Oregon

</section>
</document>
