LOWER OWL CREEK
Murray Brown Ranch
Site # MY - 12
To get to this site, go 0.2 miles south of mile number 22 on U.S. Highway 87, just south of Lodge Grass, and turn east on a gravel road (the "city" dump is on the north side of this road). Drive east one mile, then turn right. There is a sign for the Murray Brown and Son Ranch here. Turn right 3.9 miles further down the road, and right again after another 1.4 miles. 1.2 miles up this road is the Murray Brown ranch. About 2.4 miles beyond the ranch house, a rough road heads west (towards the creek) across a hay field to a gate (0.2 mile). The site is just downstream from the gate.
This site includes a meander and a short straight reach. Banks throughout the reach are moderately stable to very unstable. The cutbank at cross-section 3 is very unstable, and rises about 5 meters above the water. Very little vegetation is presently growing on this cutbank. Both sides of the channel show unstable history with tree roots exposed at several locations on each bank.
Benchmarks 1, 3, 4 and 4a are on a high terrace on the right bank. Benchmark 2 is on top of a lower point bar on the left bank. There are signs of imminent slumps at several places along the right bank, particularly at cross-section 3. In places the channel has been constructed by slump blocks.
Channel and bank material is mainly sand-silt with some clay. There is a pool-riffle system developed, with sand in the riffles and silt-clay in the pools.
The stream water is turbid (visibility is less than 6 inches), with few aquatic plants.
Land use directly adjacent to stream is grazing. Some banks have been knocked down by cattle, but slumping due to stream action seems to be the major cause of bank failure.
Lower Owl Creek (Site # MY - 12) was surveyed 18 August 1975.
Angles determined by a Brunton are followed by a (B), all others are derived from plane table data. Distances determined with a tape are followed by a (T), all others found using the alidade. The rod is touching the alidade side of the survey point, and is centered. Compass compensation is 15.5°. See Table 1.