The Chewaucan is a closed basin river system that stretches a total of 53 miles and a primary tributary to Abert Lake. The Upper Chewaucan Watershed covers approximately 171,000 acres and is located in south-central Oregon, Lake County, where the Fremont-Winema National Forest meets the high desert. Approximately 44,000 acres or 26% of the watershed is privately owned while the other 127,000 acres or 74% of the watershed is on public lands. The nearest community to this watershed is the town of Paisley where the Chewaucan River runs along the town’s northern edge and continues to flow through what was once the Chewaucan Marsh. This area is now 30,000 acres of irrigated pasture land where the river continues its path, eventually flowing into Lake Abert. Lake Abert provides breeding and staging habitat for thousands of shorebirds and waterbirds representing more than 80 species. The Upper Chewaucan Watershed (HUC 17120006) consists of nine subwatersheds that drain 650 square miles to the Chewaucan River. Waters throughout this system serve native redband trout and other aquatic species, recreators and tourists, along with agriculture producers who depend on the waters for their livelihoods.
