Gerber Reservoir is an irrigation impoundment created by Gerber Dam. It is located in southern Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The reservoir covers . The dam and reservoir are named in honor of Louis C. Gerber, an early pioneer who owned much of the land flooded by the reservoir. Today, the reservoir and surrounding property is owned by the United States Government. It is administered by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management. Gerber Reservoir is a popular outdoor recreation site with two campgrounds along its west shore.
History Native Americans occupied sites around what is now Gerber Reservoir for perhaps 6,400 years before the first European settlers arrived in the area. Ancient campsites have been found in the area of Gerber Reservoir. Family bands of Klamath and Modoc peoples used these sites from early spring through fall for hunting, fishing, and plant gathering activities.Gerber Recreation Area (PDF), Lakeview District, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Lakeview, Oregon, 23 August 2005.Silvermoon, Jon Massoglia, "The Gerber Reservoir Vicinity", Archaeological Investigations at the Peninsula Site, 35KL87, Gerber Reservoir, South-Central Oregon, Cultural Resource Series Number 11, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Portland, Oregon, 1994, pp. 49–50.
Louis C. Gerber (1854–1930) and his family were among the first whites to settle in the area. In the mid-1880s, Gerber used the Swamp Act to acquire along Miller Creek on the high plateau northeast of the Langell Valley. In 1895, he filed a homestead claim on an adjacent parcel. By 1915, Gerber had also purchased 20 abandoned homesteads in the same area. He consolidated all these properties into the Gerber Ranch. In 1923, Gerber sold to the United States Government. This area was flooded when the Bureau of Reclamation completed the Miller Creek impoundment dam in June 1925. Both the dam and the reservoir it created were named in his honor.McArthur, Lewis A. and Lewis L. McArthur, "Gerber Reservoir", Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh Edition), Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland, Oregon, 2003, p. 398.Brown, Brooke, "Gerber Family" (PDF), The Gerber Family Legacy on Public Lands, Klamath Falls Resource Area, Lakeview District, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Klamath Falls, Oregon, ca. 2011, pp. 1-–3.Johnson, Daniel M., "Gerber Reservoir (Klamath)", Atlas of Oregon Lakes, Oregon State University Press: Corvallis, Oregon, 1985; on-line version maintained by the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs, Portland State University.
During World War II, the island in the middle of Gerber Reservoir was used as a United States military bombing range.Ostertag, Rhonda and George Ostertag, Camping Oregon (third edition), Morris Book Publishing, 2013, Kearney, Nebraska, pp. 240–241. Today, ospreys and pelicans nest on the island.
Watershed Gerber Reservoir is located on the east side of the Cascade Range in southern Oregon. The reservoir's water comes from Miller Creek and its tributaries. In addition to Miller Creek, Barnes Creek, Barnes Valley Creek, and Ben Hall Creek are year-around tributaries of the reservoir. There are also a number of ephemeral tributaries that dry up in summer. The reservoir's outlet is Miller Creek, as it flows over Gerber Dam. From there, the water flows southwest through Miller Creek Canyon to the Langell Valley, where it runs into the Lost River.Silvermoon, Jon Massoglia, "Physiography, Hydrology, and Geology", Archaeological Investigations at the Peninsula Site, 35KL87, Gerber Reservoir, South-Central Oregon, Cultural Resource Series Number 11, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Portland, Oregon, 1994, pp. 3–6.Gerber Reservoir topographic map, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of Interior, Reston, Virginia; displayed via ACME mapper, www.acme.com, 11 August 2012.
The watershed that drains into Gerber Reservoir covers . There are three primary vegetation zones that make up the watershed: coniferous forest, juniper woodlands, and shrub-steppe. There are also some meadow lands within the pine forest zone and in riparian areas along drainages that empty into the reservoir from the north and south. The watershed to the north, south, and west of the reservoir are pine forest. The area east of the reservoir is mostly juniper woodlands. The areas immediately surrounding the reservoir are shrub-steppe.Silvermoon, Jon Massoglia, "Flora", Archaeological Investigations at the Peninsula Site, 35KL87, Gerber Reservoir, South-Central Oregon, Cultural Resource Series Number 11, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Portland, Oregon, 1994, pp. 6–7.
The vegetation in the coniferous forest is dominated by ponderosa pine. Other tree species found in the watershed are lodgepole pine, sugar pine, white fir, and incense cedar. The forest understory include mountain mahogany, big sagebrush, low sagebrush, rabbitbrush, bitterbrush, and manzanita. Other common forest plants include ceanothus, huckleberry, snowberry, blue elderberry, chokecherry, twinberry, and serviceberry. Flowering plants include lupine, vetch, asters, biscuitroot, balsamroot, wild strawberry, yarrow, and dandelion. Grasses found in the forested areas include Idaho fescue, intermediate wheatgrass, bluebunch wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, and Thurber needlegrass. Invasive species include Kentucky bluegrass and cheatgrass brome. There are also quaking aspen in the upland meadows areas dispersed within the pine forest portion of the watershed.
Juniper woodlands are drier forest areas with shallow, sandy soil. Western juniper is the dominant species. The understory is similar to the pine forest with big sagebrush and bitterbrush widely distributed. Mountain mahogany, low sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and gray horsebrush are common in some areas. Grasses include Idaho fescue, bluebunch wheatgrass, bottlebrush squirreltail, granite prickly-phlox, western needlegrass, and Sandberg bluegrass.
The shrub-steppe areas around Gerber Reservoir are generally dominated by big sagebrush with low sagebrush common in rocky areas. Other vegetation includes rabbitbrush, spiny hopsage, wax currant, balsamroot, desert parsley, willow dock, blazing star, sunflower, plains mustard, tarweed, manna grass, buckwheat, and ryegrass.
Environment Gerber Reservoir is an irrigation impoundment created by Gerber Dam. The reservoir covers . It is approximately long and wide. The reservoir has a branching shape with shallow arms that follow various watershed drainages. There is one permanent island in the middle of the reservoir. The reservoir has an average depth of with a maximum depth of . Its elevation is above sea level.
While very few aquatic plants live in the shallow branches, the reservoir is still very productive. Its trophic state is classified as eutrophic. A combination of suspended inorganic matter and phytoplankton growth limit the water's transparency. In the main part of the reservoir, the water is deep enough for thermal stratification. In the deeper thermal layers, there is less oxygen than is found near the surface.
The reservoir is in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range. As a result, the weather in the Gerber area is typical of high plateaus in the northern Basin and Range Province. It is characterized by ample sunshine, low precipitation, and wide temperature ranges. Low humidity causes rapid evaporation. As a rule, winters in the Gerber area are long and summers mild.Silvermoon, Jon Massoglia, "Climate", Archaeological Investigations at the Peninsula Site, 35KL87, Gerber Reservoir, South-Central Oregon, Cultural Resource Series Number 11, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Portland, Oregon, 1994, pp. 5–6.
The annual average high temperature at Gerber Reservoir is . The warmest month is normally July, which has an average high of . The annual average low temperature is . January is normally the coldest month, with an average low of . Gerber gets an average of of precipitation per year, much of it coming as snow. Precipitation occurs mainly in the winter with smaller amounts in the fall and spring. Summers are generally dry except during localized thunderstorms. The prevailing winds are from the west and south.
Ecology
The meadows near the reservoir have camas and tufted hairgrass. Wetlands along the reservoir shoreline have sedge, cattails, bulrushes, arumleaf arrowroot, pond lily, sago pondweed, widgeon grass, sego lily, burr weed, and tule. There are also willows in riparian areas along drainages that empty into the reservoir.
The reservoir's game fish includes white crappie, yellow perch, bluegill, brown bullhead, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, brown trout, and brook trout. The crappie and perch are particularly sought after by anglers. Crappies over long are common. The largest crappie ever caught at the reservoir weighed well over , an Oregon state record. Perch up to long are also common at Gerber. Other fish found in the reservoir include tui chub, blue chub, speckled dace, and shortnose sucker."Lake Information for Gerber Reservoir", Fishing, www.completefish.com, Austin, Texas, 10 August 2014.Silvermoon, Jon Massoglia, "Table B-3, Amphibians, Lizards, Skinks, Snakes, Eels, and fish of the Gerber Reservoir Area", Archaeological Investigations at the Peninsula Site, 35KL87, Gerber Reservoir, South-Central Oregon, Cultural Resource Series Number 11, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Portland, Oregon, 1994, p. B-9.
In addition to fish, the reservoir provide habitat for a wide variety of bird species. Birdwatchers can see waterfowl, songbirds, and birds of prey in the Gerber area. Common waterfowl include western grebe, red-necked grebe, common loon, hooded merganser, common merganser, trumpeter swan, Canada goose, snow goose, black tern, American coot, and a number of duck species. Other water-dependent birds found at the reservoir include sandhill crane, great blue heron, black-crowned night heron, American bittern, snowy egret, American white pelican, American avocet, long-billed curlew, willet, Virginia rail, spotted sandpiper, and common snipe.Silvermoon, Jon Massoglia, "Fauna", Archaeological Investigations at the Peninsula Site, 35KL87, Gerber Reservoir, South-Central Oregon, Cultural Resource Series Number 11, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Portland, Oregon, 1994, pp. 8–10.Silvermoon, Jon Massoglia, "Table B-2, Birds of the Gerber Reservoir Area", Archaeological Investigations at the Peninsula Site, 35KL87, Gerber Reservoir, South-Central Oregon, Cultural Resource Series Number 11, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior, Portland, Oregon, 1994, pp. B-5–B-8.