A major contributor to the sedimentation of the Little Applegate River is McDonald Ditch, an irrigation ditch near McDonald Creek. Built in 1920 to provide water to residents of nearby Wagner Creek, the ditch has failed numerous times, sending several tons of dirt and mud downstream. The Talent Irrigation District approved purchasing a $10,000 monitoring system for the ditch in September 2010, and applied for a $100,000 United States Bureau of Reclamation grant to replace the ditch with pipes.
