Water Resources of Oregon
Welcome to the home page for the U.S. Geological Survey Oregon Water Science Center. This is your gateway to a wealth of information on surface water, ground water, and water quality in Oregon and the Nation. The Oregon Water Science Center provides water data and interpretation of data to Federal, State, and local agencies; Tribes; and the public. Our data and study results are widely used to manage Oregon's water resources for the benefit of both people and our environment. We hope that you will find this Website informative and useful.
Streamflow Conditions in Oregon
USGS Oregon WSC Highlights
USGS Study Publishes Maps of Depth to Water and Water-Level Elevation in the Portland Area
Portland, Oregon, looking east toward Mount Hood (Photograph courtesy of Travel Portland)
The USGS Oregon Water Science Center has recently completed a study that determined the configuration of the water table in the Portland area. Depth to water is typically a consideration in construction of buildings, roads, and infrastructure; well drilling; evaluation of aquifer susceptibility; and the design of monitoring programs to determine the extent and severity of possible aquifer contamination. Recent and planned construction of new infrastructures for diverting stormwater runoff has raised concerns regarding the protection of ground-water resources in the Portland area and highlighted the need for comprehensive information about the configuration of the water table.
Underground injection control (UIC) systems (for example, stormwater injection systems, sumps, and drywells) are used extensively in the Portland area to divert stormwater runoff into the subsurface. Additional UIC systems are expected to be constructed, and stormwater runoff also will be diverted to other types of stormwater drainage systems such as vegetated swales, pervious pavement, disconnected downspouts, and other diversion methods that are designed to allow for the infiltration of stormwater. The goals are to manage surface runoff and to protect the quality of water entering rivers, streams, and the ground-water flow system. Information is needed regarding the configuration of the water table to help determine the appropriate use of these diversion methods to meet regulatory requirements and to minimize the effect on ground-water quality and ground-water levels. To help provide this information, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Portland, City of Gresham, Clackamas County’s Water Environment Services, and Multnomah County began a study in 2003 to determine the configuration of the water table in the Portland area.
 Read the report from this study
USGS Study of Upper Klamath Lake Links Circulation Patterns and Water Quality
Summer algae blooms in Upper Klamath Lake create water-quality conditions that are stressful for fish. (Photograph by Mary Lindenberg, U.S. Geological Survey, September 26, 2006.)
Upper Klamath Lake is a large, shallow lake in southern Oregon, just east of the Cascades. Land use changes in the basin during the 19th and 20th centuries led to increased inputs of sediments and nutrients to the lake, creating an ideal environment for the proliferation of the blue-green alga Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. Extensive annual blooms of this alga through the summer and subsequent bloom declines create conditions that are detrimental to the well being of fish that live in the lake, including the endangered shortnose and Lost River suckers. These conditions include large daily fluctuations of dissolved oxygen and pH, as well as occasionally high amounts of un-ionized ammonia. Fish die-offs have occurred during and following extended periods of oxygen depletion, either because of the low dissolved oxygen or disease epidemics resulting from stressed fish crowding together while seeking refuge from the unfavorable conditions.
The extended periods of oxygen depletion have been more severe in the northern part of Upper Klamath Lake than in areas of similar depth throughout the rest of the lake, suggesting that circulation patterns affect the distribution and severity of unfavorable water-quality conditions. A recent USGS Oregon Water Science Center study, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, used hydrologic, water-quality, and meteorological data collected continuously since 2002, as well as current velocity profiles and other data, to model lake circulation and heat transport. The model used is called UnTRIM, which is a three-dimensional hydrodynamic and constituent transport model.
Water in Upper Klamath Lake circulates clockwise in two gyres owing to the influence of prevailing westerly to northwesterly winds and the configuration of the lake basin, but circulation occasionally reverses when winds blow from the southeast for extended periods. Current speed generally fluctuates between 0 and 4 inches per second over most of the lake, which averages less than 10 feet in depth but has a narrow, deep trench as much as 40 feet deep along the western shore. Water in the trench moves faster than elsewhere, typically exceeding 8 inches per second.
The study found that water exiting the northern end of the trench had two components: a surface component that flows toward the southern part of the lake and a deep component that flows into the northern part of the lake, which is prime habitat for endangered suckers. Under certain conditions the deeper component exits the trench with a very low dissolved oxygen content, which is stressful to fish. This is because light does not penetrate to the deeper water, so there is no oxygen-producing photosynthesis, and oxygen-consuming processes such as algal respiration and decay, and sediment oxygen demand predominate. Why the oxygen depletion persists when the deeper water exits the trench and travels through shallow areas where photosynthesis should occur, though, is unknown. Explanations might be that algae entrained in the deeper water are either not as healthy as the more buoyant colonies in the surface water or that they have settled out of the water altogether. Answers to this question await further study.
Read the report from this study at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5076/.
Read about other USGS Oregon Water Science Center Klamath Basin studies at http://or.water.usgs.gov/klamath/.
Recent Publications
 Total Dissolved Gas and Water Temperature in the Lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, 2008: Quality-Assurance Data and Comparison to Water-Quality Standards
by Dwight Q. Tanner, Heather M. Bragg, and Matthew W. Johnston
 Analysis of Geomorphic and Hydrologic Characteristics of Mount Jefferson Debris Flow, Oregon, November 6, 2006, by Steven Sobieszczyk, Mark A. Uhrich, David R. Piatt, and Heather M. Bragg
 Ground-Water Availability Assessment for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho
 Effects of Urbanization on Stream Ecosystems in the Willamette River Basin and Surrounding Area, Oregon and Washington, by Ian R. Waite, Steven Sobieszczyk, Kurt D. Carpenter, Andrew J. Arnsberg, Henry M. Johnson, Curt A. Hughes, Michael J. Sarantou, and Frank A. Rinella
 Estimating Flow-Duration and Low-Flow Frequency Statistics for Unregulated Streams in Oregon, by John Risley, Adam Stonewall, and Tana Haluska
View the complete list of 2007-08 Oregon Water Science Center publications
Of Current Interest
Study Reveals Escalating Endangerment for North American Freshwater Fish: Nearly 40 Percent Now At-Risk
The Columbia River white sturgeon is one of several threatened or endangered fish species in West Coast streams
Nearly 40 percent of fish species in North American streams, rivers and lakes are now in jeopardy, according to the most detailed evaluation of the conservation status of freshwater fishes in the last 20 years.
The 700 fishes now listed represent a staggering 92 percent increase over the 364 listed as "imperiled" in the previous 1989 study published by the American Fisheries Society (AFS). Researchers classified each of the 700 fishes listed as either vulnerable (230), threatened (190), or endangered (280). In addition, 61 fishes are presumed extinct.
The new report, published in Fisheries, was conducted by a U.S. Geological Survey-led team of scientists from the United States, Canada and Mexico, who examined the status of continental freshwater and diadromous (those that migrate between rivers and oceans) fish.
"Freshwater fish have continued to decline since the late 1970s, with the primary causes being habitat loss, dwindling range and introduction of nonnative species," said Mark Myers, director of the USGS. "In addition, climate change may further affect these fish."
Regions with especially notable numbers of troubled fish include the Southeastern United States, the mid-Pacific coast, the lower Rio Grande and basins in Mexico that do not drain to the sea. The groups of fish most at risk are the highly valuable salmon and trout of the Pacific Coast and western mountain regions; minnows, suckers and catfishes throughout the continent; darters in the Southeastern United States; and pupfish, livebearers, and goodeids, a large, native fish family in Mexico and the Southwestern United States.
Read the news release.
To access lists and conservation status of North American imperiled fishes by means of an interactive map, and to access the Fisheries article, go to the USGS-AFS Imperiled Fishes Web page.
Water for America Initiative
The 21st Century brings a new set of water resource challenges. Water shortage and use conflict have become more commonplace in many areas of the United States – even in normal water years – for irrigation of crops, for growing cities and communities, for energy production, and for the environment and species protected under the law. Much has changed since the last overall assessment of water resources for the Nation was published by the Water Resources Council in 1978. It is time for a comprehensive examination of water availability in the United States using what we have learned during the past thirty years and with up-to-date capabilities.
In response to a request from Congress, the USGS released a report in 2002 entitled, Concepts for National Assessment of Water Availability and Use, (Circular 1223). The circular outlines a broad framework by which a national assessment could take place and advocates using 21 Water Resources Regions for the study units. In 2005, USGS embarked on a pilot study of water availability in the Great Lakes Basin. The pilot focuses on understanding the dynamics of the water resources in the basin in terms of the flows and yields of both ground and surface water and demonstrates the importance of water-use data to quantifying water availability. These were the initial steps to building a comprehensive water availability initiative for America.
Read more about the initiative
|
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
= Opens in new window
