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Water Resources of OregonWelcome 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 HighlightsUSGS Study Publishes Maps of Depth to Water and Water-Level Elevation in the Portland AreaPortland, 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 QualitySummer 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 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 Water in 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
Recent PublicationsTotal 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 InterestStudy Reveals Escalating Endangerment for North American Freshwater Fish: Nearly 40 Percent Now At-Risk
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