Oregon Water Science Center
Publications
All of our publications are accessible through the USGS Publication Warehouse. Publications by scientists of the Oregon Water Science Center are listed below.
Water-quality modeling of Klamath Straits Drain recirculation, a Klamath River wetland, and 2011 conditions for the Link River to Keno Dam reach of the Klamath River, Oregon
Nitrate in streams during winter low‐flow conditions as an indicator of legacy nitrate
Winter low‐flow (LF) conditions in streams provide a potential opportunity to evaluate the importance of legacy nitrate in catchments due to the dominance of slow‐flow transport pathways and lowered biotic activity. In this study, the concentration, flux, and trend of nitrate in streams during winter low‐flow conditions were analyzed at 320 sites...
Johnson, Henry M.; Stets, Edward G. River network and reach‐scale controls on habitat for lamprey larvae in the Umpqua River Basin, Oregon
This study developed a spatially explicit framework to support the conservation of Western Brook Lamprey Lampetra richardsoni and Pacific Lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus in the Umpqua River basin, Oregon. This framework identified locations within the river network likely to support “potential burrowing habitat” for lamprey...
Jones, Krista; Dunham, Jason B.; O'Connor, Jim E.; Keith, Mackenzie K.; Mangano, Joseph F.; Coates, Kelly; Mackie, Travis
Temperature and water-quality diversity and the effects of surface-water connection in off-channel features of the Willamette River, Oregon, 2015–16
Water-quality conditions (including temperature) in the Willamette River and many of its adjacent off-channel features, such as alcoves and side channels, were monitored between river miles 67 (near Salem, Oregon) and 168 (near Eugene, Oregon) during the summers of 2015 and 2016. One or more parameters (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH,...
Smith, Cassandra D.; Mangano, Joseph F.; Rounds, Stewart A.
Use of boosted regression trees to quantify cumulative instream flow resulting from curtailment of irrigation in the Sprague River basin, Oregon
A boosted regression trees (BRT) approach was used to estimate the amount by which streamflow is increased when irrigation is regulated (curtailed) upstream of a streamgage on the Sprague River in southern-central Oregon. The BRT approach differs from most other approaches that require baseline conditions for comparison, where those baseline...
Wood, Tamara M.
Development of regional skew coefficients for selected flood durations in the Columbia River Basin, northwestern United States and British Columbia, Canada
Flood-frequency (hereinafter frequency) estimates provide information used to design, operate, and maintain hydraulic structures such as bridges and dams. Failures of these structures could cause catastrophic loss of property, life, or both. In addition to frequency estimates that use annual peak streamflow, frequency estimates of flood durations...
Lind, Greg D.; Lamontagne, Jonathan R.; Stonewall, Adam J. Quantitative paleoflood hydrology
This chapter reviews the paleohydrologic techniques and approaches used to reconstruct the magnitude and frequency of past floods using geological evidence. Quantitative paleoflood hydrology typically leads to two phases of analysis: (1) documentation and assessment of flood physical evidence (paleostage indicators), and (2) relating identified...
Benito, Gerardo; Harden, Tessa M.; O'Connor, Jim E.
Benthic vertical hydraulic gradients in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2017
Groundwater piezometers and lake stilling wells were deployed as paired sets at 10 locations in Upper Klamath Lake in south-central Oregon from May to October 2017 to measure hydraulic heads in and beneath the lake. Continuous water-level data from piezometers and stilling wells were then used to calculate the vertical hydraulic gradient (VHG)...
Corson-Dosch, Nicholas
Evaluation of restoration alternatives using hydraulic models of lake outflow at Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge, northwestern Oregon
Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge near the city of Gaston in northwestern Oregon was established in 2013, and planning is underway to restore a more natural lake and wetland system after more than 100 years of agricultural activity on the lakebed. Several water-management and restoration alternatives are under consideration, one of which...
Rounds, Stewart A.; Pilson, Stephen L.; Sullivan, Annett B.; Stonewall, Adam J.
Evaluation of restoration alternatives using water-budget tools for the Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge, northwestern Oregon
The lakebed in Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in northwestern Oregon was farmed for decades prior to the establishment of the refuge in 2013. Planning for restoration of these lands required extensive data collection and construction of a water budget and tools to design and evaluate potential restoration strategies. The U.S....
Rounds, Stewart A.; Freed, T. Zach; Snyder, Daniel T.; Smith, Cassandra D.; Doyle, Micelis C.; Holmes, Erin; Mykut, Curt; Mayer, Tim; Stockenberg, Erin; Pilson, Stephen L. Legacy and current‐use contaminants in sediments alter macroinvertebrate communities in southeastern US Streams
Sediment contamination of freshwater streams in urban areas is a recognized and growing concern. As a part of a comprehensive regional stream‐quality assessment, stream‐bed sediment was sampled from streams spanning a gradient of urban intensity in the Piedmont ecoregion of the southeastern United States. We evaluated relations between a broad...
Moran, Patrick W.; Kemble, Nile E.; Waite, Ian R.; Mahler, Barbara; Nowell, Lisa H.; Van Metre, Peter C.
Modeling a 2- and 4-foot drawdown in the Link River to Keno Dam reach of the upper Klamath River, south-central Oregon
Executive SummaryThe most upstream, pooled reach of the Klamath River in south-central Oregon, from Link River mouth to Keno Dam (Link-Keno), has a water-surface elevation that remains relatively constant throughout the year. Two model scenarios, using an existing two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water-quality model (CE-QUAL-W2), were constructed...
Sullivan, Annett B.; Rounds, Stewart A. Holocene paleofloods and their climatological context, Upper Colorado River Basin, USA
Given its singular importance for water resources in the southwestern U.S., the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) is remarkable for the paucity of its conventional hydrological record of extreme flooding. This study uses paleoflood hydrology to examine a small portion the underutilized, but very extensive natural record of Holocene extreme floods...
Liu, Taojun; Ji, Lin; Baker, Victor R.; Harden, Tessa M.; Cline, Michael L.