Upper Klamath Basin Studies
Science Center Objects
In 1992, the USGS began studying possible causes for the change in trophic status of Upper Klamath Lake. Since then research has expanded to include groundwater, geomorphology, streamflow forecasting, and fish ecology.
Upper Klamath Lake is a large, shallow lake in southern Oregon that feeds the Klamath River, which flows through California into the Pacific Ocean. The lake is naturally rich in nutrients (i.e., eutrophic), but has become hypereutrophic during the 20th century. Nutrient levels have been high enough to cause annual, extensive blue-green algae blooms each summer since the 1930's. Generally, a eutrophic lake can support diverse plant and animal communities.
Water-quality problems that coincide with the blooms and subsequent decay of dead algae include foul odors, increased acidity, dissolved oxygen concentrations that fluctuate from supersaturation to depletion, elevated ammonia concentrations, and occasionally extensive fish kills. The degraded water quality is a contributing factor in the decline in populations of the shortnose sucker, Chasmistes brevirostris, and the Lost River sucker, Deltistes luxatus, both listed as Federally Endangered Species.
Research by USGS and others continues to monitor and assess conditions in Upper Klamath Lake and the surrounding watershed.
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Date published: May 9, 2017Status: ActiveWater Quality in Keno Reach of the Klamath River
The Klamath River from Link River to Keno Dam experiences poor water-quality conditions on a seasonal basis, creating inhospitable conditions for fish and other aquatic organisms. These problems led the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to prepare a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan to bring the river into compliance with water-quality standards. This study uses a hydrodynamic and...
Contacts: Annett Sullivan
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Date published: January 31, 2018Status: ActiveVertical Hydraulic Gradient at the Sediment-Water Interface in Upper Klamath Lake
"The goal of this project is to characterize the vertical hydraulic gradient at the sediment-water interface in Upper Klamath Lake."
Contacts: Nicholas Corson-DoschAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: December 20, 2017Status: ActiveUpper Klamath River Basin Forecasts
"Determining water availability in the Upper Klamath Basin has always had a degree of uncertainty as a result of the complex hydrology and geology in the region and limited streamflow data."
Contacts: John RisleyAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: December 1, 2017Status: ActiveSediment Fingerprinting in the Upper Klamath Basin
Sediment fingerprinting has been used successfully to identify land uses that are the major sources of sediment. This study will apply these techniques in a predominantly rural, volcanic landscape.
Contacts: Liam SchenkAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: August 30, 2017Status: ActiveUpper Klamath Basin Groundwater Studies
Since the late 1990s the USGS has worked to characterize the regional groundwater hydrology of the upper Klamath Basin. Research focuses on collecting data to help evaluate the state of the groundwater system and its response to external stresses, and to develop computer models to provide insights useful for water management. These efforts build on earlier USGS studies in the basin going back...
Contacts: Terrence Conlon, Esther Pischel -
Date published: May 12, 2017Wood River Shoreline Management Tool
The Shoreline Management Tool is a geographic information system (GIS) based program developed to assist water- and land-resource managers in assessing the benefits and effects of changes in surface-water stage on water depth, inundated area, and water volume. Additionally, the Shoreline Management Tool can be used to identify aquatic or terrestrial habitat areas where conditions may be...
Contacts: Tana Haluska, Daniel SnyderAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: May 9, 2017Status: Active
Water Quality in Keno Reach of the Klamath River
The Klamath River from Link River to Keno Dam experiences poor water-quality conditions on a seasonal basis, creating inhospitable conditions for fish and other aquatic organisms. These problems led the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to prepare a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan to bring the river into compliance with water-quality standards. This study uses a hydrodynamic and...
Contacts: Annett Sullivan -
Date published: June 1, 2016Status: ActiveFuture Water Clarity and Dissolved Oxygen in Crater Lake
Warming air temperature may change water temperature and water column mixing in Oregon’s Crater Lake over the next several decades, potentially impacting the clarity and health of the iconic lake.
Contacts: Tamara WoodAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: December 7, 2015Status: CompletedGeomorphology of the Sprague River Basin
The USGS documents historical and current channel and floodplain processes and conditions to assist management and regulatory agencies in evaluating restoration proposals and designing effective restoration and monitoring strategies for the Sprague River and its principle tributaries. The study involves multiple analyses, including assessments of historical channel change, riparian and...
Contacts: Jim E O'ConnorAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: January 8, 2015Status: ActiveNutrient and Sediment Loading to Upper Klamath Lake
The USGS employs state-of-the-science techniques to estimate nutrient and suspended-sediment loads to Upper Klamath Lake.
Contacts: Liam SchenkAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: January 8, 2015Status: CompletedNutrient Loading to Lost River and Klamath River Subbasins
The USGS has characterized nutrient concentrations in the Klamath River and Lost River drainages over multiple years, identified spatial and temporal patterns in nutrient and organic carbon concentrations, and quantified surface water nutrient loads entering and exiting the Klamath Project.
Contacts: Liam SchenkAttribution: Oregon Water Science Center
Effects of groundwater pumping on agricultural drains in the Tule Lake subbasin, Oregon and California
Since 2001, irrigators in the upper Klamath Basin have increasingly turned to groundwater to compensate for reductions in surface-water allocation caused by shifts from irrigation use to instream flows for Endangered Species Act listed fishes. The largest increase in groundwater pumping has been in and around the Bureau of Reclamation’s...
Pischel, Esther M.; Gannett, Marshall W.
Evaluation of alternative groundwater-management strategies for the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project, Oregon and California
The water resources of the upper Klamath Basin, in southern Oregon and northern California, are managed to achieve various complex and interconnected purposes. Since 2001, irrigators in the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Irrigation Project (Project) have been required to limit surface-water diversions to protect habitat for endangered freshwater...
Wagner, Brian J.; Gannett, Marshall W.
Evapotranspiration from marsh and open-water sites at Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2008--2010
Water allocation in the Upper Klamath Basin has become difficult in recent years due to the increase in occurrence of drought coupled with continued high water demand. Upper Klamath Lake is a central component of water distribution, supplying water downstream to the Klamath River, supplying water for irrigation diversions, and providing habitat...
Stannard, David I.; Gannett, Marshall W.; Polette, Danial J.; Cameron, Jason M.; Waibel, M. Scott; Spears, J. Mark
Hydrological information products for the Off-Project Water Program of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement
The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) was developed by a diverse group of stakeholders, Federal and State resource management agencies, Tribal representatives, and interest groups to provide a comprehensive solution to ecological and water-supply issues in the Klamath Basin. The Off-Project Water Program (OPWP), one component of the KBRA...
Snyder, Daniel T.; Risley, John C.; Haynes, Jonathan V.
Groundwater simulation and management models for the upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California
The upper Klamath Basin encompasses about 8,000 square miles, extending from the Cascade Range east to the Basin and Range geologic province in south-central Oregon and northern California. The geography of the basin is dominated by forested volcanic uplands separated by broad interior basins. Most of the interior basins once held broad shallow...
Gannett, Marshall W.; Wagner, Brian J.; Lite, Kenneth E.
Dispersal of larval suckers at the Williamson River Delta, Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2006-09
An advection/diffusion modeling approach was used to simulate the transport of larval suckers from spawning areas in the Williamson River, through the newly restored Williamson River Delta, to Upper Klamath Lake. The density simulations spanned the years of phased restoration, from 2006/2007 prior to any levee breaching, to 2008 when the northern...
Wood, Tamara M.; Hendrixson, Heather A.; Markle, Douglas F.; Erdman, Charles S.; Burdick, Summer M.; Ellsworth, Craig M.; Buccola, Norman L.
Dependence of flow and transport through the Williamson River Delta, Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, on wind, river inflow, and lake elevation
The hydrodynamic model of Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon, was used to run 384 realizations of a numerical tracer experiment in order to understand the relative effects of wind, lake elevation, and Williamson River inflow on flow and transport (the movement of water and passively transported constituents) through the Williamson River Delta...
Wood, Tamara M.
Use of acoustic backscatter and vertical velocity to estimate concentration and dynamics of suspended solids in Upper Klamath Lake, south-central Oregon: Implications for Aphanizomenon flos-aquae
Vertical velocity and acoustic backscatter measurements by acoustic Doppler current profilers were used to determine seasonal, subseasonal (days to weeks), and diel variation in suspended solids in a freshwater lake where massive cyanobacterial blooms occur annually. During the growing season, the suspended material in the lake is dominated by the...
Wood, Tamara M.; Gartner, Jeffrey W.
Empirical models of wind conditions on Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Upper Klamath Lake is a large (230 square kilometers), shallow (mean depth 2.8 meters at full pool) lake in southern Oregon. Lake circulation patterns are driven largely by wind, and the resulting currents affect the water quality and ecology of the lake. To support hydrodynamic modeling of the lake and statistical investigations of the relation...
Buccola, Norman L.; Wood, Tamara M.
Algal toxins in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon: Linking water quality to juvenile sucker health
As the lead science agency for the Department of Interior, the U.S. Geological Survey is actively involved in resource issues in the Klamath River basin. Activities include research projects on endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers, threatened coho salmon, groundwater resources, seasonal runoff forecasting, water quality in Upper Klamath...
VanderKooi, S.P.; Burdick, S.M.; Echols, K.R.; Ottinger, C.A.; Rosen, B.H.; Wood, T.M.
Hydrologic and Water-Quality Conditions During Restoration of the Wood River Wetland, Upper Klamath River Basin, Oregon, 2003-05
Restoring previously drained wetlands is a strategy currently being used to improve water quality and decrease nutrient loading into Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. In this 2003-05 study, ground- and surface-water quality and hydrologic conditions were characterized in the Wood River Wetland. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels, primarily as dissolved...
Carpenter, Kurt D.; Snyder, Daniel T.; Duff, John H.; Triska, Frank J.; Lee, Karl K.; Avanzino, Ronald J.; Sobieszczyk, Steven
Water Quality of a Drained Wetland, Caledonia Marsh on Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, after Flooding in 2006
The unexpected inundation of Caledonia Marsh, a previously drained wetland adjacent to Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, provided an opportunity to observe nutrient release from sediments into the water column of the flooded area and the resulting algal growth. Three sites, with differing proximity to the levee breach that reconnected the area to Upper...
Lindenberg, Mary K.; Wood, Tamara M.-
Date published: April 5, 2018USGS Klamath River Basin Water-Quality Mapper
This map interface represents continuous and discrete water-quality data collected by Bureau of Reclamation and USGS at Klamath Basin sites. The USGS and Reclamation data stored in NWIS are accessible using existing tools such as NWIS-Web and the USGS Data Grapher ...
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center
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Date published: December 12, 2017
National Water Information System (NWIS) - Oregon
National Water Information System: Mapper (Oregon)
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: December 11, 2017
Dissolved Organic Matter in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain
Data from an Analysis of Dissolved Organic Matter in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain, Oregon and California, 2013–16
Goldman, J.H., 2017, Data from an analysis of dissolved organic matter in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain, Oregon and California, 2013–16: U.S. Geological Survey data release,...
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: August 31, 2017Sprague River Basin GIS Data
Sprague River Basin Geomorphology GIS datasets.
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: March 15, 2017Oregon Streamflow Data by Basin
View real-time streamflow data in Oregon river basins.
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: January 19, 2017
Klamath River Water-Quality Sites
Klamath River water-quality monitoring -- Keno Reach monitors
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: April 23, 2016USGS Data Grapher
This is a data graphing utility that allows the user to build graphs of data from selected USGS stations. Select the station, the type of graph, the parameter(s) to plot, and the starting and ending dates for the graph.
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Date published: May 19, 2008Upper Klamath Basin Groundwater Sites
This web page provides access to current and historic groundwater-level data collected by monitoring partners, as well as water-level graphs and maps showing net water-level changes between any two time periods. Data for individual wells are filtered to remove measurements taken during active pumping because they do not accurately represent conditions in the aquifer.
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center
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Date published: February 1, 2010Shaded Relief Image of the Klamath Basin
Shaded Relief Image of the Klamath Basin
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: February 1, 2010Klamath River Basin Mosaic (Landsat)
The image is a mosaic of nine scenes from Landsat 5 at a resolution of 30 meters on 07/22/2005, 08/26/2006, 06/17/2007, 07/05/2007, 08/18/2009, 08/27/2009, and 09/26/2009.
Klamath River Basin Restoration
Dennis Lynch, USGS scientist and Department of Interior's Program Manager for the Klamath Basin Secretarial Determination, brings us up to speed on recent developments in the Klamath River Basin restoration. Developments include the signing of two historic agreements that attempt to provide long term solutions to one of the West's most challenging conflicts over how water
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Date published: May 4, 2016
A Warming Climate Could Alter the Ecology of the Deepest Lake in the United States
Warming air temperature is predicted to change water temperature and water column mixing in Oregon’s Crater Lake over the next several decades, potentially impacting the clarity and health of the iconic lake, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report released today.
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center
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Date published: January 24, 2017USGS Uses State-of-the-Art Science to Estimate Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Loads in the Klamath Basin
USGS uses state-of-the-art science techniques to estimate phosphorus and suspended-sediment loads to Upper Klamath Lake in the Klamath Basin.
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Date published: April 3, 2015New Website Provides Map-Based Groundwater Levels of the Upper Klamath Basin
The U.S. Geological Survey recently launched the Upper Klamath Basin Collaborative Groundwater Monitoring website to provide information on groundwater conditions in the upper Klamath Basin.
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Date published: September 5, 2014Klamath Mountains Groundwater Quality: Constituents Detected at High Levels Are Less Prevalent than Statewide
Naturally occurring trace elements were detected at high concentrations in less than 3 percent of raw groundwater sources used for public water supply in the Klamath Mountain area, according to the ongoing U.S. Geological Survey study of California groundwater quality.
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Date published: October 9, 2012
Hydrologic Datasets to Aid Water Management in the Upper Klamath Basin
PORTLAND, Ore. — The United States Geological Survey, in cooperation with several Klamath Basin stakeholders, has developed hydrologic datasets for the upper Klamath Basin of south-central Oregon that can help water managers identify and prioritize water uses that could be voluntarily set aside and reallocated to yield an additional 30,000 acre feet of water to Upper Klamath Lake.
Attribution: States and Territories, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest -
Date published: May 16, 2012
Computer Models to Help Groundwater Management in the Klamath Basin
PORTLAND, Ore.– The U.S. Geological Survey has developed models to help water managers identify strategies to use groundwater for meeting competing water demands in the semi-arid upper Klamath Basin.
Attribution: States and Territories, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest -
Date published: August 11, 2011Klamath Basin Science Captured in Conference Proceedings
Science papers, posters, and other types of information used to inform and update Klamath Basin public and private sector stakeholders at the 2010 Klamath Basic Science Conference have been published by the USGS in an Open File Report that is now available online.
Attribution: States and Territories, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest -
Date published: January 27, 2010
Klamath basin ecosystem science conference
Understanding the current science of the Klamath River Basin aquatic ecosystem and how that knowledge can inform future management and restoration efforts will be the focus of the Klamath Basin Science Conference February 1 - 5, 2010, in Medford, Oregon.
Attribution: States and Territories, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest -
Date published: January 7, 2010
Learn About the Latest Science of the Klamath Basin Ecosystem
Understanding the current science of the Klamath River Basin ecosystem and how that knowledge can inform future management and restoration efforts will be the focus of the Klamath Basin Science Conference February 1 to 5, 2010, in Medford, Ore.
Attribution: States and Territories, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest -
Date published: July 15, 2008
The First Step Home? Study Suggests Upper Klamath Lake is able to Support Juvenile Salmon
Young Chinook Salmon should be able to grow and develop in the waters of Upper Klamath Lake and the Williamson River, according to a new study. That could be the first step in a journey back to ancestral waters for fall-run Chinook salmon.
Attribution: States and Territories, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest -
Date published: April 26, 2007
Groundwater Provides Vital Boost to Streams, Springs of Upper Klamath Basin
Groundwater discharging to streams through springs and seeps is a major source of streamflow in the upper Klamath Basin, helping to sustain flow during the dry months of late summer and fall, according to a report recently released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Oregon Water Resources Department.
Attribution: States and Territories, Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest
