Images

UPP Team members and supporters smile together outside the Vernier Science Center. All USGS unless otherwise noted.

ORWSC Director, Joanna Thamke gives opening remarks at the January 2026 Water Workforce Career Workshop. The workshop, hosted by the UPP, was attended by more than 50 representatives from universities, federal and state agencies, and municipal water providers to collaborate on the future of Oregon’s water workforce. 

A contracted aircraft equipped with a USGS camera pod containing multispectral, thermal, and high-resolution red-green-blue cameras. April 26 - May 1, 2026, ORWSC conducted an airborne and field campaign to map the Clackamas, Molalla, and North Santiam Rivers.

A scientist operates a remotely controlled acoustic instrument along the riverbank of the North Santiam River. Sonar and imagery from rafts, kayaks, and autonomous platforms complement long-term continuous monitoring at USGS stations.

USGS members of the UPP Team and supporting staff accept Portland States 2026 Public Impact Award for the Oregon Water Science Center.

USGS and Portland State University Partnership members smile together at the 2026 Portland State Research Award ceremony. 

Meet our small but mighty team of 6. From left to right: Tanner Tibbetts, Justin VonTungeln, Will Ault, Zach Leininger, Ali Moss, and Justin Willhite.

Hydrologic Technician, Will Ault, examines a water quality sensor in the Klamath River during a routine inspection. 

Klamath Falls Field Office Hydrologic Technician collects a streamflow measurement on the Chewaucan River at Mouth near Valley Falls, OR (10387110). The Chewaucan River flows into Lake Abert, OR.

Pulling measurement equipment through shallow waters on the banks of the Chewaucan River.

Measuring a shallow spring fed channel at Lake Abert, Oregon. Lake Abert is one of the 20 plus terminal lakes identified by USGS partners as priority ecosystems for study by the Saline Lakes Ecosystems IWAA.

Hydrologic Technician, Ali Moss, installs a radar unit on a large boulder in the shallow water of Lake Abert, OR. The radar unit records the water level in near real-time at this saline lake.

In 1996 the USGS Water Resources Division (now called Water Mission Area) received Vice President Gore's Hammer Award. It was presented by Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Patricia Beneke, at the Carnegie Center in Oregon City, Oregon, with Dennis Lynch, District Chief, Oregon, accepting on behalf of the Division.

Participants at the January 2026 Water Workforce Career Workshop engage in an activity symbolizing their united support for workforce education, internships, and career opportunities.

Monitoring location on the North Santiam River near Marion Forks, OR (14174450). 

USGS Hydrologic Technicians captured this aerial image above Marys River during the December 2025 flood event. 

Downstream view of Shitike Creek near Warm Springs, Oregon. This gage is operated in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation's Natural Resources Department.

Oregon Water Science Center Hydrologic Technicians, Ben Thorpe, Kyle Flannery, and Itziar Zandueta Lopez, measured high flows on the Mohawk River Near Springfield, OR (14165000), concurrently using an Acoustic Dopple

Oregon Water Science Center Eugene Field Office Hydrologic Technician Itziar Zandueta Lopez, measuring high-flows at Mohawk River Near Springfield, OR (14165000) concurrently using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profile

A view from the cableway while measuring high flow at the Sandy River near Marmot gaging station (14137000).

Hydrologic technicians Adam and Vanessa make a flow measurement using an acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP). The ADCP is tethered to a rope and is pulled across the channel so it can collect channel depth and flow velocity measurements. The technicians did a great job getting a measurement close to the peak flow at this site on December 19, 2025.