Water Quality
Water Quality
Filter Total Items: 30
Integrated Water Science Basins: Willamette River
The Willamette River Basin reflects the conflicting water demands between humans and ecosystems—particularly salmon— and the challenge resource managers face throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Tracking Toxics in the Lower Columbia River
USGS scientists partnered with the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership (LCEP) to assess toxic contaminant levels at 10 sites within the Lower Columbia River. Our strategy is to compare current toxic contaminant levels to the results collected previously at these sites to identify temporal changes.
Oregon Water Science Center's Malheur Lake Portfolio
USGS scientists have partnered with local groups to learn about the processes affecting turbidity in Malheur Lake. Located in southeastern Oregon, Malheur Lake and the surrounding refuge provide critical habitat to birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway.
Water-quality monitoring during reservoir drawdowns
The USGS is monitoring water-quality above, within, and below Middle Fork Willamette and the South Santiam River dams to understand how reservoir drawdowns influence downstream water-quality conditions.
Multiscale comparison of hyperspectral reflectance from periphyton in three Oregon rivers used for municipal supply
In this study, USGS scientists from multiple centers used advanced hyperspectral imaging techniques to advance monitoring of attached benthic algae (periphyton) in Cascade Range rivers used for municipal water supply. Periphyton are naturally occurring, but excess growth can harm ecosystems and degrade raw and treated drinking water quality. In these rivers, periphyton contain cyanobacteria that...
Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands
The amount and type of algae in the Tualatin River affect the river’s water quality and ecological health, as well as its value as a recreational resource. As a relatively new source of summertime flow to the upper Tualatin River, discharges from the Fernhill Natural Treatment System (NTS) have the potential to enhance or degrade downstream water quality. Discharges of low nutrient concentrations...
Synthesizing the State of Science of Coldwater Refuges in the Willamette River Basin
Many regulatory, management, and conservation organizations are interested in protecting and increasing coldwater refuges and thermal diversity for Chinook salmon, steelhead, and other natives fishes in the Willamette River basin. This study synthesizes current and emerging science related to coldwater refuges and thermal diversity. It is also develops conceptual frameworks for understanding the...
SPARROW Model Assessments of Nutrients and Suspended Sediment in the Pacific Northwest and California
SPARROW can be used to relate water-quality data to landscape characteristics, such as natural properties and human activities
Effects of Highway Runoff on Water Quality
"SELDM facilitates analysis by providing precipitation, pre-storm streamflow, and other variables by region or from hydrologically similar sites."
Willamette River Studies
Welcome to the Willamette River Study page. Here you will find links to USGS research for the Willamette River and the Willamette River Basin.
Water Temperature Modeling in the Middle Fork Willamette and South Santiam River Basins
Hills Creek, Lookout Point, and Dexter Dams are located on the Middle Fork Willamette River upstream of Eugene in western Oregon, and are important resources managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for flood control, hydroelectric power, recreation, navigation, and irrigation. On the South Santiam River east of Albany in western Oregon, Green Peter and Foster Dams provide functions and...
Henry Hagg Lake Water-Quality Model
Henry Hagg Lake is a reservoir located in the foothills of the eastern slope of the Coast Range Mountains of northwestern Oregon. The lake is used for recreation in the summer and flood control in the winter.