Watershed/Basin Studies

The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge provides habitat for a variety of highly valued ecosystem services, including shorebirds, waterfowl, and a diversity of other wildlife species.

USGS research directly helps local public agencies that are responsible for the design and maintenance of the levees that surround the northern Portland metropolitan area with the goal of protecting life and property in the event of flooding from the Columbia and Willamette Rivers that surround the city.

"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."

Water management in the arid Umatilla Basin has become increasingly complex in recent years. Competing demands from society for generating hydro-electric power, maintaining and restoring fisheries, restoring watershed health, providing water for growing communities, and increasing agricultural production through irrigation, have put water resources in the Umatilla Basin and throughout the...

USGS total dissolved gas (TDG) data help guide spill and discharge management from dams operated along tributaries of the Willamette River.

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.

In 2009, the USGS completed a comprehensive study of gravel transport and storage along the lower Chetco River.

The USGS provides hydrologic data for the Johnson Creek Basin. Real-time surface-water, water-quality and groundwater data, as well as historic data and analyses, help to improve our understanding of the hydrology of the basin.

Welcome to the Willamette River Study page. Here you will find links to USGS research for the Willamette River and the Willamette River Basin.

Groundwater monitoring in the Deschutes Basin shows water-level declines are larger than might be expected from climate variations alone, raising questions regarding the influence of groundwater pumping, canal lining, and other human influences.

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 suitable...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates 12 dams in the Willamette River Basin. The dams alter natural temperature and hydrologic regimes. Unnatural water temperatures can negatively impact all life stages of salmonid fish species. Water temperature in the mainstem Willamette River regularly exceeds the standard of 18.0 °C (64.4 °F) designated for salmon and trout rearing and migration for mid...