Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Tualatin River Basin Water Quality Assessment Active

By Oregon Water Science Center May 11, 2017

In 1990, the USGS began assessing water-quality in the Tualatin River. Almost 30 years later, we are still monitoring conditions in the basin.

The USGS began to assess water quality conditions in the Tualatin River in 1990. The research included tracking how nutrients entered the river and establishing a instrument network to monitor dissolved-oxygen concentrations. Eventually, more issues arose and the research expanded to meet the needs of those reglatory agencies that manage the natural resources of the basin.

Streamflow

Water-Quality Monitors

Water-Quality Samples

Below are other science projects associated with this project.

link
beaver

City Beavers: Tualatin River Basin Beaver Study

Beavers and their dams are common sights along creeks in the Tualatin River basin. Beaver help create diverse habitats for many other animals, including birds, fish, and amphibians. The USGS studying the affect beaver activity has on the amount and quality of water in local streams, so that agencies in the basin can make strategic management and habitat restoration decisions based on science.
By
Oregon Water Science Center
link

City Beavers: Tualatin River Basin Beaver Study

Beavers and their dams are common sights along creeks in the Tualatin River basin. Beaver help create diverse habitats for many other animals, including birds, fish, and amphibians. The USGS studying the affect beaver activity has on the amount and quality of water in local streams, so that agencies in the basin can make strategic management and habitat restoration decisions based on science.
Learn More
link
USGS

Water-Quality Modeling Group

The USGS Oregon Water Science Center water-quality modeling group develops and uses models at a range of scales, from those that focus on a specific reservoir or river reach to large-scale nutrient models of the entire Pacific Northwest.
By
Oregon Water Science Center
link

Water-Quality Modeling Group

The USGS Oregon Water Science Center water-quality modeling group develops and uses models at a range of scales, from those that focus on a specific reservoir or river reach to large-scale nutrient models of the entire Pacific Northwest.
Learn More
link
hagg lake

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.
By
Oregon Water Science Center
link

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.
Learn More
link
Image: Map Maker - Precipitation

Portland Metropolitan Area Weather and Precipitation

Rainfall drives how much water is in streams. Luckily, there are ample sources of rainfall data around the Portland metropolitan area.
By
Oregon Water Science Center
link

Portland Metropolitan Area Weather and Precipitation

Rainfall drives how much water is in streams. Luckily, there are ample sources of rainfall data around the Portland metropolitan area.
Learn More

Below are data or web applications associated with this project.

Tualatin River Basin Water-Quality Sites

Map of currently active monitors in the Tualatin River Basin, Oregon.

By
Oregon Water Science Center

Tualatin River Basin Streamflow Data

Real-time streamflow and stage data from the USGS and Oregon Water Resources Department. Includes access to custom graphs and tables, and multi-day hydrographs.

By
Oregon Water Science Center

National Water Information System (NWIS) - Oregon

National Water Information System: Mapper (Oregon)

By
Oregon Water Science Center

Oregon Streamflow Data by Basin

View real-time streamflow data in Oregon river basins.

By
Oregon Water Science Center

Below are multimedia items associated with this project.

link
link
link
link
link
beaver poster
link
plankton in tualatin
link
wapato poster
link
sediment and carbon in fanno
link
link
link

Over the past few decades, there has been a considerable amount of research detailing conditions in the Tualatin River Basin. Here are a collection of some of the most important findings.

Annotated bibliography for Tualatin River Basin Reserach

Posters from Tualatin River Basin studies

Prioritization framework for ranking riverine ecosystem stressors using example sites from the Tualatin River Basin, Oregon

As human populations increase, so does their influence over the environment. Altered terrain, degraded water quality, and threatened or endangered species are all-too-common consequences of a growing anthropogenic influence on the landscape. To help manage these effects, researchers have developed new ways to characterize current environmental conditions and help resource managers seek solutions t
Authors
Steven Sobieszczyk, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds, Elena B. Nilsen, Jennifer L. Morace
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center
Filter Total Items: 29

Prioritization framework for ranking riverine ecosystem stressors using example sites from the Tualatin River Basin, Oregon

As human populations increase, so does their influence over the environment. Altered terrain, degraded water quality, and threatened or endangered species are all-too-common consequences of a growing anthropogenic influence on the landscape. To help manage these effects, researchers have developed new ways to characterize current environmental conditions and help resource managers seek solutions t
Authors
Steven Sobieszczyk, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds, Elena B. Nilsen, Jennifer L. Morace
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Upstream factors affecting Tualatin River algae—Tracking the 2008 Anabaena algae bloom to Wapato Lake, Oregon

Significant Findings A large bloom that included floating mats of the blue-green algae Anabaena flos-aquae occurred in the lower 20 miles of the Tualatin River in northwestern Oregon between July 7 and July 17, 2008. The floating bloom was deemed a hazard to recreational users of the river due to the potential production of algal toxins (anatoxin-a and microcystin), and a public health advisory w
Authors
Stewart A. Rounds, Kurt D. Carpenter, Kristel J. Fesler, Jessica L. Dorsey
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Organic matters: investigating the sources, transport, and fate of organic matter in Fanno Creek, Oregon

The term organic matter refers to the remnants of all living material. This can include fallen leaves, yard waste, animal waste, downed timber, or the remains of any other plant and animal life. Organic matter is abundant both on land and in water. Investigating organic matter is necessary for understanding the fate and transport of carbon (a major constituent of organic matter). Organic matter is
Authors
Steven Sobieszczyk, Mackenzie K. Keith, Jami H. Goldman, Stewart A. Rounds
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Investigating organic matter in Fanno Creek, Oregon, Part 1 of 3: estimating annual foliar biomass for a deciduous-dominant urban riparian corridor

For this study, we explored the amount, type, and distribution of foliar biomass that is deposited annually as leaf litter to Fanno Creek and its floodplain in Portland, Oregon, USA. Organic matter is a significant contributor to the decreased dissolved oxygen concentrations observed in Fanno Creek each year and leaf litter is amongst the largest sources of organic matter to the stream channel and
Authors
Steven Sobieszczyk, Mackenzie K. Keith, Stewart A. Rounds, Jami H. Goldman
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Investigating organic matter in Fanno Creek, Oregon, Part 3 of 3: identifying and quantifying sources of organic matter to an urban stream

The sources, transport, and characteristics of organic matter (OM) in Fanno Creek, an urban stream in northwest Oregon, were assessed and quantified using: (1) optical instruments to calculate transported loads of dissolved, particulate, and total organic carbon, (2) fluorescence spectroscopy and stable isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N) to elucidate sources and chemical properties of OM throughout the b
Authors
Jami H. Goldman, Stewart A. Rounds, Mackenzie K. Keith, Steven Sobieszczyk
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Investigating organic matter in Fanno Creek, Oregon, Part 2 of 3: sources, sinks, and transport of organic matter with fine sediment

Organic matter (OM) is abundant in Fanno Creek, Oregon, USA, and has been tied to a variety of water-quality concerns, including periods of low dissolved oxygen downstream in the Tualatin River, Oregon. The key sources of OM in Fanno Creek and other Tualatin River tributaries have not been fully identified, although isotopic analyses from previous studies indicated a predominantly terrestrial sour
Authors
Mackenzie K. Keith, Steven Sobieszczyk, Jami H. Goldman, Stewart A. Rounds
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Plankton communities and summertime declines in algal abundance associated with low dissolved oxygen in the Tualatin River, Oregon

Phytoplankton populations in the Tualatin River in northwestern Oregon are an important component of the dissolved oxygen (DO) budget of the river and are critical for maintaining DO levels in summer. During the low-flow summer period, sufficient nutrients and a long residence time typically combine with ample sunshine and warm water to fuel blooms of cryptophyte algae, diatoms, green and blue-gre
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Stewart A. Rounds
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Applications of fluorescence spectroscopy for predicting percent wastewater in an urban stream

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a significant organic carbon reservoir in many ecosystems, and its characteristics and sources determine many aspects of ecosystem health and water quality. Fluorescence spectroscopy methods can quantify and characterize the subset of the DOC pool that can absorb and re-emit electromagnetic energy as fluorescence and thus provide a rapid technique for environmenta
Authors
Jami H. Goldman, Stewart A. Rounds, Joseph A. Needoba
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Use of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to identify sources of organic matter to bed sediments of the Tualatin River, Oregon

The potential sources of organic matter to bed sediment of the Tualatin River in northwestern Oregon were investigated by comparing the isotopic fractionation of carbon and nitrogen and the carbon/nitrogen ratios of potential sources and bed sediments. Samples of bed sediment, suspended sediment, and seston, as well as potential source materials, such as soil, plant litter, duckweed, and wastewate
Authors
Bernadine A. Bonn, Stewart A. Rounds
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Use of Continuous Monitors and Autosamplers to Predict Unmeasured Water-Quality Constituents in Tributaries of the Tualatin River, Oregon

Management of water quality in streams of the United States is becoming increasingly complex as regulators seek to control aquatic pollution and ecological problems through Total Maximum Daily Load programs that target reductions in the concentrations of certain constituents. Sediment, nutrients, and bacteria, for example, are constituents that regulators target for reduction nationally and in the
Authors
Chauncey W. Anderson, Stewart A. Rounds
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Reconnaissance of pharmaceutical chemicals in urban streams of the Tualatin River Basin, Oregon, 2002

A reconnaissance of pharmaceutical chemicals in urban streams of the Tualatin River basin was conducted in July 2002 in an effort to better understand the occurrence and distribution of such compounds, and to determine whether they might be useful indicators of human-related stream contamination. Of the 21 pharmaceutical chemicals and metabolites tested, only 6 (acetaminophen, caffeine, carbamazep
Authors
Stewart A. Rounds, Micelis C. Doyle, Patrick M. Edwards, Edward T. Furlong
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Ecosystems Mission Area, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program, Oregon Water Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center

Enantiomer fractions of chlordane components in sediment from U.S. Geological Survey sites in lakes and rivers

Spatial, temporal, and sediment-type trends in enantiomer signatures were evaluated for cis- and trans-chlordane (CC, TC) in archived core, suspended, and surficial-sediment samples from six lake, reservoir, and river sites across the United States. The enantiomer fractions (EFs) measured in these samples are in good agreement with those reported for sediment, soil, and air samples in previous stu
Authors
E.M. Ulrich, W.T. Foreman, P. C. Van Metre, J.T. Wilson, S.A. Rounds
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program

Below are data or web applications associated with this project.

USGS 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.

By
Oregon Water Science Center

Alkalinity Calculator

The Alkalinity Calculator will analyze the titration curve and calculate the alkalinity or acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) of the sample using one or more of several different methods. Alkalinity is for filtered samples, while ANC is for unfiltered samples. The results will be displayed in tabular and graphical form.

By
Oregon Water Science Center

Below are software products associated with this project.

CE-QUAL-W2 - Hydrodynamic and Water Quality Model

CE-QUAL-W2 is a water quality and hydrodynamic model in 2D (longitudinal-vertical) for rivers, estuaries, lakes, reservoirs and river basin systems. W2 models basic eutrophication processes such as temperature-nutrient-algae-dissolved oxygen-organic matter and sediment relationships.

By
Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Below are news stories associated with this project.

Below are partners associated with this project.

Clean Water Services

Joint Water Commission

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

State Fish and Wildlife Agencies