USGS Oregon District Hammer Award

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. Assistant Secretary Beneke observed firsthand the great work of the Oregon District staff in providing real-time data during the catastrophic floods in the Pacific Northwest in February 1996, so it was fitting that she presented it there. The award is in recognition of the extraordinary efforts that have been made throughout the Division to improve the USGS early warning system for flood hazards.