Sue Kahle
Hydrologist Emeritus for the Washington Water Science Center
I began my career with the U.S. Geological Survey Washington Water Science Center in 1990 after completing MS and BS degrees in Geology from Western Washington University. Through my studies and work in the Pacific Northwest, I have gained extensive knowledge about the hydrogeology and water-resource issues of my home state and trans boundary areas in Idaho, Oregon, and British Columbia. My work routinely involves working with large groups with multiple investigators and diverse stakeholders including Tribes, and local, State, and Federal agencies.
Science and Products
Chamokane Framework and Model
Chamokane Creek Basin is a 179-square-mile area that borders and partially overlaps the Spokane Indian Reservation in southern Stevens County in northeastern Washington State. In 1979, all water rights in the Chamokane Creek Basin were adjudicated by a Federal court, which gave senior, reserved water rights to the Spokane Tribe of Indians for irrigation and protection of fish in Chamokane Creek...
Groundwater in the Yakima River Basin, Washington
The Yakima River flows 215 miles from the outlet of Keechelus Lake in the central Washington Cascades southeasterly to the Columbia River, draining an area of 6,155 square miles. The Yakima River Basin is one of the most intensively irrigated areas in the United States. The population in the Yakima River Basin was about 238,000 in 1990. Increasing demands for water for municipal, fisheries...
Columbia Plateau Groundwater Availability Study
The Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System (CPRAS) covers about 44,000 square miles of eastern Oregon and Washington and western Idaho. The primary aquifers are basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group and overlying basin-fill sediments. Groundwater availability issues in the basin include: 1) widespread water-level declines caused by pumping, 2) reduction in base flow to rivers and associated...
Lake Roosevelt-Upper Columbia River
Lake Roosevelt was formed on the Columbia River by the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, and extends a total of 217 km to within 24 km of Canada The lake is heavily contaminated with trace elements that were discharged as slag material from a smelter in Canada; approximately 360 metric tons were discharged per day from 1900 to 1998. A study by the USGS reported that Lake Roosevelt bed...
Colville River Basin
The Colville River Basin is a 1,007-square-mile area located in Stevens County in northeastern Washington. Following the guidelines of Washington's Watershed Management Act of 1998, water-resource planning in the basin is being conducted within a Water Resources Inventory Area (WRIA). Local citizens representing a wide range of water resource interest groups, together with local, state, and...
Science and Products
Chamokane Framework and Model
Chamokane Creek Basin is a 179-square-mile area that borders and partially overlaps the Spokane Indian Reservation in southern Stevens County in northeastern Washington State. In 1979, all water rights in the Chamokane Creek Basin were adjudicated by a Federal court, which gave senior, reserved water rights to the Spokane Tribe of Indians for irrigation and protection of fish in Chamokane Creek...
Groundwater in the Yakima River Basin, Washington
The Yakima River flows 215 miles from the outlet of Keechelus Lake in the central Washington Cascades southeasterly to the Columbia River, draining an area of 6,155 square miles. The Yakima River Basin is one of the most intensively irrigated areas in the United States. The population in the Yakima River Basin was about 238,000 in 1990. Increasing demands for water for municipal, fisheries...
Columbia Plateau Groundwater Availability Study
The Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System (CPRAS) covers about 44,000 square miles of eastern Oregon and Washington and western Idaho. The primary aquifers are basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group and overlying basin-fill sediments. Groundwater availability issues in the basin include: 1) widespread water-level declines caused by pumping, 2) reduction in base flow to rivers and associated...
Lake Roosevelt-Upper Columbia River
Lake Roosevelt was formed on the Columbia River by the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, and extends a total of 217 km to within 24 km of Canada The lake is heavily contaminated with trace elements that were discharged as slag material from a smelter in Canada; approximately 360 metric tons were discharged per day from 1900 to 1998. A study by the USGS reported that Lake Roosevelt bed...
Colville River Basin
The Colville River Basin is a 1,007-square-mile area located in Stevens County in northeastern Washington. Following the guidelines of Washington's Watershed Management Act of 1998, water-resource planning in the basin is being conducted within a Water Resources Inventory Area (WRIA). Local citizens representing a wide range of water resource interest groups, together with local, state, and...