Unified Interior Regions
Sprague River Basin, Oregon
Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Brucellosis
Brucellosis is a nationally and internationally regulated disease of livestock with significant consequences for animal health, public health, and international trade.
Coastal Ecosystem Response to Sea-level Rise
USGS WERC’s Dr. Karen Thorne, her team of reseachers, and her partners are currently taking a local site network approach to describe current and future conditions and projected responses of coastal ecosystems to sea-level rise and other stressors. The Coastal Ecosystem Response to Climate Change (CERCC) program’s goal is to understand how ecosystems vary in their ability to keep up with sea-...
Ecological Stressors - Rocky Coastlines, Mangroves, Marshes, Droughts, and Storms
Coastal estuaries that contain marshes and mangroves are currently being reshaped by changing ocean and atmospheric conditions through prolong drought, sea-level rise and increased extreme storm events. Many projected increases in sea-level are expected to result in loss of tidal wetlands and their component species. In addition, changing sediment loads, extreme tide and storm events, and...
Supporting Informed Responses to Sea-Level Rise
To facilitate communication and outreach of sea level rise research results and implications, Dr. Karen Thorne and members of USGS WERC are hosting in-person workshops along the Pacific coast at different sites in Washington, Oregon, and California.
Wetland Restoration in the San Francisco Bay Delta and Pacific Northwest
Estuaries and healthy coastal habitats are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth. They provide a variety of benefits, including habitat and food for fish and wildlife, flood and erosion protection, improved water quality, increased carbon sequestration, as well as beautiful scenery and opportunities for recreation. Along the U.S. Pacific Coast, both the San Francisco Bay estuary and...
Pacific Nearshore Project
Sea otters are crucial indicators of the health of our nearshore waters and coastal resources, from kelp forests to fisheries. What clues does the sea otter's decline hold for our knowledge of ecosystem and global change? WERC's sea otter team and U.S. and Canadian researchers have teamed together to investigate.
Relevance to USGS Missions:
This research project has direct...
Land Treatment Digital Library
The LTDL was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to catalog information about land treatments on Federal lands in the western United States for all interested parties. The flexible framework of the library allows for the storage of a wide variety of data in different formats. The LTDL currently stores previously established land treatments or what often are called legacy data. The...
Upper Klamath Basin Groundwater Studies
Since the late 1990s the USGS has worked to characterize the regional groundwater hydrology of the upper Klamath Basin. Research focuses on collecting data to help evaluate the state of the groundwater system and its response to external stresses, and to develop computer models to provide insights useful for water management. These efforts build on earlier USGS studies in the basin going back...
Land use and tsunami hazards in the Pacific Northwest
Tsunamis have the potential to cause considerable damage to communities along the U.S. Pacific Northwest coastline. As coastal communities expand over time, the potential societal impact of tsunami inundation changes.
To understand how community exposure to tsunami hazards may change in coming decades, we projected future development (i.e. urban, residential, and rural), households, and...
Groundwater in the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon
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.
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.
Water Quality in Keno Reach of the Klamath River
The Klamath River from Link River to Keno Dam experiences poor water-quality conditions on a seasonal basis, creating inhospitable conditions for fish and other aquatic organisms. These problems led the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to prepare a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan to bring the river into compliance with water-quality standards. This study uses a hydrodynamic and...
Data Entry Module for the Land Treatment Digital Library (LTDL)
This software allows agencies, organizations, and individuals to download an empty, stand-alone Land Treatment Digital Library database to individual or networked computers. Data entered in these databases may be submitted to the USGS for possible inclusion in the online Land Treatment Digital Library (https://ltdl.wr.usgs.gov).
1:1,000,000-scale potentiometric contours and control points for the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system of Nevada, Utah, and parts of adjacent states
This dataset consists of potentiometric contours, control points used to guide the creation of the contours, and a grid of 2 square-mile cells used to average the water-level value of selected control points. Control points are based on water-level measurements at well and spring locations from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS).
Three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework for the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system of Nevada, Utah, and parts of adjacent states
This dataset was created in support of a study focusing on groundwater resources in the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system (GBCAAS). The GBCAAS is a complex aquifer system comprised of both unconsolidated and bedrock formations covering an area of approximately 110,000 square miles. The aquifer system is situated in the eastern portion of the Great Basin Province of the western...
1:1,000,000-scale estimated outer extent of areas of groundwater discharge as evapotranspiration for the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system of Nevada, Utah, and parts of adjacent states
This dataset was created in support of a study focusing on groundwater resources in the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system (GBCAAS). The GBCAAS is a complex aquifer system comprised of both unconsolidated and bedrock formations covering an area of approximately 110,000 square miles. The aquifer system is situated in the eastern portion of the Great Basin Province of the western...
1:1,000,000-scale hydrographic areas and flow systems for the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system of Nevada, Utah, and parts of adjacent states
This dataset was created in support of a USGS study focusing on groundwater resources in the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system (GBCAAS). The GBCAAS is a complex aquifer system comprised of both unconsolidated and bedrock formations covering an area of approximately 110,000 square miles. The aquifer system is situated in the eastern portion of the Great Basin Province.
1:1,000,000-scale Hydrographic Areas of the Great Basin
This data set consists of hydrographic area and major flow system boundaries and polygons delineated at 1:1,000,000-scale for the Great Basin.
Willamette River Bathymetric Survey
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected bathymetric data from the main stem Willamette River in March of 2002. These cross-sectional and longitudinal profile data were important in filling a large data gap and were instrumental in the creation of a representative model grid for the Willamette River.
Willamette River and Long Tom River Dye Study
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's support of the technical analyses and temperature model development for Willamette Basin streams, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel carried out four dye studies in Willamette Basin streams in 2002.
Columbia River Gorge near The Dalles, Oregon
Columbia River Gorge near The Dalles, Oregon, May 2016
The USGS conducts landscape science to help understand what factors are involved in landscape change and how those factors influence the patterns and changes happening in a landscape.
A2 West Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: A2 West Transect; Depth: 13.2 Meters (43.2 Feet); Distance from river mouth: Kilometers 1.8 (1.1 Miles); Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.14130295, -123.5883331; Site Description: One of our deeper sites at over 40 feet. Sediment is primarily sand/sandy mud with scattered boulders. Seaweeds are still sparse and mainly acid kelp
H1 East Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: H1 East Transect; Depth: 5.7 Meters (18.8 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 2.4 Kilometers (1.5 Miles) east; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.1479177,-123.53472865; Site Description: This is a shallow site and one of the farthest removed from the effects of the sediment plume outside of the control sites. Substrate is still
English Sole
English Sole - Scuba divers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center, Washington Sea Grant, EPA and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe collected data and images from a long-term study of the Elwha River dam removals and the resulting effects on the nearshore ecosystem.
Location: Strait of Juan de Fuca, near the
...
C2 West Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: C2 West Transect; Depth: 16.5 Meters (54.2 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 0.7 Kilometers (0.5 Miles); Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.147841,-123.57663268; Site Description: One of our deepest sites. Substrate is all muddy sand. Seaweed is absent. Woody debris is present (1:18 seconds). The featherduster tubeworms that were
C2 East Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: C2 East Transect; Depth: 16.1 Meters (52.8 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 0.7 Kilometers (0.4 Miles); Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.147841,-123.57596074; Site Description: One of our deepest sites. Substrate is all muddy sand. Seaweed is absent. A very large pile of woody debris lying in an indentation in the sand is seen
L1 West Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: L1 West Transect; Depth: 11.1 Meters (36.5 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 2.3 Kilometers (1.4 Miles) west; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.13957527,-123.59427175; Site Description: This transect is medium depth. The first 20 meters contains scattered boulders (0:17 seconds). Where there are no boulders, substrate is mainly
H2 West Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: H2 West Transect; Depth: 7.8 Meters (25.5 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 2.6 Kilometers (1.6 Miles) east; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.15008216,-123.53277857; Site Description: This site is medium to shallow depth. Substrate is mainly gravel with some sand, cobble and an occasional boulder and has not changed since dam
H2 East Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: H2 East Transect; Depth: 8.1 Meters (26.6 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 2.6 Kilometers (1.6 Miles) east; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.15008216,-123.53210661; Site Description: This site is medium to shallow depth. Substrate is mainly gravel with some sand, cobble and an occasional boulder and has not changed since dam
A1 West Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: A1 West Transect; Depth: 9.0 Meters (29.6 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 1.9 Kilometers (1.2 Miles) West; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.13870775, -123.586203; Site Description: Transect is in eastern part of Freshwater Bay. Sediment is primarily sand/sandy mud with patches of boulders. Seaweeds are common this year. Most
C1 West Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: C1 West Transect; Depth: Meters (Feet); Distance from river mouth: 0.7 Kilometers (0.4 Miles); Pre/Post Dam Removal: 5 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.14525225,-123.57361291; Site Description: Substrate is entirely sand. All seaweeds are absent. Woody debris is present (0:12, 1:49 seconds). Invertebrates are scarce and are almost exclusively the ornate
4SP1 East Transect – 2016
Permanent Site: 4SP1 - East Transect; Depth: 5.2 Meters (17.0 Feet); Distance from river mouth: 0.8 Kilometers (0.5 Miles) East; Pre/Post Dam Removal: 4 years post-dam removal; Lat/Long: 48.15257, -123.556704; Site Description: The site has converted from gravel/cobble substrate to all sand. Seaweed is completely absent.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — On Thursday, April 12th, Dr. David Wiens will discuss results of his barred and spotted owl research that looks at how the two birds spatially overlap and interact in the forests of the northwest.
BOISE, Idaho — The entire population of central Idaho’s Wood River Valley depends on groundwater for domestic water supply. Today, the U.S. Geological Survey released the most detailed scientific description to date of the valley’s aquifer system.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have, for the first time, demonstrated how aquifer composition can affect how excessive levels of phosphorous (an essential nutrient contained in fertilizers) can be carried from fertilized agricultural fields via groundwater to streams and waterways.
Improved Survey Techniques Increase Accuracy
Gustavo Bisbal has been selected as the center director of the Department of the Interior’s Northwest Climate Science Center, headquartered at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore., with additional resources and capabilities at the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash., and the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.
Groundwater pumping, which has been increasing since the 1940s, now accounts for about one third of the estimated annual flow from the aquifers of the eastern Great Basin. In parts of this region, groundwater pumping exceeds the rate of natural discharge, leading to land subsidence and declines in water levels and spring flow.
This week, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory are installing eight new monitoring stations on Newberry Volcano in central Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest.
Selected and compressed for your convenience, here is the Elwha River science that the USGS has been working on, often as part of an interagency collaboration. The topics are presented in chronological order with session information. USGS scientists involved are listed. Complete listings can be found in the symposium program.
Note: This news release modifies the dates in the news release of August 31, 2011.
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Climbers and hikers on the cone of Mount St. Helens should not be alarmed to witness a low-flying helicopter with trailing equipment making repeated passes over the area this week. The project will largely be conducted over remote terrain in the crater and on the flanks of the volcano.
Two new USGS publications explain to scientists and the general public what to expect starting later this month as the historic removal of two dams from Washington’s Elwha River begins what is hoped to be a full ecosystem restoration.
Restoration of the Elwha River, including the start of the Nation’s largest dam removal to date, is the backdrop for the Elwha River Science Symposium, sponsored by the Elwha Research Consortium and held at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Wash. on September 15 and16, 2011.
Climbers and hikers on the cone of Mount St. Helens should not be alarmed to witness a low-flying helicopter with trailing equipment making repeated passes over the area this week. The project will largely be conducted over remote terrain in the crater and on the flanks of the volcano.
Social Media
Locations
Idaho Water Science Center
Phone: Phone: (208) 387-1300
Fax: (208) 387-1372
Washington Water Science Center
Phone: (253) 552-1600
Fax: (253) 552-1581
Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC)
Phone: (206) 526-6282
Fax: (206) 526-6654
Oregon Water Science Center
info-or@usgs.gov
Phone: (503) 251-3200
Fax: (503) 251-3470
USGS Volcano Science Center
Phone: 360-993-8900
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) Headquarters
fresc_outreach@usgs.gov
Phone: 541-750-1030
Fax: 541-750-1069
Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO)
vhpweb@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8900
Fax: 360-993-8980
Columbia River Research Laboratory
Phone: (509) 538-2299
Fax: (509) 538-2843
Oregon Cooperative Fish And Wildlife Research Unit
Idaho Water Science Center - Idaho National Laboratory Project Office
Phone: 208-526-2438
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) Snake River Field Station
fresc_outreach@usgs.gov
Phone: 208-426-5200
Fax: 208-426-5210
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) Olympic Field Station
fresc_outreach@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-565-3041
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) Cascadia Field Station
fresc_outreach@usgs.gov
Phone: 206-616-1874
Fax: 206-685-0790
Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC) Corvallis Research Group
fresc_outreach@usgs.gov
Phone: 541-750-1030
Klamath Falls Field Station
Phone: (541) 273-8689
Fax: (541) 273-8692
Marrowstone Marine Field Station
Phone: (360) 385-1007
Fax: (360) 385-7207
Idaho Water Science Center - Boise Field Office
Phone: (208) 387-1300
Fax: (208) 387-1372
Idaho Water Science Center - Post Falls Field Office
Phone: 208-773-4938
Idaho Water Science Center - Groundwater Training Facility
Phone: 208-387-1392
Northwest Washington Field Office
Phone: (360) 312-8155 x2001
Fax: (360) 312-8565
Medford Field Office
Phone: 541-776-4256
Fax: 541-776-4257
Klamath Falls Field Office
Phone: 541-273-8689
Mid-Columbia Field Office
Phone: (509) 735-3739
Fax: (509) 735-3723
Upper Columbia Field Office
Phone: (509) 353-2649
Idaho Water Science Center - Idaho Falls Field Office
Phone: 208-529-4287