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Publications

All of our publications are accessible through the USGS Publication Warehouse. Publications by scientists of the Oregon Water Science Center are listed below.

Filter Total Items: 755

Chemical quality of surface water in the Umpqua River Basin, Oregon

In July 1967, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Douglas County, began a 2-year study of the chemical quality of surface water in the Umpqua River basin. The purpose of this report is to present an interpretive summary of the data collected, which will provide answers to the following questions: What is the chemical quality of the water in the basin? What areal and seasonal difference
Authors
D. A. Curtiss

Sediment transport by streams in the Walla Walla River basin, Washington and Oregon, July 1962 - June 1965

The Walla Walla River basin covers about 1,760 square miles in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. From the 6,000-foot crest of the Blue Mountains on the east to the 340-foot altitude of Lake Wallula (Columbia River) on the west, the basin is drained by the Touchet River and Dry Creek, entirely within Washington, and by Mill Creek, North and South Forks Walla Walla River, and Pine Cre
Authors
B. E. Mapes

Willamette River at Lambert Bend, Oregon, bridge-site report

The proposed crossing of the Willamette River at Lambert Bend involves a 2.3-mile-wide flood plain. Two of the three principal tangents of the crossing will include bridges that will span the main channel and an overflow channel of the river, as shown in figure 1, page 3. The Oregon State Highway Department wants to know what flow will result when the water-surface elevation upstream from the brid
Authors
D.D. Harris

Sediment Transport in Streams in the Umpqua River Basin, Oregon

This report presents tables of suspended-sediment data collected from 1956 to 1967 at 10 sites in the Umpqua River basin. Computations based on these data indicate that average annual suspended-sediment yields at these sites range from 137 to 822 tons per square mile. Because available data for the Umpqua River basin are generally inadequate for accurate determinations of sediment yield and for th
Authors
C. A. Onions

Use of dye tracers to collect hydrologic data in Oregon

Dye tracers have been used in Oregon in the Collection of hydrologic data on 2,350 miles of stream channels in the Long Tom, Umpqua, Willmette, and John Day River basins, and in the Carmen‐Smith power tunnel. These investigations demonstrated the usefulness, of dye tracers for determining: (1) estimates of traveltimes and travel rates of water, (2) discharge where standard methods of measuring are
Authors
D.D. Harris, R.B. Sanderson

Water temperatures in the lower Columbia River

Daily observations of water temperature for 20 sites in the lower Columbia River are presented in tabular form and in profile form by months for the period August 1941 to July 1942. The profiles show minimum, mean (average), and maximum water temperatures for those months from river mile 142 to river mile 6.7. The data indicate that water temperature in the lower river trends upward from October t
Authors
Albert M. Moore

Discharge in the lower Columbia River basin, 1928-65

Estimates of monthly and annual mean discharge for five ungaged sites in the lower Columbia River are presented for water years 1928-65. These sites are Columbia River at Vancouver, Wash., Willamette River at mouth, Columbia River at St. Helens, Oreg., Columbia River at Longview, Wash., and Columbia River at mouth. Two tables of estimates are compiled for each site. One table lists estimates of 'o
Authors
Hollis M. Orem

Hydrology of Crater, East and Davis Lakes, Oregon; with section on Chemistry of the Lakes

Crater, East, and Davis Lakes are small bodies of fresh water that occupy topographically closed basins in Holocene volcanic terrane. Because the annual water supply exceeds annual evaporation, water must be lost by seepage from each lake. The seepage rates vary widely both in volume and in percentage of the total water supply. Crater Lake loses about 89 cfs (cubic feet per second), equivalent to
Authors
Kenneth N. Phillips, A. S. Van Denburgh

Records of wells, water levels, and chemical quality of water in the lower Santiam River basin, middle Willamette Valley, Oregon

Basic water data on the lower Santiam River basin is preliminary to a comprehensive hydrologic study of this productive and intensely irrigated area where expanding population and industry increases the demand for water. Highest yielding wells are in shallow alluvial aquifers near the main streams; yields range from several hundred to more than a thousand gpm. Wells in lacustrine and older alluvia
Authors
Donald C. Helm

Water-discharge determinations for the tidal reach of the Willamette River from Ross Island Bridge to Mile 10.3, Portland, Oregon

Water-discharge, velocity, and slope variations for a 3.7-mile-Iong tidal reach of the Willamette River at Portland, Oreg., were defined from discharge measurements and river stage data collected between July 1962 and January 1965. Observed water discharge during tide-affected flows, during floods, and during backwater from the Columbia River and recorded stages at each end of the river reach were
Authors
G.R. Dempster, Gale A. Lutz

Evaporation study at Warm Springs Reservoir, Oregon

The mass transfer-water budget method of computing reservoir evaporation was tested on Warm Springs Reservoir, whose contents and surface area change greatly from early spring to late summer. The mass-transfer coefficient computed for the reservoir is two to three times greater than expected and results in a computed evaporation much greater than that from a land pan. Because of the remoteness of
Authors
D.D. Harris