Kurt D Carpenter
Kurt Carpenter is a research hydrologist in the USGS Oregon Water Science Center.
Kurt joined the USGS Oregon District in 1992 to work for the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, an interdisciplinary program characterizing land use impacts to algae, benthic invertebrates, fish, and water quality of streams in the Willamette Basin. For nearly 30 years Kurt’s research has focused on the interface between water quality and hydrobiology, primarily impacts from nutrients (eutrophication) and contaminants (pesticides, volatile organic compounds). Kurt is currently PI of several harmful algal bloom (HAB) related projects in Oregon including at Detroit, Cougar and Blue Lakes where cyanobacterial toxins pose a threat to drinking water. Kurt is also active in post-fire monitoring and research following the 2020 Labor Day fires that threatens several major drinking water supplies. His most recent collaboration includes using remote sensing to detect algae in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs using hyperspectral data from ground- and space-based tools, including cameras aboard the International Space Station. In a project with Clean Water Services in the Tualatin River Basin, Kurt is investigating plankton communities in streams along with environmental DNA (“eDNA”) signatures to examine potential benefits of stream restoration.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 33
Storm-event-transport of urban-use pesticides to streams likely impairs invertebrate assemblages
Insecticide use in urban areas results in the detection of these compounds in streams following stormwater runoff at concentrations likely to cause toxicity for stream invertebrates. In this 2013 study, stormwater runoff and streambed sediments were analyzed for 91 pesticides dissolved in water and 118 pesticides on sediment. Detections included 33 pesticides, including insecticides...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Kathryn Kuivila, Michelle L. Hladik, Tana Haluska, Michael B. Cole
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...
Authors
Stewart A. Rounds, Kurt D. Carpenter, Kristel J. Fesler, Jessica L. Dorsey
Water quality and algal conditions in the North Umpqua River, Oregon, 1995-2007, and their response to Diamond Lake restoration
The Wild and Scenic North Umpqua River is one of the highest-quality waters in the State of Oregon, supporting runs of wild salmon, steelhead, and trout. For many years, blooms of potentially toxic blue-green algae in Diamond and Lemolo Lakes have threatened water quality, fisheries, and public health. The blooms consist primarily of Anabaena, a nitrogen (N)-fixing planktonic alga that...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Chauncey W. Anderson, Mikeal E. Jones
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...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Stewart A. Rounds
Sources and characteristics of organic matter in the Clackamas River, Oregon, related to the formation of disinfection by-products in treated drinking water
This study characterized the amount and quality of organic matter in the Clackamas River, Oregon, to gain an understanding of sources that contribute to the formation of chlorinated and brominated disinfection by-products (DBPs), focusing on regulated DBPs in treated drinking water from two direct-filtration treatment plants that together serve approximately 100,000 customers. The...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Jami H. Goldman, John Franco Saraceno, Bryan D. Downing, Brian Bergamaschi, Gordon McGhee, Tracy Triplett
Biotic, water-quality, and hydrologic metrics calculated for the analysis of temporal trends in National Water Quality Assessment Program Data in the Western United States
The U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program was established by Congress in 1991 to collect long-term, nationally consistent information on the quality of the Nation's streams and groundwater. The NAWQA Program utilizes interdisciplinary and dynamic studies that link the chemical and physical conditions of streams (such as flow and habitat) with...
Authors
Stephen M. Wiele, Anne M. D. Brasher, Matthew Miller, Jason May, Kurt D. Carpenter
Non-USGS Publications**
Sheila F. Murphy, Charles N. Alpers, Chauncey W. Anderson, J. Ryan Banta, Johanna M. Blake, Kurt D. Carpenter, Gregory D. Clark, David Clow, Brian A. Ebel, Laura A. Hempel, Deborah A. Martin, Michael R. Meador, Gregory O. Mendez, Anke Mueller-Solger, Marc A. Stewart, Sean E. Payne, Cara Peterman, 2023, A call for strategic water-quality monitoring to advance understanding of wildfire impacts on water supplies. Submitted to: “Frontiers in Water” as a PERSPECTIVE article.
Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, 2022, Strategies for Preventing and Managing Harmful Benthic Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCB-2). Washington, D.C.: Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, HCB Team (Holcomb, B., Stanton, B., Baysinger, C., Carpenter, K.D., etc, at https://hcb-2.itrcweb.org/
Kraus, T.E., Saraceno, J., Downing, B., von Dessonneck, T., Goldman, J., Carpenter, K.D., McGhee, G., and Bergamaschi, B., Real time monitoring of dissolved organic matter (DOM) amount, composition, source, and reactivity using fluorescence spectroscopy: Applications for drinking water quality: Poster for American Geophysical Union Meeting, San Francisco CA, 12/14/2010.
Duff, J. H. Carpenter, K.D., and Triska, F.J., 2008, Seasonal phosphorus and nitrogen dynamics of open water during restoration of the Wood River Wetland, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA: Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. v. 30 (4), p. 515-520.
Petersen, R.P. and Carpenter, K.D., 1996, Nutrient limitation in five lakes near Mount St. Helens, Washington: Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol., v. 26, p. 377-380.
Carpenter, K.D., 1995, Indicators of nutrient limited plankton growth in lakes near Mount Saint Helens, Washington: Portland State University, MS thesis, 188 p.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 33
Storm-event-transport of urban-use pesticides to streams likely impairs invertebrate assemblages
Insecticide use in urban areas results in the detection of these compounds in streams following stormwater runoff at concentrations likely to cause toxicity for stream invertebrates. In this 2013 study, stormwater runoff and streambed sediments were analyzed for 91 pesticides dissolved in water and 118 pesticides on sediment. Detections included 33 pesticides, including insecticides...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Kathryn Kuivila, Michelle L. Hladik, Tana Haluska, Michael B. Cole
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...
Authors
Stewart A. Rounds, Kurt D. Carpenter, Kristel J. Fesler, Jessica L. Dorsey
Water quality and algal conditions in the North Umpqua River, Oregon, 1995-2007, and their response to Diamond Lake restoration
The Wild and Scenic North Umpqua River is one of the highest-quality waters in the State of Oregon, supporting runs of wild salmon, steelhead, and trout. For many years, blooms of potentially toxic blue-green algae in Diamond and Lemolo Lakes have threatened water quality, fisheries, and public health. The blooms consist primarily of Anabaena, a nitrogen (N)-fixing planktonic alga that...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Chauncey W. Anderson, Mikeal E. Jones
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...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Stewart A. Rounds
Sources and characteristics of organic matter in the Clackamas River, Oregon, related to the formation of disinfection by-products in treated drinking water
This study characterized the amount and quality of organic matter in the Clackamas River, Oregon, to gain an understanding of sources that contribute to the formation of chlorinated and brominated disinfection by-products (DBPs), focusing on regulated DBPs in treated drinking water from two direct-filtration treatment plants that together serve approximately 100,000 customers. The...
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Jami H. Goldman, John Franco Saraceno, Bryan D. Downing, Brian Bergamaschi, Gordon McGhee, Tracy Triplett
Biotic, water-quality, and hydrologic metrics calculated for the analysis of temporal trends in National Water Quality Assessment Program Data in the Western United States
The U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program was established by Congress in 1991 to collect long-term, nationally consistent information on the quality of the Nation's streams and groundwater. The NAWQA Program utilizes interdisciplinary and dynamic studies that link the chemical and physical conditions of streams (such as flow and habitat) with...
Authors
Stephen M. Wiele, Anne M. D. Brasher, Matthew Miller, Jason May, Kurt D. Carpenter
Non-USGS Publications**
Sheila F. Murphy, Charles N. Alpers, Chauncey W. Anderson, J. Ryan Banta, Johanna M. Blake, Kurt D. Carpenter, Gregory D. Clark, David Clow, Brian A. Ebel, Laura A. Hempel, Deborah A. Martin, Michael R. Meador, Gregory O. Mendez, Anke Mueller-Solger, Marc A. Stewart, Sean E. Payne, Cara Peterman, 2023, A call for strategic water-quality monitoring to advance understanding of wildfire impacts on water supplies. Submitted to: “Frontiers in Water” as a PERSPECTIVE article.
Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, 2022, Strategies for Preventing and Managing Harmful Benthic Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCB-2). Washington, D.C.: Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, HCB Team (Holcomb, B., Stanton, B., Baysinger, C., Carpenter, K.D., etc, at https://hcb-2.itrcweb.org/
Kraus, T.E., Saraceno, J., Downing, B., von Dessonneck, T., Goldman, J., Carpenter, K.D., McGhee, G., and Bergamaschi, B., Real time monitoring of dissolved organic matter (DOM) amount, composition, source, and reactivity using fluorescence spectroscopy: Applications for drinking water quality: Poster for American Geophysical Union Meeting, San Francisco CA, 12/14/2010.
Duff, J. H. Carpenter, K.D., and Triska, F.J., 2008, Seasonal phosphorus and nitrogen dynamics of open water during restoration of the Wood River Wetland, Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA: Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. v. 30 (4), p. 515-520.
Petersen, R.P. and Carpenter, K.D., 1996, Nutrient limitation in five lakes near Mount St. Helens, Washington: Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol., v. 26, p. 377-380.
Carpenter, K.D., 1995, Indicators of nutrient limited plankton growth in lakes near Mount Saint Helens, Washington: Portland State University, MS thesis, 188 p.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.