USGS Oregon Water Science Center

Welcome to the home page for the U.S. Geological Survey Oregon Water Science Center. This is your gateway to a wealth of information on surface water, groundwater, and water quality in Oregon and the Nation. The Oregon Water Science Center provides water data and interpretation of data to Federal, State, and local agencies; Tribes; and the public. Our data and study results are widely used to manage Oregon's water resources for the benefit of both people and our environment. We hope that you will find this Website informative and useful.

Streamflow Conditions in Oregon

USGS Oregon WSC Highlights

Oregon Water Science Center Launches Podcast Website

The Oregon Water Science Center has launched the USGS Oregon Science Podcast Webpage. Each podcast episode will provide insightful interviews with USGS scientists on topics in the areas of hydrology, geology, biology, or geography. The current episode is an interview with Dr. Stewart A. Rounds, senior author of the report "Reconnaissance of Pharmaceutical Chemicals in Urban Streams of the Tualatin River Basin, Oregon, 2002." Dr. Rounds discusses how common drugs such as caffeine, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and codeine make their way into streams and how we can keep them out, as well as the capacity of drinking-water treatment plants to remove them from the water supply. In another podcast episode, Drs. Jim O'Connor and Jon Major discuss the removal of Marmot Dam on the Sandy River and its aftermath. The interview took place in December 2007, about 4 months after the dam was breached.

The USGS is a world leader in the natural sciences. To access the wealth of science information readily available to you, in formats from podcasts to publicatons, visit the USGS home page and start clicking.

USGS Study of the Tualatin River Basin in Portland Monitors and Models Water Quality

Tualatin River at Lee Falls (Photograph by Stewart Rounds, USGS)

The Tualatin River drains a 712 square-mile basin on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area in northwestern Oregon. Home to more than 500,000 people, the basin supports a wide range of urban, agricultural, and forest-derived activities. The lower reaches of the Tualatin River sometimes have low dissolved oxygen concentrations because of low flow, slow oxygen exchange with the atmosphere, and a large amount of decomposing organic material in its sediments. Algal growth can also be an important driver of water quality in the lower Tualatin River. To address these and other water-quality issues, the Tualatin River was the first river in the Nation to receive protections under the Total Maximum Daily Load provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act in 1988.

Since 1990, the USGS has been studying water quality in the Tualatin River and its tributaries in collaboration with Clean Water Services, which is the primary wastewater and stormwater management utility for the urban areas of Washington County, Oregon. This scientific collaboration has provided an excellent framework for research into a variety of important water-quality issues with direct ties to resource management, such as:

Water-quality modeling of rivers and lakes
Oxygen-consuming processes at the sediment-water interface
Techniques and instrumentation for continuous water-quality monitoring
Dynamics and responses of plankton communities and their water-quality effects
Urban water-quality assessments
Storm-related water-quality research
Development of neural network modeling methods for water-quality forecasting
Organic-matter source assessments using stable isotope and fluorescence techniques

Read the latest report from this study and listen to a podcast interview with the study's chief investigator.

USGS Study Examines the Occurrence and Foodweb Effects of Emerging Contaminants

The lower Columbia River receives a variety of contaminants as a result of urban, industrial, and agricultural development. (Photograph by Jennifer Morace, USGS)

The Columbia River provides important hydroelectric power generation, valuable recreational and tribal fisheries, extensive recreational areas and scenic beauty, and habitat for wildlife and fish. The lower Columbia River below Bonneville is the largest remaining free-flowing reach not impounded by hydroelectric dams, and it is critical to the viability of culturally significant fish populations (anadromous and resident) in the Columbia Basin, as well as a myriad of other aquatic and terrestrial organisms.

Fish, wildlife, and human populations along the lower Columbia River are exposed to an ever-growing variety of contaminants as a result of increasing urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural development. The Columbia River Contaminants and Habitat Characterization study is a demonstration project that will combine the expertise within the USGS disciplines to address how emerging contaminants such as polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) impact fish, osprey, and other wildlife in the basin.

Filling knowledge gaps associated with the occurrence and bioaccumulation of PBDEs and EDCs will improve the ability of management agencies to evaluate the actions that are the most likely to result in improving lower river and estuarine conditions for salmonids and other organisms. The presence and effects of these emerging contaminants are important issues that have high scientific and public visibility and potentially important implications for people, fish, and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin.

Recent Publications

Reconnaissance of Pharmaceutical Chemicals in Urban Streams of the Tualatin River Basin, Oregon, 2002, by Stewart A. Rounds and Micelis C. Doyle, U.S. Geological Survey; Patrick M. Edwards, Portland State University; and Edward T. Furlong, U.S. Geological Survey. Listen to a podcast interview with the study's chief investigator.

Evaluation of Passive Samplers for Long-Term Monitoring of Organic Compounds in the Untreated Drinking Water Supply for the City of Eugene, Oregon, September–October 2007, by Kathleen A. McCarthy, David Alvarez, Chauncey W. Anderson, Walter L. Cranor, Stephanie D. Perkins, and Vickie Schroeder.

Channel Change and Bed-Material Transport in the Lower Chetco River, Oregon , by J. Rose Wallick, Scott W. Anderson, Charles Cannon, and Jim E. O’Connor

Hydrology of the Johnson Creek Basin, Oregon, by Karl K. Lee and Daniel T. Snyder

Preliminary Assessment of Vertical Stability and Gravel Transport along the Umpqua River, Southwestern Oregon , by Jim E. O’Connor, J. Rose Wallick, Steven Sobieszczyk, Charles Cannon, and Scott W. Anderson

View the complete list of 2008-09 Oregon Water Science Center publications

Of Current Interest

Study Reveals Mercury Contamination in Fish Nationwide

Top-predator fish nationwide, like this largemouth bass, were found to contain mercury in a recent USGS study (Photograph by Wayne Davis, USEPA).

Scientists detected mercury contamination in every fish sampled in 291 streams across the country, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey study. About a quarter of these fish were found to contain mercury at levels exceeding the criterion for the protection of people who consume average amounts of fish, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than two-thirds of the fish had levels that exceed the USEPA level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

“This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “This science sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation’s waterways, and protect the public from potential health dangers.”

Some of the highest levels of mercury in fish were found in the tea-colored or “blackwater” streams in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana—areas associated with relatively undeveloped forested watersheds containing abundant wetlands compared to the rest of the country. High levels of mercury in fish also were found in relatively undeveloped watersheds in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest. Elevated levels are noted in areas of the Western United States affected by mining. Complete findings of the USGS study, as well as additional detailed studies in selected streams, are available online.

Quality of Water from Domestic Wells in the United States

Substantially elevated levels of nitrate occur in domestic wells in agricultural areas across much of the U.S.

A recent study from the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the USGS assessed water-quality conditions for about 2,100 domestic wells across the United States. As many as 219 properties and contaminants, including pH, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, radon, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds, were measured. Fecal indicator bacteria and additional radionuclides were analyzed for a smaller number of wells. The large number of contaminants assessed and the broad geographic coverage of the present study provides a foundation for an improved understanding of the quality of water from the major aquifers tapped by domestic supply wells in the United States.

The results of this study are described in two USGS publications, including an overview of the study findings (Circular 1332) and a detailed technical report on data sources, analyses, and results (Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5227). Also available are two related articles in the Water Well Journal of the National Groundwater Association that briefly summarize USGS study findings and provide general information on domestic well maintenance, siting, and testing.

Find out more about this study and about the Nation’s groundwater quality.

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