Upper Klamath and Lost River Water Quality Monitoring and Modeling

Klamath Straits Drain Area Project Data

Several sites in the Klamath Straits Drain area have been sampled for water quality constituents starting in 2016. These sites include:

Installation of acoustic Doppler instrument (Photo by M. Stewart, 4-Jun-2008)

• Ady Canal, USGS site 11509200
   
• Klamath Straits Drain at Highway 97, USGS site 420450121504500
   
• Klamath Straits Drain above F-FF pumps, Worden, OR, USGS site 420448121503100
   
• Klamath Straits Drain at Township Road, USGS site 420219121474500
   
• Rangeline Drain at S-16 Drain, USGS site 420009121485700
   
• S-16 Drain at Rangeline Drain Road, USGS site 420009121485600
   
• S-16 Drain at Klamath Straits Drain, USGS site 420007121464200
   

Lost River Project Data

Several sites in the Lost River area have been monitored for water temperature, starting in 2021. These sites include:

• Lost River Below Malone Dam at Gift Road, USGS site 420535121143800
   
• Lost River at bridge crossing below Harpold Dam, USGS site 421010121271200
   
• Lost River below Anderson Rose Diversion Dam at Malone, USGS site 420036121333700
   
• Lost River at Stateline Road, nr Hatfield, USGS site 415954121312100
   

Upper Klamath River Project Data

An extensive data-collection plan was implemented for the Keno reach of the Klamath River in 2007 and continued in 2008, in concert with several experimental research thrusts. Data collection included acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements in the mainstem Klamath River and in four nearby canals as welll as weekly water-quality sample collection at five mainstem sites and five tributaries from early April through early November. Sampled constituents included field parameters (water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, specific conductance); total nitrogen and phosphorus; particulate carbon and nitrogen; filtered orthophosphate, nitrite, nitrite plus nitrate, ammonia, organic carbon, iron, silica, and alkalinity; specific UV absorbance at 254 nm; phytoplankton and zooplankton enumeration and species identification; and bacterial abundance and morphological subgroups.

The initial 2006-09 study has been completed, but additional research, monitoring, and modeling is ongoing. This page includes new data from the ongoing study.

2011 Macrophyte Data

Rooted aquatic plants (macrophytes) were sampled during three time periods in 2011 by the Bureau of Reclamation throughout the Link River to Keno Dam reach of the Klamath River. Those data supported an expansion of the water-quality model to include macrophytes and enhanced pH buffering. The data are described and used in the following report:

Sullivan, A.B., Rounds, S.A., Asbill-Case, J.R., and Deas, M.L., 2013, Macrophyte and pH buffering updates to the Klamath River water-quality model upstream of Keno Dam, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5016, 52 p.
[Available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5016/]

The macrophyte data are available in spreadsheet form: Excel (67K).

2008 Data Report

The 2008 data, as well as the sampling and analytical methods used to collect those data, are summarized in the following report:

Sullivan, A.B., Deas, M.L., Asbill, J., Kirshtein, J.D., Butler, K., and Vaughn, J., 2009, Klamath River water quality data from Link River Dam to Keno Dam, Oregon, 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2009-1105, 25 p.
[Online only at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1105/]

Data files are available for download through hyperlinks at the end of the report, or from this link: Appendixes A-D, or individually from the following links:

• Appendix A. Quality Control Data [Excel, 147K]
• Appendix B. Water Quality Data [Excel, 512K]
• Appendix C. Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Data [Excel, 317K]
  • phytoplankton raw data [ZIP, 1.1M]
  • zooplankton raw data [Excel, 116K]
• Appendix D. Bacteria Data [Excel, 150K]

2007 Data Report

The 2007 data, as well as the sampling and analytical methods used to collect those data, are summarized in the following report:

Sullivan, A.B., Deas, M.L., Asbill, J., Kirshtein, J.D., Butler, K., Wellman, R.W., Stewart, M.A., and Vaughn, J., 2008, Klamath River Water quality and acoustic Doppler current profiler data from Link River Dam to Keno Dam, 2007: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2008-1185.
[Online only at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1185/]

Data files are available for download through hyperlinks at the end of the report, or from the links below. Those data include:

• Acoustic Doppler cross-sections
  - 5/30/07 [PDF, 289K]
  - 9/19/07 [PDF, 260K]
• Acoustic Doppler streamflow data
  - 5/30/07 [Excel, 766K]
  - 9/19/07 [Excel, 460K]
• Field parameters, nutrient, carbon, iron, silica, and alkalinity data [Excel, 487K]
• Quality-assurance data [Excel, 92K]
• Bacteria data [Excel, 200K]
• Phytoplankton and zooplankton data [Excel, 270K]
• Phytoplankton raw data [ZIP, 645K]
• Zooplankton raw data [Excel, 93K]