Upper Klamath Basin Groundwater and Groundwater-Related Publications
A partnership between the USGS, the Oregon Water Resources Department, the California Department of Water Resources, and the Klamath Water and Power Agency
Cooperative studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey have resulted in several reports dealing with groundwater and related topics. These studies all rely heavily on multi-agency groundwater monitoring efforts. Click on the following links to read abstracts and to download the reports.
USGS Groundwater Reports
- Groundwater Hydrology of the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California
- This report describes the geologic framework of regional groundwater flow in the basin, regional groundwater hydrology, the hydrologic budget, and groundwater/surface-water interaction. It also describes the response of the groundwater system to external stresses such as climate and pumping.
- Groundwater Simulation and Management Models for the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California
- This report describes the development, calibration, and application of a regional groundwater flow model for the upper Klamath Basin and a coupled management model. The flow model is based primarily on the conceptual framework described in the above report. The report also describes a groundwater management model that can identify optimal groundwater management strategies given certain defined objectives, constraints, and decision variables. The report included example applications.
- Evaluation of Alternative Groundwater-Management Strategies for the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project, Oregon and California
- This report describes the application of the coupled groundwater simulation and management models to evaluate strategies for using groundwater to supplement surface-water supplies on the Klamath Reclamation Project while avoiding unacceptable groundwater-level declines or impacts to streams. Several alternatives are evaluated in the context of varying climate.
Groundwater Related Reports
- Evapotranspiration from marsh and open-water sites at Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2008--2010
- Evapotranspiration (the movement of water from the land surface to the atmosphere though evaporation and plant transpiration) is one of the largest components of the hydrologic budget, and key to understanding groundwater and surface-water hydrology. This report describes measurements of evapotranspiration from large wetlands north of Upper Klamath Lake and open-water evaporation from the lake itself using eddy covariance and energy-balance methods.
- An evaluation and review of water-use estimates and flow data for the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges, Oregon and California
- This report describes the hydrologic budgets of two large wildlife refuges south of upper Klamath Lake. It includes estimates of major inflows such as precipitation, streams, canals, irrigation drains, as well as outflows to evapotranspiration, pumps, canals, and drains. Flow to and from the groundwater system is also estimated.
