Oregon Waters: Summer 2025
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Message from the Director Message from the Director
Message from the Director — Oregon Water Science Center, Summer 2025 Newsletter.
Updates from the Data Program
Field season is in full swing for our field crews around the state. Our technicians are out at streamgages across the state doing routine inspections, new installations, surveying, and other summer maintenance. While Oregon's rivers are primarily in the low- flow season we want to take moment to appreciate some impressive high-flow measurements we collected in spring 2025.
Umpqua River near Elkton Oregon (14321000): On March 17, 2025, hydrologic technicians captured 128,000 cubic feet per second! This is the 3rd highest flow measurement since the period of record began in 1905. Two independently read high-water marks from this event were surveyed and verified the peak gage height within 0.027 feet!
Cow Creek near Riddle, Oregon (14310000): On March 17, 2025, hydrologic technicians captured 14,000 and 13,900 cubic feet per second! These are the 2nd and 3rd highest flow measurements since the period of record began in 1954. Field crews also got some great photos and drone footage of this historic measurement.
Thank you to our technicians for making extra efforts to get these and many other measurements! High-flow measurements keep our calculations of real-time streamflow data as accurate as possible.
USGS Water Data: Big changes in 2025
Big changes are underway in 2025 as the USGS continues to modernize how water data is delivered and accessed. Read the most recent blog for new product and feature updates, as well as support for users during this transition.
Subscribe to the USGS Water Data for the Nation Newsletter to get quarterly updates about public water data delivery and modernization.
Water Data for the Nation homepage…your hub for all things water data!
Updates from the Studies Program
Check out some of the newly funded studies our researchers are diving into—just a sample of the many ways we’re helping address Oregon’s most pressing water science needs.
Quantifying Sediment Dynamics in the Blitzen River, Southeastern Oregon
This study will assess how sediment moves through the Blitzen River system, supporting habitat conservation at one of Oregon’s most important bird refuges. Results will guide management decisions to protect water quality and ecological integrity in southeastern Oregon.
Partner: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Malheur National Wildlife Refuge).
Groundwater-Level Responses to Hydrologic Stresses in the Upper Umatilla Basin, Northeastern Oregon
We're launching a new study to help understand how drought, streamflow changes, and climate variability affect groundwater resources on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Groundwater from the Columbia River Basalt is the primary water source for the community, supporting homes, farms, and ecosystems. This work will analyze long-term water-level records from wells minimally affected by pumping to assess how the aquifer responds to natural hydrologic changes—informing science-based decisions about water rights, development, and sustainability.
Partner: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Evaluating changes in evapotranspiration (ET) from western juniper removal using OpenET model data
Western juniper has rapidly expanded across eastern Oregon rangelands, raising concerns about impacts on sagebrush habitat, forage quality, and water availability. Our Center is launching a USGS-funded study to assess how juniper removal affects evapotranspiration (ET) and water balance at treated sites. By integrating local field data, geospatial layers, and satellite-based OpenET estimates, researchers will compare ET before and after removal and evaluate how changes in vegetation influence transpiration. This project leverages national funding and a proof-of-concept approach to address regional water availability challenges critical to Oregon and other western states. We aim to ensure the methods and findings are useful to partners and lay the groundwork for future collaborations.
Partner: USGS Water Mission area and collaborations with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and others.
Linkages Among Pre-colonial People, Skakhwǝl (Lamprey), and Landscapes in the Willamette Valley: Pilot Study to Identify Key Questions, Develop Methodology, and Initiate Data Collection
This collaborative study brings together Indigenous knowledge and western science to better understand where pre-colonial communities harvested Pacific lamprey in the Willamette Valley and how those locations aligned with hydrogeomorphic conditions that support lamprey habitat. By combining archaeological, ethnographic, and historical records with geomorphic and streamflow data, the team aims to identify habitat features that once sustained lamprey fisheries. Results will support restoration and conservation, strengthen Tribal partnerships, and inform culturally inclusive river science across the region.
Partner: Portland State University, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Highlighted Project Web Pages
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Integrating water availability in the Klamath Basin: from drought to dam removal
The USGS Water Resources Mission Area is assessing how much water is available for human and ecological needs in the United States and identifying where and when the Nation may have challenges meeting its demand for water. This information helps decision makers manage and distribute water in ways that balance competing needs. Due to its complex and competing water demands, ecological significance...
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Modeling distributions of native Western Pearlshell and Western Ridged Mussels in the Willamette River Basin, western Oregon
The U.S. Geological Survey is working with Tribal, federal, state, and non-profit partners to understand and predict where native Western Pearlshell and Western Ridged mussels are found in the Willamette River Basin. Freshwater mussels provide critical ecosystem services to people but are imperiled world-wide. Findings will support freshwater mussel management and conservation in the Willamette...
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Identifying nitrate sources in the lower Crooked River
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Crooked River Watershed Council (CRWC) are working together to identify sources of nitrate entering Lake Billy Chinook from the Crooked River Basin to help resource managers improve water quality.
Willamette River Data Comes to Life Through Bridge Lighting
Did you know the colorful lighting on the Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People, is synced with U.S. Geological Survey water data from the Willamette River?
Bridge scour monitoring in Oregon
The U.S. Geological Survey is working with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to revolutionize bridge scour monitoring using real-time sonar data collection and bathymetric surveying to remotely monitor sites, collect long-term data for evaluation, and develop and improve hydraulic models that predict scour.
Evaluating sediment transport in Chicken Creek
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is evaluating how the newly restored meandering channel on Chicken Creek affects sediment transport within the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.
News
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New Data Release: base flow estimates for 471 Oregon stream and river locations New Data Release: base flow estimates for 471 Oregon stream and river locations
Announcing statewide base-flow estimates for Oregon, water years 1980–2023, now available in a new USGS data release.
Cyanotoxins in Oregon’s Cascade Range Rivers that are Tapped for Drinking Water Supply Cyanotoxins in Oregon’s Cascade Range Rivers that are Tapped for Drinking Water Supply
A study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in collaboration with multiple water utilities and research partners revealed widespread cyanotoxin occurrence in Cascade Range rivers that provide municipal drinking water to over 1.5 million Oregonians.
Water-quality monitor at the OMSI dock is live for the 2025 season Water-quality monitor at the OMSI dock is live for the 2025 season
The USGS has redeployed its seasonal water-quality sensor at the OMSI dock on the Willamette River.
Thank you for reading the summer edition of the Oregon Water Science Center newsletter!