An interdisciplinary study, USGS Columbia River Contaminants and Habitat Characterization (ConHab) project, is underway to investigate transport pathways, chemical fate and effects of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in aquatic media and the foodweb in the lower Columbia River. Polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) and...
In order to efficiently reduce toxic loading to the Columbia River basin, sources and pathways need to be identified. Little is known about the toxic loadings coming from wastewater-treatment facilities and stormwater runoff in the system. This study provides preliminary data on these sources and pathways throughout the basin. The...
The inter-relationships of vegetation, soils, and stream channel erosion characteristics were examined in two riparian meadows of the Ochoco National Forest where progressive stream headcut incision is a critical resource management issue and restoration priority. Scientific literature establishes that headcut incision leads to lower groundwater tables, with corresponding shifts in...
The Walla Walla basin lies in an arid region on the border of Eastern Washington and Oregon. A large portion of the area is devoted to agricultural production, relying on irrigation water diverted from the Walla Walla River and underlying aquifers occurring within Quaternary gravel and Mio-pliocene basalt formations. Heavy...
Pesticides are widely used to control undesirable pests and may be applied directly to water or lands directly adjacent to water. Pesticides are an option for habitat restoration but there can be unintended consequences to native, threatened and endangered species. There is very little information on the impacts of pesticides...
The goal of the Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative (WWRI) is to restore natural functions of whole watersheds in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, while amplifying community-based partnerships focused on the strategic restoration of Pacific salmon and steelhead ecosystems. The WWRI partners (Ecotrust, NOAA Restoration Center, the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest...
With the advance of climate change and growth of human populations and economies, the amount of freshwater in the world remains roughly the same as it has been throughout history. The amount economically available for human use is only 0.007% of the total, or about 13,500 km3, which is about...
The decommissioning of dams, as an approach to restoring longitudinal connectivity and to managing aging infrastructure, presents valuable opportunities for organized study of channel responses to sediment pulses. Experiments with physical and numerical models suggest that rivers process coarse sediment pulses primarily through dispersion. In contrast, translation appears to be...
One important aspect related to the management of water resources under future climate variation is the occurrence of extreme precipitation events. In order to prepare for extreme events, namely floods and droughts, it is important to understand how future climate variability will influence the occurrence of such events. Recent advancements...
Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (ESP) provides the means for statistical post-processing of the forecasts and estimating the inherent uncertainties. On the other hand large scale climate variables provide valuable information for hydrologic predictions. In this study we propose a post-processing procedure that assigns weights to streamflow ensemble members using these large...