Arctic-boreal regions are exhibiting the symptoms of profound ecological shifts as they experience pronounced warming. Wildlife in high-latitudes are one such harbinger of change, and their populations are undergoing range-shifts, declines, and extinctions in response to their rapidly altering habitats. As the circumpolar and boreal north is snow-covered for up...
As a result of a warming climate, subsequent declining snowpack, and a century of fire suppression, forest fires are increasing across the western United States. However, we still do not fully understand how forest fire effects snowpack energy balance, nor the volume and availability of snow melt and associated water...
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the problem of the
increasing competition between recreation and irrigation at Wallowa
Lake. Originally Wallowa Lake was an abundant source of fish for
the Indians but the advent of irrigation in the area by the early settlers eliminated the blueback salmon (oncorhynchus...
In this thesis I present the results of a comprehensive assessment of the Pacific-North American (PNA) teleconnection pattern in general circulation models (GCMs) and a regional climate model (RCM). The PNA teleconnection pattern is a quasi-stationary wave field over the North Pacific and North America that has long been recognized...
Oregon's minimum stream flow program
attempts to preserve adequate flows of water for
the instream needs of aquatic life and pollution
abatement. Conflicts with consumptive uses of
water have indicated that improvements are needed
in the program. The conflicts are explored and
specific improvements suggested.
Land use regulation as a nonstructural method of flood
damage mitigation has proven to be a controversial measure due, among
other things, to suspected adverse impacts upon residential land values.
Little evidence, however, has been gathered to substantiate this claim.
This study attempts to analyze the relationship between flood plain...
The rise of water level in Malheur Lake in Southeastern
Oregon has become a major issue of concern in Harney County,
where the lake is located, and on a state-wide level. The
concern is due to the extensive damage caused by flood water
to agricultural land, highways and roads, a...
Flood plain regulations are one of six major adjustments
used to cope with flood hazard in the United States. This adjustment
was essentially neglected in the national flood hazard policies
until Congress enacted the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968.
The implementation of regulations, as called for in the Act,...
In recent years, low lake levels at Fern Ridge, Oregon have become a major concern
for recreationists in the southern Willamette Valley. A filled reservoir is necessary for the most
popular water sport at Fern Ridge: sailing. The Army Corps of Engineers manages Fern Ridge as
part of the Willamette...