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Below, you can link to project information and proposal abstracts:
- Title:
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Web-based Data Analysis and Distribution Technology
for Watershed Datasets
- Project Type:
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Information Management System
- Principle Investigators:
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John Bolte, Associate
Professor, Bioresource Engineering Department, OSU
Email: boltej@engr.orst.edu
Phone: (541) 737-6303
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Jim Moore, Professor
and Head, Bioresource Engineering Department
Email: mooreja@engr.orst.edu
Phone: (541) 737-2041
- Abstract:
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As watershed planning is becoming increasingly important for implementation
of the Oregon Plan for salmon recovery, the Willamette Restoration Initiative,
response to endangered species listing, Clean Water Act requirements and
other activities. Science-based planning requires access to data, in a
way that presents that data in a format that is both readily accessible
and in forms that are readily utilized by policymakers and stakeholders.
Various watershed-scale datasets are also integral to the development of
watershed assessments developed by watershed councils using the Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board's (OWEB) Watershed Assessment manual, which
prescribes specific datasets and reporting requirements necessary for completion
of a watershed assessment.
We have been involved in efforts to build web database and map-serving
technology related to providing watershed dataset access to a broad audience
through internet access. Technology has progressed to the point where the
development of dataset storage and delivery mechanisms is feasible. The
Internet provides the necessary access and delivery mechanism, and is generally
available to a wide audience. Additionally server-based software has made
the presentation and download of datasets on the web realistic. We have
been involved in these activities for both spatial and non-spatial datasets
for the last several years and propose to leverage our existing web technology
for spatial and nonspatial dataset display and delivery to continue development
of technology and datasets related to watershed characterization and management
via access to datasets on the web. We will further utilize our activities
in a related project with two watershed councils (Long Tom and South Santiam)
to continue to focus specifically on providing data access and analysis
tools for their use, as a technology prototype/demonstration for watershed
dataset access. The current technology used in the OSU
WaterConnection web site will be expanded and enhanced to assist watershed
councils and other stakeholder groups in accessing datasets related to
watershed management issues. Additionally, the datasets and access/analysis
technology will be made available to the OWRRI for using on their web site.
- Title:
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Investigation of Groundwater Recharge and Agricultural
Runoff through Willamette Silt, Oregon
- Principal Investigator:
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Roy Haggerty, Assistant
Professor, Oregon State University, OSU
Email: haggertr@geo.orst.edu
phone: 541-737-1210
- Abstract:
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It is proposed to study the recharge of groundwater through Willamette
silt, Willamette Valley, Oregon. This study will be supportive of an ongoing
study of nitrate and phosphate transport in the Willamette silt funded
by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and will provide two products to
understand Oregon's water problems. First, we will directly measure groundwater
recharge and agricultural runoff through the Willamette silt, perhaps the
most important geologic unit for water resource in western Oregon. We will
employ chemicals released into the Pudding River as tracers. We will measure
these tracers in the Pudding River within the field site on an ongoing
study over a 1-yr period. Simultaneously, we will obtain concentration
profiles for these tracers in the underlying Willamette silt. By obtaining
and modeling the tracer profiles at 12 times over one year, we will obtain
direct measurement of recharge and transport rates across the Willamette
silt. These measurements, in conjunction with other data being obtained
in the ODA study (i.e., the gradient and hydraulic properties of the sediment),
we will obtain a good average vertical conductivity measurement at the
field site location. Second, we will provide all the data from this and
another concurrent study via the CWESt web page. The other data would not
otherwise be made publicly available. These data will be of value to a
variety of state and federal agencies.
- Title:
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Interactive Web Site for Streamflow Evaluations
in Watershed & Habitat Restoration Planning.
- Project Type:
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Information Transfer, Information Management System
- Principal Investigator:
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Peter
C. Klingeman, Professor of Civil Engineering, OSU
Email: peter.klingeman@orst.edu
Phone: 541 737-4977
Abstract:
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Many stream projects are undertaken for watershed enhancement and habitat
improvement with only limited hydrologic input. This is particularly the
case when project budgets are small, funds are devoted to "structures" rather
than analysis, and volunteers are relied upon for technical guidance. It
is proposed to develop a web site to facilitate hydrologic evaluations
and supporting guidance in hydrologic methods applicable to ungaged sites
on small and moderate-size streams. Efficient methods will be developed
to convert and expand two existing computer data bases (one developed for
mainframe application and the other for PC application) into formats that
may be used interactively on a web site. This will allow improved versions
of the older statewide OSU/WRRI low-head hydropower streamflow simulation
data sets and the recent OSU/CCEE-CE543 sub-state data sets to be accessed,
manipulated, and used in planning for a variety of stream projects. Links
will be provided to original or supporting data. Methods will be described
for making analyses for different kinds of projects, as well as for acquiring
original data bases. Illustrations will be provided of use to assess streamflow
characteristics for (1) stream habitat projects, particularly for EAS-listed
species, (2) stream restoration projects, and (3) culvert evaluations.
- Title:
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US Transboundary Waters: Interstate
Waters, Interstate Compacts
- Project Type:
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Information Transfer, Information Management System.
- Principal Investigator:
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Aaron T. Wolf
Assistant Professor
Oregon State University
E-mail: wolfa@geo.orst.edu
Phone: (541) 737-2722
- Abstract:
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To aid in research on the nature of conflict and the assessment of the
process of water conflict resolution, we have been working over the past
five years to develop the Transboundary
Freshwater Dispute Database, a project of the Oregon State University
Department of Geosciences, in collaboration with the Northwest Alliance
for Computational Science and Engineering. The Database currently includes:
a digital map of the world's 261 international watersheds; a searchable
compilation of 300 water-related treaties and 49 US compacts, along with
the full text of each; an annotated bibliography of the state of the art
of water conflict resolution, including approximately 1,000 entries; negotiating
notes (primary or secondary) from fourteen detailed case-studies of water
conflict resolution; a comprehensive news file of all reported cases of
international water-related disputes and dispute resolution (1948-2000);
and descriptions of indigenous/traditional methods of water dispute resolution.
Our current research program, with a variety of funding sources, is developing
to expand the Database capabilities to include an interdisciplinary, "virtual
center" for the study of transboundary waters. In this context, "transboundary" refers
both to water that flows across legal or political boundaries as well as
to water and watershed resources used by more than one sets of interests
(i.e., water needed by the environmental as well as economic sectors).
Our center will be "virtual" in the sense that much of the data
assessment and analysis will be web-based. Although the infrastructure
for the virtual center would be housed at Oregon State University, it would
be linked with partners across campus and around the world.
USGS funding is sought for one specific component of this center: a web-based
database which will link an interactive map of major US interstate watersheds
with two searchable databases: an annotated bibliography of literature
related to water conflicts and conflict resolution, and a listing with
full text of all US interstate compacts. This activity coincides with,
and will meet matching requirements by, a grant proposal to the United
Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), which seeks to provide similar information
on international watersheds and treaties.
We hope to supplement the basin maps and textual information with an interactive
Geographic Information System (GIS) of spatial land use data. Recent research
has allowed us to compile a vast amount of spatial information, including
over 100 layers of biophysical, geopolitical, and socioeconomic data in
a global watershed-based GIS. In conjunction with other research funding
and project goals, we would like to focus on the North American components
within this project.
Potential users come from a wide variety of fields. Our database currently
attracts queries from researchers and students from all over the world
studying one or another aspect of transboundary waters. Negotiators in
the midst of discussions variously on the Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, and Aral
watersheds have also tapped into the database. Adding an explicitly US
component would no doubt appeal to a similar spectrum, especially given
new emphasis on spatial information and locally managed watershed councils.
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