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Below, you can link to project information and proposal abstracts:
- Title: Basin level datasets for anticipating future water scarcity and conflict in
Oregon
- Project Type: Information Transfer
- Principle Investigators:
Wolf, Aaron T.,
Associate Professor, Geosciences, Oregon State University, wolfa@geo.orst.edu,
541-737-2722
- Abstract:
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By 2025, Oregons population is projected to grow twenty-eight percent, adding nearly one million people
to the state. As population expands, changes in demographic variables such as income, age structure and
employment will influence the nature of future water use in Oregon, expanding claims for water in
industrial, municipal and recreational sectors. Independent of population growth, increased claims for
in-stream water needs, associated with the implementation of state and federal environmental laws, will
further heighten competition for limited supplies. Without strategies to anticipate and address competing
water demands, Oregons water management stakeholders run the risk of allocating financial, technical,
and legal resources inefficiently. Without successful strategies, conflicts over water resources, such as the
ongoing Klamath Basin situation, are likely to become more frequent and stalwart as the states population
grows.
Information accessibility is the most critical component of appropriate resource allocation, to better
understanding long term balance of supply and demand and the prevention of conflict. Action needs to be
taken to adapt available data from multiple sources to create datasets that will help facilitate informed and
sustainable water management decisions. We propose to compile several sets of data pertinent to
understanding demand for water in Oregon into a consistent, basin scale format for analysis purposes. We
will make refinements to existing data from various sources to compose the following categories of data:
Hydrologic data: Past and current trends in water supply and demand, consisting of three indices: 1) a
drought index, 2) a water quality index, and 3) a water allocation index. Demographic data: Population
structure, income, and employment within hydrologic basins. Each of these variables influences the
magnitude of water use in urban and rural communities, but is normally summarized for political units,
rather than within basins. Hydropolitical data: Interactions of conflict and cooperation over water
resources, summarized by basin. News reports, legal proceedings, and stakeholder agreements chronicling
key water issues in the state allow for historical insights in past trends in conflict and cooperation among
different water use sectors and management entities.
These data will be made available in tabular and GIS shapefile format on the web. Maps and reports
summarizing water availability, demographic, and water conflict trends will also be web-accessible via
Oregon State Universitys Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database:
http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu; and from links on the webpages of the Oregon Water Resources
Department; and Portland State Universitys Population Resource Center.
This project would be done in partnership with Oregon State University, Portland State University and the
Oregon Water Resources Department, and will train two graduate students in database and GIS skills. For
the period of February 15, 2004 through August 15, 2004, we are seeking a $15,000 grant from the United
States Geological Survey, through the Center for Water and Environmental Sustainability, to cover student
salaries, project coordination, supplies, data compilation, and the construction of a final report
summarizing major trends in the geography of Oregons water from hydrologic, demographic, and conflict
perspectives. This project will serve as a critical step to supporting proactive, interdisciplinary, and
informed decision-making about water resources in Oregon.
- Title: Satellite Remote Sensing of Wildfire Induced Changes in
Hydro-Geomorphological Landscape Patterns and Processes
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- Project Type: Research
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- Principal Investigator:
Schoenholtz, Stephen,
Forest Engineering, Oregon State University, stephen.schoenholtz@oregonstate.edu,
541-737-9112
- Abstract:
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Severe wildfires result not only in dramatic changes in vegetation cover, but also induce significant
changes in hydro-geomorphology. These changes may include decreased infiltration, increased overland
flow, increased soil erosion, and debris-flow initiation during post-fire storm-events. A number of
geomorphic variables (e.g., fire severity) have been identified that can lead to increased erosion activity;
however, present methods of characterizing these variables within burnt basins may be both
time-consuming and labor-intensive. Satellite remote sensing holds great potential for rapid assessment of
these variables. This research proposes to use data from the Moderate resolution Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MODIS) and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection
Radiometer (ASTER) to map and characterize burn-induced erosion variables at multiple spatial scales.
- Title: Synergetic effects of colloids and organic matter on membrane fouling
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- Project Type: Research
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- Principal Investigator:
Li, Qilin, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, Oregon State University, Qilin.li@oregonstate.edu, 541-737-9910
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Abstract:
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The objectives of this project are: (1) to determine the synergetic effect of combined fouling of
nanofiltration membranes by colloidal material and dissolved organic matter in drinking water purification
and wastewater reclamation; (2) to reveal the mechanisms of combined fouling, and (3) to develop
efficient chemical cleaning strategies for membrane flux recovery. The general approach for the proposed
research is to determine the roles of colloidal material and dissolved organic matter in combined fouling of
NF membranes under various solution chemistries, and to test the efficiency of different chemical cleaning
strategies for membranes fouled by feed water with different colloid/organic compositions. Both bench
scale filtration/chemical cleaning experiments and microscopic analysis of the combined colloid/organic
fouling layer will be conducted to relate the structure and stability of the fouling layer to the membrane
flux decline rate and the chemical cleaning efficiency. The effect of colloidal particle size and solution
chemistry on combined membrane fouling and chemical cleaning will be investigated.
- Title: Hydrogeomorphic Analysis of the Luckiamute Watershed, Central Coast
Range, Oregon
- Project Type: Research
- Principal Investigator:
Stephen Taylor,
Associate Professor, Western Oregon University, taylors@wou.edu, 503-838-8398
- Abstract:
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Mountainous watersheds are fundamental landscape elements that form an important setting for local
ecological interactions, human occupation, and water resource development. They also represent the
foundational components for mass sediment transfer from continental regions to ocean basins. As such,
the understanding of hydrogeomorphic variables and related process interactions is critical for designing
sustainable water resource and habitat conservation plans. From the perspective of undergraduate training
in the Earth Sciences, watersheds represent the ideal natural laboratory for student application of
quantitative techniques to multivariate systems with interdependent process-response mechanisms.
The purpose of this project is to use the Luckiamute River basin of western Oregon as a model watershed
to integrate select components of applied research into a sequence of surface-process courses at Western
Oregon Univeristy (WOU). The Luckiamute will be used as a natural laboratory for integrated studies in
include: (1) characterization of bedrock control on topography and goemorphic processes in the upper
Luckiamute, (2) calculation of valley-bottom sediment storage volumes, as related to item 1 above, (3)
characterization of channel-bed composition with respect to sediment-transport functions, and (4)
collection and analysis of water quality data in the context of geologic and anthropogenic variables.
From a training perpsective, the proposed watershed-based curriculum will (1) imcorporate research into
the undergraduate Earth science program at WOU, (2) engage students in socially-relevant
watershed-based science, (3) improve quantitative skills via coursework, lab exercises, and applied
research, (4) develop problem-sloving and scientific skills within a regional watershed setting, and (5)
foster an interconnected perspective of watershed processes across several linked courses.
The research model will be places in the context of community outreach via collaboration with a local
watershed council and disseminated for application to other watersheds. This project will also contribute
to the understanding of upland watershed dynamics in the Pacific Northwest.
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