| Historical Overview |
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Source: Conversations with Pete
Klingeman, OSU Professor of Civil Engineering, Bob
Beschta, OSU Professor Emeritus of Forest Engineering, and references
listed below.
Date: Spring 2002 (note below in red added in November 2008)
Water Quantity
There is no long term record of stream discharge in the Oak Creek
Basin. However, there are discontinuous records from the 1970's
when sediment transport studies
were taking place and more recent (2001-2002) efforts to extensively
gage flow throughout the basin.
Records from the 1970's were taken at the sediment
transport facility near the downstream boundary of McDonald-Dunn
Forest. The gage was usually only operated during winter months
when sediment sampling was taking place. However, during the 1980
water year, continuous records were kept (Pete Klingeman gave these
records to Jeff
McDonnell, OSU Professor of Forest Engineering, in 2000). In
1994, two groups of students in Bob
Beschta's Watershed Analysis course (FE530/630), carried out
watershed analyses of the Oak Creek Basin. Refer to the Watershed
Analysis Section of the website for the report abstracts and
reference information. For a section on Basin Hydrology, Civil Engineering
student Valiant Villanueva compiled daily peak flow data from Pete
Klingeman's 1980 records. He then used this record to develop a
correlation between USGS
Gaging Station No. 14171000 on the Mary's River and the Oak
Creek gage. Villanueva's table of Water Year 1980 data for the Mary's
River and Oak Creek sites are available for download as an excel
file (see below ).
In 2001, Arne
Skaugset (OSU Assistant Professor of Forest Engineering) began
a hydrologic study looking at the impact of forest roads. As part
of this project, his group gaged flow at the sediment transport facility from the 1970's and through culverts throughout
the McDonald-Dunn Forest. Data from this project (2001-2006) is available through the Forest Science data bank. The database includes discharge at the sediment transport facility, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, rainfall at four sites around the basin. The data and the meta data are in the Forest Science data bank.
Water Quality
As with discharge, there has never been a comprehensive long term
water quality monitoring program in the Oak Creek Basin. However,
there have been several periodic monitoring efforts. The most complete
record comes from the City of Corvallis
who have measured bacteria and several other parameters once a month
at one station (near Oak Creek's confluence with the Marys River)
since 1988. These records have been reviewed and compiled by many
students including James Cassidy, Crop and Soil Sciences graduate
student, who created a graph of bacteria
data for the web. This graph demonstrates that bacteria is one
of Oak Creek's principal water quality issues. Bacteria levels have
repeatedly been out of compliance with state standards. Over the
years, bacteria contamination has been traced to leaking sewers
and manure spills at the OSU Dairy Center (see excerpts from the
City of Corvallis' annual water quality
reports in the excel file below).
OSU and Corvallis High School classes have also collected water
quality data. This data was collected more sporadically (depending
on when school was in session and classes were taught) but covers
several intervals over the last three decades. Refer to the list
below for more details.
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Datasets and Class Projects
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| 1980 Water Year, discharge
Data author: unknown, (Pete Klingeman and students?), data later
compiled by Valiant
Villanueva for FE530/630
Dates Collected: October 1, 1979-September 30, 1980
Study Location: Oak Creek Sediment Transport facility (watershed
area ~7.0 km2 (2.7 mi2))
Available: Records compiled by Villanueva are available for download
as an excel file. The file also includes discharge data from
the USGS Gaging Station No. 14171000 on the Marys River for the
same interval. Pete Klingeman gave the original Oak Creek hard
copy discharge records to Jeff
McDonnell, OSU Professor of Forest Engineering, in the late
1990's. Data for the Marys River gage near Philomath is available
online from the USGS.
URL for file: http://cwest.orst.edu/oakcreek/data/1980_discharge.xls
Average Total Coliform Counts measured by the FE535
Water Quality Lab, 1975-1993
Data author: Bob
Beschta and students, data later compiled by Rob
Sherer for FE530/630
Study Location: Eleven locations from near the McDonald Forest
gate to Oak Creek's confluence with the Marys River. Refer to
Sherer's sketchmap
for approximate locations.
Dates Collected: Annually in November 1975-1993. Some years are
missing and data was not collected at all sites each year.
Sampling Method: Total coliform determined using various methods
(Filtered and Field Monitored).
Available: Records compiled by Sherer are available for download
as an excel file. Steven
Schoenholtz, assistant professor of Forest Engineering, now
has the hard copy files of data collected by the FE535 class.
URL for file: http://cwest.orst.edu/oakcreek/data/FE535_WQ_data.xls
Map: http://cwest.orst.edu/oakcreek/data/FE535_WQ_locations.pdf
Water Quality data collected the Public Health
class H443/543 (Environmental Sampling and Analysis), 1993-present
Data author: Anna
Harding and students and Caragwen Bracken (OSU Department
of Public Health, 541-337-4069) who began teaching H443/543 in
2002(?), fecal coliform data later compiled by Rob
Sherer for FE530/630.
Parameters: Total Coliform, Fecal Coliform, Alkalinity, Color,
Conductivity, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrate HR, Nitrogen, Ammonia,
pH, Phosphorus, Turbidity, Temp
Study Location: Four to six locations, several near the headwaters
in McDonald Forest and several near the Covered Bridge. Locations
are described in the excel and html files listed below. Rob Sherer
(FE530 student, see Buckley,
1984) created a sketchmap
for locations where data was collected during 1994.
Dates Collected: Annually in the Spring 1973-1997. Data was not
collected at all sites each year.
Sampling Method: unknown
Available: Data through 1997 was compiled by the OSU Stream Team
and is available online or as an excel file (see link below).
Caragwen Bracken (OSU Department of Public Health, 541-337-4069)
has the hard copies of records collected over the years.
URL for html file: http://www.orst.edu/dept/oakcreek/files/table1.html
URL for excel file: http://cwest.orst.edu/oakcreek/data/public_health_classes.xls
(This file contains the same data as the html file but is in a
spreadsheet format. It also includes a table of more detailed
data collected by the H443 class in 1994. This data was compiled
by Rob Sherer in Buckley,
1984.
Map: http://cwest.orst.edu/oakcreek/data/H443_WQ_locations.pdf
(Map locations were sketched by Rob Sherer and apply to data collected
during 1994.)
Water Quality Data collected by the City of Corvallis,
1988-present
Data author: City
of Corvallis, Public Works.
Parameters: E. Coli (1996-present), Fecal Coliform (1988-1991;
1993-1995), Enteroccocus Bacteria (1992), Temperature, pH, DO,
Conductivity, Turbidity, TSS, CBOD5, COD
Study Location: One location at the Hwy 20 bridge.
Dates Collected: Monthly 1988-present.
Sampling Method: Grab samples were taken once a month. Bacteria
sampling changed several times depending on current state standards.
Please see the downloadable
note for a detailed explanation of the City's monitoring objectives
and the changes in bacteria analyses.
Available: The City of Corvallis archives data in tables and
in monthly and annual water quality reports. The reports include
notes on incidents such as manure spills.
Data collected between 1996-2001 is available for download as
an excel file from this website. The file also includes a table
of incidents recorded by the City. Data collected between 1988-1995
was provided by the city, however the file is corrupted and as
of May 2002 could not be opened.
James Cassidy (james.cassidy@orst.edu),
OSU graduate student in Crop and Soil Sciences, compiled the City's
bacteria data for 1988-1999 in graphical
form. Is is available on-line through the
Fisheries and Wildlife Oak Creek Website.
URL for excel file: http://cwest.orst.edu/oakcreek/data/corvallis/Streamdatabase.xls
URL for explanatory note: http://cwest.orst.edu/oakcreek/data/corvallis/Notes_on_Corvallis_City_Data.pdf
Water Quality Data collected by Corvallis High School students
with support by Steve Griffith, USDA-ARS
Author: Corvallis High School students and teachers Steve
Griffith, Research Plant Physiologist at the USDA Agricultural
Resource Service, National Forage and Seed Production Research
Center, Corvallis.
Parameters: Nitrate, Ammonia, Orthophosphate, DOC, DON, some
turbidity, sediment concentration, pH
Study Location: Seven locations along Oak Creek downstream of
Walnut Blvd, one location on the Oak Creek tributary that runs
through Walnut Park.
Dates Collected: Fall and Winter months, October 2000-February
2002.
Sampling Method:
Available: Contact Steve Griffith.
Water Quality Data collected by the Marys River Watershed
Council, 2001-2002
Author: Marys
River Watershed Council, Monitoring Committee, contact Sandra
Coveny, Council Coordinator (MRWC@peak.org)
for more information.
Parameters: Nitrate, Ammonia, Orthophosphate, DOC, DON, some
turbidity, sediment concentration, pH
Study Location: 13-different sites along the Marys River and
a couple on Oak Creek.
Dates Collected: Monthly, 2001-2002?
Sampling Method: unknown
Available: As of June 2002 this data was not available in report
form, contact the Council for more information.
Synoptic Water Quality Sampling, Fall 2001
Data author: Stephen D. Sebestyen, Graduate Student, State University
of New York College of Environmental Science & Forestry (e-mail:
sdsebest@syr.edu) (visited OSU Dept of Forest Engineering, Fall
Quarter, 2001)
Study goal: To determine how water quality constituents vary
with scale in a mesoscale watershed (for more details, e-mail
Steve).
Parameters: fluoride, chloride, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, sodium,
potassium, calcium, magnesium, total sulfer, aluminum, iron, zinc,
manganese, barium, strontium, silica, DOC, TKN, ammonia, nitrite,
total phosphorous.
Study Location: 36 samples taken at different locations in Oak
Creek Watershed.
Dates Collected: 11/27/01
Sampling Method: 1 l grab samples were collected in Nalgene
HDPE acid
washed bottles, samples were filtered through Pall Gelman 0.7
micrometer glass fibre filters in Millipore glass filter holders
within 72 hours of collection, samples were refrigerated prior
to filtering and then frozen until analyzed.
Available: contact Stephen D. Sebestyen (e-mail: sdsebest@syr.edu)
URL for graphic map: Sebestyen.pdf
Physical hydrology and meteorology of the Upper Oak Creek Watershed in Western Oregon, 2001-2006
Data Author: Arne Skaugset, OSU Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management
Study Goal: The overall objective of this study (not presented in this database) was to determine the distribution and magnitude of surface runoff from individual road segments in a forested watershed. A sub-objective was to provide watershed level information in the Upper Oak Creek Watershed of the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest of the College of Forestry at Oregon State University.
Parameters: Data presented includes water discharge, wind speed, solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation.
Study Location: Water Discharge and Stage measurements at the Oak Creek Weir in the McDonald-Dunn Forest. Rainfall binned hourly at four rain gauge locations in watershed.
Dates Collected: Nov 12 2001 - Sep 30 2006
Sampling Method: See metadata for details.
Available: http://andrewsforest.oregonstate.edu/data/abstract.cfm?dbcode=HF022&topnav97
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| Student Theses |
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Bolf, R. B., 1979, Origin, incidence, and survival
of Salmonella in a rural watershed [MS Thesis]: Department of Microbiology,
Oregon State University, 53 p.
Available: OSU Valley Library, LD4330 1980 .B59
Notes: Material from this thesis is summarized in Siedler,
1979.
Lamka, K. G., 1979, Specific indicator organisms
can define the magnitude and origins of non-point pollution in rural
environment [MS Thesis]: Department of Microbiology, Oregon State
University, 82 p.
Available: OSU Valley Library LD4330 1980 .L29
Notes: Material from this thesis is summarized in Siedler,
1979.
Williams, J. C., 1975, Urbanization of upper Oak Creek Basin, Corvallis,
Oregon [MS Paper]: Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University.
Notes: Referenced in water quality section of Augerot
et al, 1994.
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| Reports and Publications |
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Glasmann, J. R., 2000, Stream Turbidity
and Suspended Sediment Mineralogy During the 1998/1999 and 1999/2000
Winter Rainy Seasons, Marys River Watershed: Willamette Geological
Service, WGS090001.
Available: http://www.marys-river-wc.peak.org/projects/index.htm
Pearcy, W.G. (ed.), 1999, Temperature Monitoring and Modeling of
the Marys River Watershed for The Marys River Watershed Council
and The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, OWEB Project # 98-034.
Available: http://www.marys-river-wc.peak.org/projects/index.htm
Abstract: This was a study to better understand the temperature
patterns of the Marys River watershed, how they may affect the
distribution of native cutthroat trout during the summer, and
where opportunities may exist for improvement of stream temperatures.
This report is in two parts. Chapter 1 summarizes the results
of monitoring stream temperatures, and Chapter 2 describes a modeling
study of stream temperatures. Monitoring was based on the placement
of 42 temperature data loggers during the summer of 1998 and 26
during the summer of 1999. Seven day moving averages of maximum
water temperatures for August indicated that most tributaries
had temperatures that were favorable for cutthroat trout. However,
the main channel of the Marys River downstream from the confluence
of the Tumtum and Marys rivers, and the lower portions some tributaries,
had temperatures that often approached or were above 69º
F, temperatures considered unsuitable for cutthroat trout. Segments
of streams were identified where reduced temperatures would provide
major benefits for native trout. The general trend for downstream
warming was similar during both years, with most rapid rate of
warming occurring in headwater tributaries. However, some sites
were consistently warmer or cooler than expected. These deviations
are explained by variations in stream shading, groundwater and
tributary influxes, and stream channel morphology. All these factors
contributed to the natural warming in the lower reaches of the
watershed. Stream temperatures in a section of the Marys River
near Wren were accurately predicted with a temperature model that
used in situ measurements of air temperature and relative humidity
and incorporated factors for hydrology, channel geometry, meteorology,
and riparian shade. The results suggested that increased riparian
shading could effectively improve habitat conditions for rearing
of cutthroat trout in this portion of the Marys River.
Roberts, M. C., and Klingeman, P. C., 1972, The relationship of
drainage net fluctuations and discharge, in International Geography
1972, 22nd Annual Geographical Congress, Canada, p. 189-191.
Notes: P. Klingeman says that this was a study of hillslope hydraulics
looking at ephemeral stream channels during storm events.
Seidler, R. J., 1979, Point and non-point
pollution influencing water quality in a rural housing community:
Oregon Water Resources Research Institute, WRRI-64.
Available: Center
for Water and Environmental Sustainability Library, 210 Strand
Ag Hall, Oregon State University
Abstract: The origin and extent of surface water pollution resulting
from rural population growth was documented. It was found that
total coliforms and fecal bacterial counts in a stream originating
in a protected watershed increased ten-fold as that stream flowed
through a populated valley. Only during the "first flush"
effect of a storm event did the surface waters in the forest exceed
suggested recreational water standards of 200 fecal coliforms
per 100 ml. The only time that these standards were not exceeded
in the downstream portion of the creek was during the winter months
when the steady state flow rate was much higher than in the summer.
Under all weather conditions, numbers of fecal coliforms were
found to correlate very well with numbers of fecal streptococci
and stream turbidity. Only during hte first flush of heavy precipitation
did the relative changes in fecal coliform densities correlate
with stream flow rate.
Distinct differences in the streptococcal biotypes could be demonstrated
between the protected area and the area receiving runoff affected
by man's activity. In the runoff from the nonprotected area, a
large proportion of the biotypes were Streptococcus salivarius
and S. mitis, organisms found in this and other studies to arise
only from human fecal contamination. These two species were isolated
on only one occasion in the limited access forest. The isolation
of S. bovis was indicative of domestic livestock and wildlife
pollution. Enterococci, ubiquitous in distribution, were of no
use in defining the origin of non-point contamination. The fecal
coliform to fecal streptococcus ration, useful interpreting the
origin of point sources of pollution, was nearly always less than
1.0 in the creek, even when the human biotype was prevalent, and
so o f no use in identifying sources of non-point pollution. It
was concluded that the large increase in bacterial counts below
the protected watershed could be attributed to the use of septic
tanks in soils unsuitable for use as drainfields.
Fecal indicator organisms as well as the incidence and origin
of the pathogen Salmonella were determined to be components of
non-point sources of pollution in this watershed. Isolation of
Salmonella only occurred once in the protected part of the watershed,
while downstream th isolation rate by the Moore swab technique
ranged from 75 to 100% at several stations. This increase paralleled
increases in fecal coliform and fecal streptococcus counts. A
sheep herd grazing adjacent to the creek had a carrier rate for
S. arizonae of 38.6%. However, this S. arizonae serotype was only
isolated from Oak Creek on one occasion. S. give was the most
common serotype found in the creek (82.7% of all Salmonella isolates).
Other isolates included S. bareilly and three serotypes of S.
arizonae. Salmonella MPNs below the community ranted from <0.3
to 14 Salmonella/liter. To ascertain the degree of persistence
of these salmonellae in Oak Creek, survival experiments were done.
These pathogens survived longer in this environment than fecal
coliforms. The survival time of Salmonella was inversely related
to temperature. It was concluded that the bacterial quality of
this watershed was significantly affected by non-point runoff
from the rural community as measured by both indicator organisms
and Salmonella. Grazing livestock in the area contributed negligible
numbers of Salmonella to surface water in this study basin.
Notes: This report is largely based on Microbiology theses written
by Bolf, 1979 and Lamka,
1979.
Thruston, A. D., Jr., 1970, A fluorometric method for the determination
of lignin sulfonates in natural waters: Journal - Water Pollution
Control Federation, v. 42, no. 8, p. 1551-1555.
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