This study was designed to provide a physical and ecological analysis of paired watersheds in the semi-arid western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) woodlands of Central Oregon. Instrumentation and monitoring was accomplished in Jensen and Mays watersheds as the preliminary portion of a longer term project. Instrumentation was designed to address changes in the erosional processes, hydrology, and vegetation on a watershed scale. Instrumentation was setup to assist in the comparison and calibration of water flow out of the watersheds. This information will be used in the long-term study in conjunction with the treatment of the western juniper overstory on one of the watersheds. Determination of the study area in each watershed required extensive reconnaissance with the assistance of aerial photos, topographic maps, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Mapping of the study areas was accomplished with GIS and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Watersheds were paired according to specific characteristics that influence treatment effects. Flume types were chosen with respect to precipitation intensity and frequency with placement being more a function of watershed topography and channel morphology. Upland sedimentation and erosion measurement required intense acknowledgement of both abiotic as well as biotic characteristics. Analysis showed the watersheds to be similar in size, percent juniper, grass and bare soil cover, topography, and precipitation frequency and intensity. Differences were obtained relative to erosional processes, area of different soil types and channel discharge. Further monitoring and calibration should provide greater insight into the comparison of these components of the study. / Graduation date: 1996

xii, 78 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Watershed councils in Oregon have been created and developed for collaborative watershed management since the 1990s. Although a lot of research has been conducted to examine the conceptual framework and practical experience of watershed councils, there have been fewer investigations of the outreach and education strategies used by watershed councils. The goal of this study is to identify the range of outreach strategies that have been used by watershed collaboratives and discuss how these strategies relate with councils focused at the organizational level compared to those focused at the action level. OWEB grant applications provide the major source of data for examining a sample of eighteen among more than ninety watershed councils in Oregon. The study results reveal that watershed councils' outreach strategies include direct involvement and public outreach. The planning of outreach is incorporated into mission statements, organizational governance, board member representatives and recruitment, decision-making processes, meetings, community events, watershed events, invitation and tracking, and outcome measures. Action and organizational groups use similar public outreach approaches but adopt different direct involvement strategies. Action councils rely more on direct involvement from participants in the community, while organizational councils are more likely to use partnerships to achieve their involvement goals. Three themes emerged from this research. Organizational councils need to create "in-group" awareness and connectivity to their watershed communities since these councils lack a sense of place-based identification. Social networks are important for action councils' outreach and education, but organizational groups depend more on interorganizational networks. Lastly, multiple levels of public participation are realized in the implementation of outreach strategies by watershed councils in Oregon. / Committee in charge: Dr. Richard D. Margerum, Chair; Dr. Patricia F. McDowell

The growing demand for water in the arid regions of the West increases the need for optimal allocation of water among competing uses. An efficient allocation of water between instream and out-of-stream uses has been impeded by institutional constraints and the scarcity of information regarding instream flow benefits. The objectives of this thesis were to provide preliminary economic data on the value of instream water in "producing" recreational fishing and to examine the effect of forestry, agriculture, and livestock practices on temporal streamflow patterns and anadromous fish production. The steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) sport fishery within the John Day River basin in north-central Oregon provided the setting for this research. The interdisciplinary methodology employed in estimating the marginal value of water with respect to steelhead production consisted of two tasks. The first task involved valuing a marginal change in the quality of the steelhead recreational fishery. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was selected for this purpose. Both open- and closed-ended willingness-to-pay (WTP) questions were included in a questionnaire administered to John Day River steelhead anglers during the 1986/87 steelhead fishing season. Survey data were analyzed to arrive at individual and aggregate bid functions relating WTP to expected angling success rates. Results indicate that, under current conditions, the average angler is willing to pay approximately $7.20 to catch an additional steelhead. The second task of the instream water valuation methodology was directed at deriving a streamflow/steelhead production relationship. By including variables influencing steelhead production in a Ricker stock-recruitment model, it was possible to develop a model which could be estimated using linear regression techniques. Some difficulty arose, however, with interpretation of the model due to the unavailability of cohort escapement data and the subsequent use of standing crop data. While possibly masking the true magnitude of streamflow's effect on fish production, this drawback was not deemed limiting within the general context of the interdisciplinary methodology. Results of the biological model conformed to a priori expectations. Increases in summer and winter streamflows led to increased steelhead survival, whereas higher spring flows increased mortality levels. Other results indicate that the John Day Dam was responsible for a 31.5 percent decline in the population index for the 1969-1983 period. Combining the economic and biological results into one equation yielded an estimate of the marginal value of summer instream water in "producing" recreational steelhead angling. Similar equations were developed for winter and spring flows. The marginal value of water in producing recreational steelhead fishing within the John Day basin was estimated at $0.56 per acre-foot for summer flows, $0.046 for winter flows, and -$0.075 for spring flows. By including out-of-basin benefits, these values increased to $2.26, $0.19, and -$0.30, respectively. In comparison, water's value in irrigation within the John Day basin has been estimated at between $10 to $24 per acre-foot. However, nonuse values of steelhead, as well as the increased production of other fish species (such as spring chinook salmon) were not included in the instream water values. In addition, no attempt was made at valuing instream water's contribution to boating, camping, or other benefit-producing activities. A secondary objective of this thesis was to briefly examine the possible benefits accruing to other instream and out-of-stream users due to an alteration in streamflow patterns. In addition, the impact of activities by other resource users -- namely forestry, agriculture, and livestock production --on anadromous fish production was reviewed. Improper management practices by these activities can negatively impact the aquatic and riparian ecosystems. While no firm conclusions were drawn, it appears the quality of these ecosystems, as opposed to the amount of streamflow, has the largest marginal impact on anadromous fish populations. / Graduation date: 1988

The purpose of the study was to explore a needs assessment method for suggesting target-based training interventions for managing conflict between the resource user/interest groups in Oregon's riparian zones. An instrument was developed and then validated by an expert panel. The questionnaire addressed three potential conflict management factors: multiple-use orientation, abundance philosophy, and conflict management styles. The instrument was distributed to members of the Oregon Water Improvement Coalition (OWIC) and to samples of its members' constituencies. Responses from the environmental, business, and professional groups were then compared to the OWIC responses as well as to each other's. Usable information was provided by 95% of the subjects (n=19) from OWIC and 55% of the subjects (n=158) from the constituencies. The OWIC and environmental group members were relatively less multiple resource use oriented than business and professional groups. The OWIC group was relatively more abundance philosophy oriented than professional and business groups. The professional and business groups in turn were significantly different than the environmentalist members. Both OWIC and professional groups were relatively more solution oriented than business and environmentalist under the riparian zones' resource use conflict situation. The instrument appeared to be sufficiently reliable and valid for its purpose. Future research should employ an interdisciplinary approach for improving the instrument by adding questions on facilitating communication between and among the interest groups. The utility of gathering information on the nonconfrontation and control conflict management styles and philosophy of land management factors deserves further study. / Graduation date: 1994

This study investigates the relationship between channel complexity and nutrient spiraling along 31 reaches of an urbanized watershed in Portland, Oregon. Much research shows that urbanization has an effect on watershed hydrology and nutrient loading at the watershed scale for various sized catchments. However, the flux of nutrients over short reaches within a stream channel has been less studied because of the effort and costs associated with fieldwork and subsequent laboratory analysis of the surface water samples. In this study I measure channel complexity and uptake velocity of nitrate to determine if this relationship is indicative of a healthy, functioning stream. I take field measurements and samples to determine the complexity and uptake velocity of each reach. Using ion-selective electrodes, the fluxes of nitrate were measured within each reach; when combined with channel geometry and velocity measurements these measurements allow for the transformation of nitrate fluxes into spiraling metrics. Results show that 18 of the 31 reaches had uptake velocity. Discharge and sinuosity were positively correlated with nitrate uptake velocity. Complexity and nitrate concentration were negatively correlated with nitrate uptake velocity. Grass landcover was positively correlated with nitrate uptake velocity and negatively correlated with nitrate concentration. These results indicate that land use and channel complexity both are related to the in-stream processing of nitrate. The implication of this study is that channel complexity is an important driver of nutrient flux in an urban watershed, and that this technique can be applied in future studies to better characterize water quality of stream channels over short reaches to entire catchments.

A geographical information system (GIS) was used to develop a regression model designed to predict flood magnitudes in the Sandy and Clackamas river basins in Oregon. Manual methods of data assembly, input, storage, manipulation and analysis traditionally used to estimate basin characteristics were replaced with automated techniques using GIS-based computer hardware and software components. Separate GIS data layers representing (1) stream gage locations, (2) drainage basin boundaries, (3) hydrography, (4) water bodies, (5) precipitation, (6) landuse/land cover, (7) elevation and (8) soils were created and stored in a GIS data base. Several GIS computer programs were written to automate the spatial analysis process needed in the estimation of basin characteristic values using the various GIS data layers. Twelve basin characteristic data parameters were computed and used as independent variables in the regression model. Streamflow data from 19 gaged sites in the Sandy and Clackamas basins were used in a log Pearson Type III analysis to define flood magnitudes at 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50- and 100-year recurrence intervals. Flood magnitudes were used as dependent variables and regressed against different sets of basin characteristics (independent variables) to determine the most significant independent variables used to explain peak discharge. Drainage area, average annual precipitation and percent area above 5000 feet proved to be the most significant explanatory variables for defining peak discharge characteristics in the Sandy and Clackamas river basins. The study demonstrated that a GIS can be successfully applied in the development of basin characteristics for a flood frequency analysis and can achieve the same level of accuracy as manual methods. Use of GIS technology reduced the time and cost associated with manual methods and allowed for more in-depth development and calibration of the regression model. With the development of GIS data layers and the use of GIS-based computer programs to automate the calculation of explanatory variables, regression equations can be developed and applied more quickly and easily. GIS proved to be ideally suited for flood frequency modeling applications by providing advanced computerized techniques for spatial analysis and data base management.

I hypothesized that vegetation and physical environmental characteristics would differ between the upper and lower extents of the annually flooded riparian zone on the John Day River, and that relationships between species and environmental variables would display differences between these two zones. Vegetation, environmental variables, and relationships between them were assessed for the entire annually flooded riparian zone, and for the proposed upper and lower zones. Data were collected from 60 one-square-meter quadrats: 30 in each the upper and lower zones. Sites were randomly selected and located so that flood duration was roughly equal at all sites within each zone. 34 plant species were encountered: 25 in the upper zone, 27 in the lower zone. Wetland obligate and facultative wetland species groups and eight individual species accounted for statistically different percentages ofquadrat cover between zones. ANOSIM analysis identified two statistically distinct vegetation communities between the two zones. Soil texture averaged 75.85% sand and 20.81% fines. Sand ranged between 36.69% and 95.55%. Fines ranged between 2.54% and 58.84%. A horizon depths and fine soil particle concentrations were greater in the upper zone. Coarser soils with more sand and gravel dominated the lower zone. All enviromnental variables studied, except pH, were highly variable throughout the study area. ANOSIM analysis results suggest that the upper and lower zones have distinct, statistically different physical environments from each other. Regression analyses relating species quadrat cover to physical environmental variables were performed for the total, upper, and lower riparian zones. Numerous differences were identified between the upper and lower riparian zones that the riparian scale analyses did not represent accurately. There were ten instances in which the zone scale analyses identified a relationship in either the upper or lower zone, while the corresponding riparian scale analysis failed to identify any relationship. The results of this study indicate that vegetation and the physical environment are statistically different between the upper and lower zones on this river, and that relationships between a given plant species and environmental variable can vary between zones. Future research and management efforts should consider and address the potential for such between-zone variation.

This study investigates the hydrologic effects of urbanization in two Portland, Oregon streams through a comparison of three hydrologic metrics. Hydrologic metrics used in this study are the mean annual runoff ratio (Qa), mean seasonal runoff ratio (Qw and Qd), and the fraction of time that streamflow exceeds the mean streamflow during the year (TQmean). Additionally, the relative change in streamflow in response to storm events was examined for two watersheds. For this investigation urban development is represented by two urbanization metrics: percent impervious and road density. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to evaluate the relationship between the hydrologic metrics and the amount of urban development in each watershed. The effect of watershed size was also investigated using nested watersheds, with watershed size ranging from 6 km2 to 138km 2. The results indicate that annual and seasonal runoff ratios have difficulty capturing the dynamic hydrologic behavior in urban watersheds. TQmean was useful at capturing the flashy behavior of the Upper Fanno watershed, however it did not perform as well in Kelley watershed possibly due to the influence of impermeable soils and steep slopes. Unexpected values for hydrologic metrics in Lower Johnson, Sycamore and Kelley watersheds could be the result water collection systems that appear to route surface water outside of their watersheds as well as permeable soils. Storm event analysis was effective at characterizing the behavior for the selected watersheds, indicating that shorter time scales may best capture the dynamic behavior of urban watersheds.