Oregon State University researchers, in collaboration with scientists from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), are examining the response of two river systems in northeastern Oregon, the Umatilla and Walla Walla, to surface water diversion. While many research projects have examined the impact of large hydroelectric dams on river systems, very few have addressed the impact of small dams that draw off river water for irrigated agriculture and municipal water supplies. This is true despite the fact that small dams are many times more numerous than large dams. This OSU/CTUIR project involves looking at what actually happens to the fish and invertebrates, including insects living in the riparian area adjacent to the river, along a series of small dams that draw surface water for irrigation. In September 2005, David Wooster and Sandra DeBano, riparian entomologists at OSU’s Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, and Jesse Schwartz, a fisheries biologist with the CTUIR, were awarded a 3-year, $465,000 USDA-NIFA 406 grant to lead this research. 406 grants support important, high-priority research in the biological, environmental, physical, and social sciences that is relevant to agriculture, food, and the environment. In regions of the west with limited water supplies and a high level of agriculture, allocation of water for irrigated agriculture is important to the local economy. However, there’s also a lot of interest in trying to leave more water in rivers for salmon and steelhead. There is actually very little science about the relationship between water withdrawals and the impacts on fish and invertebrates. The team of researchers hopes to be able to aid water managers in assessing irrigation strategies by providing them with useful, accurate information about the effects of diversions on river dependent organisms.

Pacific Northwest Regional Water Quality Coordination Project Partners Land Grant Universities Alaska Cooperative Extension Service Contact Fred Sorensen: 907-786-6311 http://www.uaf.edu/ces/water/ University Publications: http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/ces/publications/ Idaho University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System Contact Bob Mahler: 208-885-7025 http://www.uidaho.edu/wq/wqhome.html University Publications: http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Catalog/catalog.html Oregon Oregon State University Extension Service Contact Mike Gamroth: 541-737-3316 http://extension.oregonstate.edu/ University Publications: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/ Washington Washington State University WSU Extension Contact Bob Simmons: 360-427-9670 ext. 690 http://wawater.wsu.edu// University Publications: http://pubs.wsu.edu/ Northwest Indian College Contact Charlotte Clausing: 360-392-4319 cclausing@nwic.edu or http://www.nwic.edu/ Water Resource Research Institutes Water and Environmental Research Center (Alaska) http://www.uaf.edu/water/ Idaho Water Resources Research Institute http://www.boise.uidaho.edu/ Institute for Water and Watersheds (Oregon) http://water.oregonstate.edu/ State of Washington Water Research Center http://www.swwrc.wsu.edu/ Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Region 10 The Pacific Northwest http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/ Office of Research and Development, Corvallis Laboratory http://www.epa.gov/wed/ For more information contact Jan Seago at 206-553-0038 or seago.jan@epa.gov
	The Project Land Grant Universities, Water Research Institutes and EPA Region 10 have formed a partnership to provide research and education to communities about protecting or restoring the quality of water resources. This partnership is being supported in part by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Our Goal and Approach The goal of this Project is to provide leadership for water resources research, education and outreach to help people, industry and governments to prevent and solve current and emerging water quality and quantity problems. The approach to achieving this goal is for the Partners to develop a coordinated regional water quality effort based on, and strengthening, individual state programs. Our Strengths The Project promotes regional collaboration by acknowledging existing programs and successful efforts; assessing program gaps; identifying potential issues for cross-agency and private sector collaboration; and developing a clearinghouse of expertise and programs. In addition, the Project establishes or enhances partnerships with federal, state and local environmental and water resource management agencies, such as by placing a University Liaison within the offices of EPA Region 10.
	The research team will determine whether the effect of water withdrawal is consistent with a proportional model, where the response of the ecosystem is proportional to the amount of water withdrawn, or a threshold response model, where there is little response below the threshold, but a large response above the threshold. Responses to diversion may take different forms: there could be a change in the abundance of what is there (lower numbers of individuals), a change in composition (different types of individuals), a combination of these responses, or something totally unexpected. For more information on this project contact David Wooster at 541-567-6337 or david.wooster@oregonstate.edu.
	National Water Quality Program Areas The four land grant universities in the Pacific Northwest have aligned our water resource extension and research efforts with eight themes of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Animal Waste Management Drinking Water and Human Health Environmental Restoration Nutrient and Pesticide Management Pollution Assessment and Prevention Watershed Management Water Conservation and Agricultural Water Management Water Policy and Economics
	This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No 2008-51130-4734.

Download the informational PDF flyer here

HOME | About | Calendar | Contacts | Links | PNW Water Updates | Sitemap NIFA National Water Quality Program This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2008-51130-04734. all external sites will open in a new browser window page last modified on September 8, 2006