Channel bed steps and pool shapes along Soda Creek, Three Sisters Wilderness, Oregon

Field study of bedrock step–pool systems along the upper reaches of Soda Creek in the Three Sisters Wilderness of Oregon shows strong correlation between several form variables (shape) and channel slope. Although step height and step length showed no regular spacing and variable correlation with channel slope, length to height ratios demonstrated strong negative correlations: steep slopes (20% to 80%) featured greater step height and shorter pool lengths than did flatter channel slopes. Correlations between step height to length ratios and channel slope varied between three lithologies. Explained variations ranged from 0.984 for the oldest channel steps developed in basalt, to 0.982 for steps of intermediate age developed in andesite, to 0.964 for the youngest steps developed in dacite. Sample size was 57, 40, and 33, respectively. The frequency of pool shape classes did not vary by lithology, but specific shape classes developed under differing slope conditions by rock type. All pool classes have adjusted (developed) their form to maximize resistance to flow H/L/S, and they have done so in remarkably uniform fashion.     

FARMWORKER HOUSING AND SPACES OF BELONGING IN WOODBURN,OREGON*

ABSTRACT. This article traces the history of efforts to build subsidized farmworker housing in Woodburn, Oregon, during the early 1990s. Although the northern Willamette Valley has been dependent on Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers since the 1940s, until the 1980s most of those workers had been migratory and lived in labor camps. Political economic transformations shifted these dynamics, causing an increasing number of farmworkers to settle permanently in towns such as Woodburn. Rising housing costs, in combination with skyrocketing demand for low‐income housing, led to a housing crisis in the late 1980s. The Farmworker Housing Development Corporation, established in 1991, successfully built two housing projects in Woodburn despite fierce resistance from city leaders and many longtime residents. These housing projects not only provided safe and affordable housing for farmworkers but also claimed a space of belonging for a group profoundly marginalized in terms of economics, race, and legal status in Oregon and throughout the United States.     

Record of the younger part of the Pringle Falls excursion at Long Valley, California

The younger of two closely spaced palaeomagnetic excursions at Pringle Falls, Oregon, is recorded in lacustrine silts that crop out in Long Valley, California. Assigned an age of about 220 000 years, the virtual geomagnetic poles of the younger excursion form a clockwise loop that reached 35 °S latitude east of South America before returning to the northern hemisphere in the Pacific Ocean west of Central America. The poles then form a narrow band across North America while moving to high northern latitudes. This record matches extremely well feature B of the original excursion record from Pringle Falls reported by Herrero-Bervera et al. (1994) and is similar to this excursion at Summer Lake, Oregon ( Negrini et al. 1994 ), in that the pole path is confined primarily to the east–central Pacific Ocean. On the basis of an assumed sedimentation rate of 30  cm per thousand years, the younger excursion (feature B at Pringle Falls) spans an estimated 1200 years and followed by about 1000 years a larger excursion (feature A at Pringle Falls) previously discovered at the same Long Valley site. At a second Long Valley site 30  m away, the younger excursion (feature B) is only partially recorded because of a presumed small hiatus in the sedimentary section.     

Geomorphology,hydrology, and aquatic vegetation drive seasonal hyporheic flow patterns across a gravel‐dominated floodplain

Across 1·7 km² of the Umatilla River floodplain (Oregon, USA), we investigated the influences of an ephemeral tributary and perennial ‘spring channel’ (fed only by upwelling groundwater) on hyporheic hydrology. We derived maps of winter and summer water‐table elevations from data collected at 46 monitoring wells and 19 stage gauges and used resulting maps to infer groundwater flow direction. Groundwater flow direction varied seasonally across the floodplain and was influenced by main channel stage, flooding, the tributary creek, and the location and direction of hyporheic exchange in the spring channel. Hyporheic exchange in the spring channel was evaluated with a geochemical mixing model, which confirmed patterns of floodplain groundwater movement inferred from water‐table maps and showed that the spring channel was fed predominantly by hyporheic water from the floodplain aquifer (87% during winter, 80% during summer), with its remaining flow supplied by upslope groundwater from the adjacent catchment aquifer. Summertime growth of aquatic macrophytes in the spring channel also influenced patterns of hyporheic exchange and groundwater flow direction in the alluvial aquifer by increasing flow resistance in the spring channel, locally raising surface water stage and adjacent water‐table elevation, and thereby altering the slope of the water‐table in the hyporheic zone. The Umatilla River floodplain is larger than most sites where hyporheic hydrology has been investigated in detail. Yet, our results corroborate other research that has identified off‐channel geomorphic features as important drivers of hyporheic hydrology, including previously published modeling efforts from a similar river and field observations from smaller streams. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrogeologic controls on streamflow sensitivity to climate variation

Climate models project warmer temperatures for the north‐west USA, which will result in reduced snowpacks and decreased summer streamflow. This paper examines how groundwater, snowmelt, and regional climate patterns control discharge at multiple time scales, using historical records from two watersheds with contrasting geological properties and drainage efficiencies. In the groundwater‐dominated watershed, aquifer storage and the associated slow summer recession are responsible for sustaining discharge even when the seasonal or annual water balance is negative, while in the runoff‐dominated watershed subsurface storage is exhausted every summer. There is a significant 1 year cross‐correlation between precipitation and discharge in the groundwater‐dominated watershed (r = 0·52), but climatic factors override geology in controlling the inter‐annual variability of streamflow. Warmer winters and earlier snowmelt over the past 60 years have shifted the hydrograph, resulting in summer recessions lasting 17 days longer, August discharges declining 15%, and autumn minimum discharges declining 11%. The slow recession of groundwater‐dominated streams makes them more sensitive than runoff‐dominated streams to changes in snowmelt amount and timing. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dissolved silicon in the Yaquina Estuary,Oregon

The longitudinal distribution of dissolved silicon in the Yaquina Estuary is described in surface and bottom waters. Non-conservative behaviour is a function of high insolation and low runoff; residence time is the primary controlling factor.     

Comparative streamflow characteristics in urbanizing basins in the Portland Metropolitan Area,Oregon, USA

This study investigates changes in streamflow characteristics for urbanizing watersheds in the Portland Metropolitan Area of Oregon for the period from 1951 to 2000. The objective of this study was to assess how mean annual runoff ratio, mean seasonal runoff ratio, annual peak runoff ratio, changes in streamflow in response to storm amount, the fraction of time that the daily mean flow exceeds the annual mean flow, 3‐day recession constants, and dry/wet flow ratio vary among watersheds with different degrees of urban development. There were no statistically significant changes in annual runoff ratio and annual peak runoff ratio for the mixed land‐use watershed (Tualatin River watershed) and the urban watershed (Johnson Creek watershed) during the entire study period. The Tualatin River watershed, where most of the urban development occurred in a lower part of the watershed, showed a statistically significant increase in annual peak runoff ratio during the 1976 and 2000 period. The Upper Tualatin River watershed illustrated a significant decrease in annual peak runoff ratio for the entire study period. With significant differences in seasonal runoff ratio, only Johnson Creek exhibited a significant increase in both wet and dry season runoff ratios. Streamflow during storm events declined rapidly in the urban watershed, with a high 3‐day recession constant. At an event storm scale, streamflow in Fanno Creek, which is the most urbanized watershed, responded quickly to precipitation input. The fraction of time that the daily mean flow exceeded the annual mean flow and dry/wet flow ratio are all lower in Johnson Creek. This suggests a shorter duration of storm runoff and lower baseflow in the urbanized watershed when compared to the mixed land use watershed. The findings of this study demonstrate the importance of spatial and temporal scale, climate variability, and basin physiographic characteristics in detecting the hydrologic effects of urbanization in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.