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Erika Allen Wolters
Annotated Bibliography for GEO 565
Winter 2010
Water Quality and Quantity in Oregon and GIS
Overview
Oregon is perceived as a water rich state; however, as the 2001 Klamath Basin crisis
demonstrated, Oregon is not immune to water conflict. Due to its seasonal fluctuations in
water availability and geographical variation, Oregon can be considered a water scarce
state, with the majority of surface water already fully, or in some places, over allocated
during summer months. Climate change, population growth in the Pacific Northwest,
and increased demand for water are compromising water quantity and water quality for
all water users, as well as limiting resources available for state fish and wildlife needs.
My research will focus on water quality and quantity issues in Oregon as it relates to
ecological health, but also the social dimensions of changing water habits. Further, in
order to reduce future conflict over water, an assessment of possible water quantity and
quality adaptation methods is necessary. This bibliography is a broad glimpse into
research related to water quality, quantity and conflict using GIS (and other GIScience
methods) as another research tool to employ.
Bibliography
Berger, P.A. and Bolte, J.P. (2004). Evaluating the impact of policy options on
agricultural landscapes: an alternative-futures analysis. Ecological Applications,
14(2), 342-354.
In this paper, the authors’ applied spatial representations of three scenarios depicting
future land use in the Willamette River Basin. Specifically, they developed three
alternative future scenarios of growth patterns and allotted land use for agricultural land.
The three scenarios (status quo or current policy, market driven, and conservation
oriented) provided attributes that then created a spatially explicit decision-making model.
The authors’ found that by maintaining current land use standards, nearly all the farmland
would be conserved for future use. However, both the market-driven and conservation
objectives modified agricultural land use by 15%. While conservation objectives
modified agricultural land for restoration purposes (primarily), market-driven goals
tended to convert more agricultural land to development.
This study demonstrates how spatial analysis can be employed to visually aid decisions
regarding land use. Agricultural land use has a direct effect on water quality and
quantity, so future spatial analysis on conservation should include an attribute on water
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use and point-source pollution factors. Most importantly, this is a powerful tool to
graphically represent how policy choices affect land and water use.
Franczyk, J., and Chang, H. (2009). Spatial analysis of water use in Oregon, USA,
1985-2005. Water Resource Management, 23, 755-774.
This paper explores spatial trends in water use, as well as corresponding biophysical and
socioeconomic factors in order to determine if water use patterns show spatial trends.
The authors’ use various methods such as GeoDa (for spatial analysis) as well as Global
Moran’s Index and Local Indicator of Spatial Autorcorrelation Index (LISA) to determine
spatial autocorrelation among counties. Basically, the study seeks to determine whether
spatial analysis will present a cluster pattern result, since nearer things are more related
generally. This is important for several reasons, but especially to understand the
relationship of water use, economy and environment. The study looks at all 36 counties
in Oregon between 1985-2005.
The study finds that water resource planning should utilize spatial relationships, since a
geographic based management system could act as a guideline for water distribution (or
redistribution) in light of climate change and population growth. This study is very
helpful in my research as it gets into more detail about water use and demand in Oregon.
Further, the connection of relationships between counties, geography, and socioeconomic factors help illustrate the dimensions of water policy.
Hulse, D.W., Branscomb, A., and Payne, S.G. (2004). Envisioning alternatives: using
citizen guidance to map future land and water use. Ecological Applications,
14(2), 325-341.
In a study similar to Berger & Bolte (2004), this paper illustrated how GIS can create
spatially explicit landscape models that provide analysis to incorporate both landscape
processes and human values. By modeling three different scenarios, and providing ample
time for stakeholders to fully articulate and understand the attributes of each model (over
a year) the authors’ found that it is possible to tangibly express how policy choices will
impact regional ecosystems. The concept of spatially explicit landscape models is to
provide a way in which stakeholders can essentially map what their future landscapes
might look like under various scenarios, and thus allowing them to become primary
decision makers for the regions that they feel most connect to (sense of place). GIS
provides a decision-making tool that takes something intangible (ideas of what the future
landscape will look like) and creates something concrete (an explicit representation of
how decisions will shape future landscape scenarios).
Kuby, M.J., Fagan, W.F., ReVelle, C.S., and Graf, W.L. (2005). A multiobjective
optimization model for dam removal: an example trading off salmon passage with
hydropower and water storage in the Willamette Basin. Advances in Water
Resources, 28, pp. 845-855.
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In this study, the authors’ utilize a multiobjective optimization model for dam removal as
it relates to economic and ecological trade-offs. The authors’ have two objectives, first to
explore improving salmon migration and spawing by dam removal and second, to
minimize economic loss of dam removal to hydropower and storage capacity. The study
explains the gap in research citing the GIS and cartographic methods are employed
primarily for dam site locations. Using this data, as well as additional attribute data
obtained from such sources as the Oregon Water Resources Department, the authors’ try
to fill in the data gap and apply this knowledge to dam removal. Ultimately, this type of
research can benefit the decision-making process for dam removal.
The study suggests that GIS and cartography (as well as other methods) could be
integrated with multiobjective analysis to generate useful basin wide analysis on dam
removal. The study states that more work is needed in this field before making policy
decisions. But that preliminary results show that removing twelve dams on the
Willamette can reconnect 52% of the basin while minimizing impact to hydropower and
water-storage suggesting that this type of analysis could be quite useful in determining
how to meet water needs for fish and wildlife as well as human populations in Oregon.
Lant, C.L., Kraft, S.E., Beaulieu, J., Bennett, D., Loftus, T., and Nicklow, J. (2005).
Using GIS-Based ecological-economic modeling to evaluate policies affecting
agricultural Watersheds. Ecological Economics, 55, 467-484.
This study focuses on studying agricultural watersheds as adaptive ecosystems that
provide a multitude of ecosystem services where ecosystem safeguards can exist in
addition to the economic benefits (agricultural crops) that watersheds provide. Using a
spatial decision support system (SDSS) to model ecosystem service production in
addition to understanding policy implications of this framework is the goal of this paper.
Specifically, regarding soil conservation and water quality, economic incentives, like the
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), maintains economic objectives of agricultural
interests while simultaneously improving soil conservation and water quality in
agricultural watersheds. With agricultural production heavily subsidized, the need to
increase crop yield is ever present, yet the return on increased yields is minimal.
Agricultural interests that are employing more conservation programs (improving water
quality, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, reduced erosion and sedimentation, etc.)
show that they incur little financial impacts, yet can make significant impacts on
ecosystem health.
This article helps understand how larger spatial models (especially watershed models)
can help clarify and illuminate both ecological and economic (ecosystem services) needs.
More research in this area can assist policy makers as well as vested stakeholders “see”
as well as conceptualize how individual and collective actions can achieve shared visions.
Lunetta, R.S., Cosentino, B.L., Montgomery, D.R., Beamer, E.M., and Beechie, T.J.
(2003). Watershed-Based Evaluation of Salmon Habitat. In J.G. Lyon (Ed.), GIS
for Water Resources and Watershed Management (pp. 159-178). New York:
Taylor and Francis.
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This chapter examined salmon habitat in Washington State using GIS to identify habitat
preferences of salmon. Habitat selection is a result of “habitat forming processes”,
identified as: channel slope, abundance of large woody debris, and channel morphology.
The authors hypothesized that, through the use of GIS and remote sensing salmonid
habitat preferences could be identified and then used to help regional planners prioritize
salmon habitat restoration. The authors’ found that using GIS and remote sensing can be
used to determine landscape attributes most condusive to salmon habitat (specifically
areas with large woody debris, so condition of riparian areas and slope can improve or
detract from habitable areas).
The results of this study could be expanded to other areas in the Pacific Northwest, like
Oregon, to help identify and prioritize salmon habitat and hopefully help stave off the
decline of wild salmon stocks. In addition, as Oregon faces more water quality and
quantity challenges, incorporating flow and pollution into habitat factors may be more
reflective of future habitat needs.
Oad, R. and Kullman, R. (2006). Managing irrigation for better river ecosystems-a case
study of the Middle Rio Grande. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage
Engineering, 132(6), 579-586.
This study explores how utilizing an irrigation technique called rotational water delivery
(RWD) could be more efficient than continual water delivery for the purposes of both
efficiently irrigating crops, and enabling more water to remain in the water system for
fish and wildlife. By mapping the Middle Rio Grande and simulating when, how long,
and how often to irrigate (and by what technique), the authors’ find that significant
amounts of water can be conserved by employing the RWD approach. Research
recommendations to irrigators led to a reduction of over 30% of water diversions in the
Middle Rio Grande and therefore left more water for fish and wildlife needs. This study
showed how using GIS and other forms of decisions support systems can illustrate how to
meet both needs of irrigators and fish and wildlife. This is an important study for my
research since Oregon agriculture uses roughly 80% of water in the state and
conservation of that water could have a beneficial impact for the states fish and wildlife
needs.
Tague, C., Grant, G., Farrell, M., Choate, J., and Jefferson, A. (2008). Deep
groundwater mediates streamflow response to climate warming in the Oregon
Cascades. Climate Change, 86, 189-210.
This article examined whether a broad-scale geologic framework can help to determine
summer streamflows. Specifically, the authors’ looked at two watersheds, one defined by
groundwater, the other by shallow subsurface flows. Since these two watersheds have
different flow regimes, the authors’ speculate that they may have different “sensitivities”
to summer streamflows as a result of climate change. This model-based study applied a
range of spatial models, like RHESSys, and also derived information from empirical
analysis. The results of this study found conflicting results. Primarily, while differences
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in drainage systems (shallow subsurface or deep groundwater) does indeed affect
drainage efficiency, the study found that deep groundwater drainages can both increase
runoff and also mitigate the effects of summer streamflow as a result of increased
summer temperatures.
The results of this study are significant for basin-wide water quantity planning.
Depending on the geologic framework, summer streamflow will have a different effect,
and thus lends more credence for the move toward basin-wide planning consideration.
This study did not look at change in rainfall, which would be an interesting factor to
weigh into this research, or future research projects.
Vicuna, S. and Dracup, J.A. (2007). The evolution of climate change impact studies on
hydrology and water resources in California. Climatic Change, 82, 327-350.
This study is an analysis of some 60 studies conducted since 1983 on climate change
impacts on hydrology in California. There were three broad categories that the studies fit
into: historical streamflow and snowpack trends, future predictions of climate change on
streamflow and snowpack, and use of predictions to assess economic, ecological, or
institutional impacts. Within their analysis are the results of several analytical tools like
spatial analysis, global climate models (GCM), GIS and so forth.
As other studies have shown, climate change is affecting earlier spring runoffs, yet what
this means for California specifically is the focus of many of the studies reviewed. The
authors’ come to a couple of key suggestions as a result of this literature review. First,
there is a need for more enhanced spatial and temporal models. Second, there is a gap in
research on the impacts of climate change on California water systems. Both of these
research endeavors would aid decision makers to form policies adaptive to coming
climate change. Further, this research illustrates what is also needed in Oregon for policy
makers to work on the effects of climate change and water.
Wolf, A.T., Yoffe, S.B., and Giordano, M. (2003). International waters: identifying
basins at risk. Water Policy, 5, 29-60.
This study is an ambitious effort to compile interactions (conflictive or cooperative)
involving water over the time period of 1948-1999 in water basins throughout the world.
The study accomplished three objectives. First, the study compiled 100 layers of GIS
data on topography, socio-economic, and geopolitical interactions. Second, this data
provided both a glimpse into historical interactions that were water driven, and offers an
assessment of future water conflict. Finally, understanding how future conditions can
help mitigate conflict (like new technologies).
Although there is often talk of “water wars” the study shows that, in fact, there has never
been a war strictly over water. Other key points from the study showed that most
interactions between states showed cooperative relationships, and countries that
cooperate in general cooperate about water. The main issues that countries are/will have
to deal with are primarily quantity and infrastructure. This study offers some great
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insight into adaptive management of water here in Oregon by suggesting that establishing
cooperative relationships prior to conflict will help aid in minimizing or possibly
avoiding conflict.