Walla Walla Hydrologic Monitoring Water Budget

This project (funded by a grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board #201-509) built on the surface and shallow aquifer monitoring completed in Walla Walla River Surface-Ground Water Dynamics Study (OWEB grant #200-159).  Staff constructed a field verified surface water budget, obtained a field-verified understanding of the shallow aquifer’s interaction with the river (lower basin), obtained a field-verified understanding of the current conditions of the shallow aquifer system, provided essential water budget information to two-state basin-wide HCP planning process, and provided essential water budget and hydrologic information to USACE/CTUIR Feasibility Study, and the Oregon-side Temperature TMDL. Chemical isotopes and static well levels have aided in understanding the quantity and movement of ground water in the Walla Walla system. This project complements water budget efforts in the Washington portion of the watershed. From the data collected, a preliminary surface water budget has been created for use in practical water management decisions in the Walla Walla Basin.  Data collected by this project from March 2002 to October 2004 was and is being used extensively by the HCP Take Analysis Modeling, TMDL modeling, USACE-CTUIR Feasibility study, and the development and implementation of the HBDIC Recharge Project. Additional work is being conducted with the Walla Walla Surface-Groundwater Monitoring project (OWEB grant #204-312).

Partners included: Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD), Hudson Bay District Improvement Company (HBDIC), Walla Walla River Irrigation District (WWRID), Washington 2514 Planning Unit, Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE), United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), Oregon State University (Dr. John Selker and graduate students), Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), Tri-State Steelheaders (TSS), US Geological Survey (USGS), and volunteers.

Project Contact: Bob Bower
 

A Regional Hydrologic Simulation Model for the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Basin is being developed by Aristides Petrides, a graduate student at Oregon State University. The goals are to simulate agricultural, urban and industrial water demands, interaction of surface rivers, springs and infiltration basins with groundwater wells and aquifers, and test "what if" scenarios of groundwater pumping, infiltration basin operations, surface water extraction, and climate change inputs.

Starr Metcalf, also from OSU's Bioengineering PhD program, participated in the project.

• For a summary of her work visit: http://engr.oregonstate.edu/momentum/issues/aug2002.html#riverbed 
  Her thesis can be downloaded here (3.3 MB, PDF format)  Her dissertation PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from http://www.bioe.orst.edu/Presentations/presentations.htm (under Starr Silvis or right-click here to download the PowerPoint presentation directly).

Juniper GIS used some of the Walla Walla Basin mapping paid for by this project as an example for a GIS teaching presentation on water basin analysis (893 KB, PowerPoint format)