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Bibliography Background About KRIS

Lost River Basin Specific Conductance Data

Specific conductance is a measure of the ionized or dissolved minerals in water. Data for this water quality parameter for the Lost River Basin in KRIS comes from two sources, the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) and the Klamath Falls office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Both NCRWQCB and Bureau of Reclamation Lost River data were collected by hand using using standard techniques as opposed to automated recorders. Bureau of Reclamation results from the A Canal and Upper Klamath Lake stations, however, were collected using a Hydrolab data probe. The source of increased specific conductance in the Lost River Basin is still under investigation. According to Winchester (1995): "It is normally expected that ionized salts as measured by specific conductivity will increase through an agricultural area as soils are leached and water used and evaporated. However, any number of other reasons in this area for an increase in ionized salts can include ground water inflow and spring activity, and surface evaporation from the large shallow lakes."

Un-Ionized Ammonia

Data on un-ionized ammonia in KRIS comes from the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Winchester, 1995). Ammonia is NH3 and can be a product of agricultural runoff or natural processes. The percent of this toxic unionized form of the total ammonia-nitrogen present increases with increased water temperature and/or increased pH level. According to Winchester (1995), "during the summer period, the lower Lost River system exhibits both high water temperatures and very high pH. The high pH results partly from photosynthetic activity from the highly eutrophic conditions." Unionized ammonia can be toxic to aquatic life at low concentrations. US EPA has established a national criterion for unionized ammonia concentration for the protection of aquatic life at .025 mg/L. Unionized ammonia may be the most consistently toxic material for aquatic life in the lower Lost River Basin area (Winchester, 1995).

Upper Klamath Dissolved Oxygen Data

Dissolved oxygen (DO.) data for the Lost River and Upper Klamath Basin come from the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) and the Klamath Falls office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. NCRWQCB samples and Bureau of Reclamation samples from the Lost River were taken by hand mostly during day time hours. Therefore, DO. levels may actually have been lower at locations measured at other times of the day (see Shasta WQ: DO. Nocturnal/Diurnal Changes). Samples from the A Canal and Upper Klamath Lake from the Bureau of Reclamation were collected using a Hydrolab data probe. Problems may arise with DO. readings from automated sensors because algae or detritus may catch on the probe and cause locally elevated or depressed DO readings. Data was downloaded weekly by Bureau staff so probes were cleaned at least that often. While hand held dissolved oxygen readings are more accurate, the Hydrolab data probe results do show the seasonality and relative magnitude of dissolved oxygen fluctuations in Upper Klamath Lake.

Dissolved oxygen is a critical parameter for fish and other aquatic organisms and may be depressed as a result of biological oxygen demand (BOD), night time respiration of algae and other aquatic plants or high water temperatures. Water can hold less DO. as it rises in temperature. When algae die-offs occur seasonally in the Upper Klamath Basin, very high BOD may result and DO. levels may periodically become severely depressed. For further reading on DO. in the Lost River Basin see Winchester (1995). To see discussions of DO. In the Shasta River see Gwynne (1993). According to Winchester (1995): "Eutrophic water conditions such as those which exist in the lower Lost River system can often result in low dissolved oxygen (DO.) conditions. The Basin Plan water quality objectives for DO. specifies a minimum concentration of 5.0 mg/L for the Lost River and 7.0 mg/L for the Klamath River above Iron Gate Dam for the protection of aquatic life."

Upper Klamath Basin Climate Data

Rainfall and snowfall data for the Upper Klamath Basin was downloaded for use from the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) web site as text files and converted into Dbase IV for use in KRIS. Relative location maps are also downloaded and can be viewed as Pictures associated with climate Topics. Snowfall data is displayed for April to allow inter-annual comparisons. Data collection in other months is too sporadic to allow for substantial comparison.

Lost River and Upper Klamath Basin pH Data

The pH of water is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration with values less than 7 representing acid conditions and greater than 7 basic or alkaline conditions. Data on pH in KRIS for the Lost River and Upper Klamath basins were provided by the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Winchester, 1995) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation office in Klamath Falls, Oregon. NCRWQCB samples and Bureau of Reclamation samples from the Lost River were taken manually at various times. Samples from the A Canal and Upper Klamath Lake, however, were gathered using Hydrolab data probes which are continuous sampling devices. High photosynthetic activity in eutrophic waters can result in high pH levels. The North Coast Regional Board's Basin Plan specifies water quality objectives for pH in the Lost River to be a minimum of 7.0 units and a maximum of 9.0 units. pH objectives for the Klamath River above Iron Gate Dam are a minimum of 7.0 units and a maximum of 8.5 units.

Lost River and Upper Klamath Basin Water Temperature Data

Water temperature data for the Lost River and Upper Klamath Basin were acquired from the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation office in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Data from the NCRWQCB and Bureau of Reclamation Lost River data were collected manually. Samples from the A Canal and Upper Klamath Lake were collected by the Bureau of Reclamation using a Hydrolab data probe, an automated sensor. High water temperatures may be directly stressful to fish and other aquatic organisms but their indirect effect on water quality in the Lost River Basin may be more important. The nutrient cycles and productivity impacts discussed in (Winchester, 1995) are accelerated with warmer water temperatures. For example, high water temperatures may increase the highly toxic unionized ammonia.

Upper Klamath Basin Flow Data

All flow data from the Upper Klamath Basin in KRIS has been obtained from the U.S. Geologic Survey. To learn more about USGS flow data and applicable terminology, see an excerpt from Wahl et al. (1995). Periods of record vary for each stream gauge but are specified by station in metadata notes provided by USGS. The following data on each Upper Klamath stream gauge were downloaded from the USGS Internet site along with the flow data:

Klamath River at JC Bolye Dam

Station name : KLAMATH R BL JOHN C BOYLE PP NR KENO,OREG.
Station number: 11510700
latitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)...... 420505
longitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)..... 1220420
state code.................................... 41
county code................................... 035
hydrologic unit code.......................... 18010206
drainage area (square miles).................. 4080.00
contributing drainage area (square miles).....
gage datum (feet above NGVD).................. 3274.82
WATSTORE parameter code....................... 00060
WATSTORE statistic code....................... 00003
Discharge is listed in the table in cubic feet per second.
----Date Range In File----
1 10/01/1982-09/30/1987

Klamath River Below Fall Creek

Station name : KLAMATH R BL FALL C NR COPCO CA
Station number: 11512500
latitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)...... 415820
longitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)..... 1222205
state code.................................... 06
county code................................... 093
hydrologic unit code.......................... 18010206
drainage area (square miles).................. 4370.00
contributing drainage area (square miles).....
gage datum (feet above NGVD).................. 2310.00
WATSTORE parameter code....................... 00060
WATSTORE statistic code....................... 00003
Discharge is listed in the table in cubic feet per second.
----Date Range In File----
1 10/01/1923-/09/30/1961

A Canal at Klamath Falls, Oregon

Station name : DIVERSION FR KLAMATH R TO LINK R NR OLENE,OREG.
Station number: 11508500
latitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)...... 420825
longitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)..... 1214120
state code.................................... 41
county code................................... 035
hydrologic unit code.......................... 18010204
drainage area (square miles)..................
contributing drainage area (square miles).....
gage datum (feet above NGVD)..................
WATSTORE parameter code....................... 00060
WATSTORE statistic code....................... 00003
Discharge is listed in the table in cubic feet per second.
----Date Range In File----
1 10/01/1960-09/30/1968

Klamath River at Keno, Oregon

Station name : KLAMATH RIVER AT KENO, OREG.
Station number: 11509500
latitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)...... 420800
longitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)..... 1215740
state code.................................... 41
county code................................... 035
hydrologic unit code.......................... 18010206
drainage area (square miles).................. 3920.00
contributing drainage area (square miles).....
gage datum (feet above NGVD).................. 3961.00
WATSTORE parameter code....................... 00060
WATSTORE statistic code....................... 00003
Discharge is listed in the table in cubic feet per second.
----Date Range In File----
1 10//1904-09/30/1913

Klamath River at Spencer's Bridge near Keno, Oregon

Station name : KLAMATH R AT SPENCER BRIDGE NR KENO,OREG.
Station number: 11510500
latitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)...... 420800
longitude (degrees, minutes, and seconds)..... 1220200
state code.................................... 41
county code................................... 035
hydrologic unit code.......................... 18010206
drainage area (square miles).................. 4050.00
contributing drainage area (square miles).....
gage datum (feet above NGVD).................. 3774.72
WATSTORE parameter code....................... 00060
WATSTORE statistic code....................... 00003
Discharge is listed in the table in cubic feet per second.

----Date Range In File----
1 10/01/1913-09/30/1931

Photos of Pacific Corp Facilities

Jennifer McPeck, fisheries biologist for Pacific Corp, provided photographs of company facilities along the Klamath River in Oregon and California. Pacific Corp was formerly known as Pacific Power and Light. For information on a recently completed Pacific Corp water quality study, see PacifiCorp (1996). This document has many figures and is quite large so may take a while to open, if you are opening it over the Internet with a slow connection.

Bureau of Reclamation Lost River Water Quality Profiles

Water quality profiles including temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and pH were collected 17 sites along the Lost River in California and Oregon. Mike Green of the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Falls Field Office collected, organized and shared the data. Water quality samples at each sites include measurements at the surface, at one meter in depth and just up off the bottom.

North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Photos of Monitoring Sites

The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board covers the northeastern part of California, including the Upper Klamath Basin in Modoc and Siskiyou counties. William Winchester provided photos of locations where he monitored water quality on the mainstem Klamath at the Oregon border, the Straights Drain, Tule Sump and other Lost River Basin locations.

Modoc National Forest Before and After Riparian Restoration Photos

The Devils Garden Ranger District of the Modoc National Forest shared reports on riparian restoration of streams on the forest where there were sucker species. These streams included tributaries to Clear Lake in the Lost River Basin such as Mowitz Creek, Boles Creek and Willow Creek.

Mowitz Creek and Butte Valley Creeks Data Collected by Local High Schools

Tule Lake High School participated in a cooperative monitoring project on Mowitz Creek, tributary of Clear Lake, in cooperation with the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Modoc National Forest is initiating a change in grazing rotation in the riparian zone of Mowitz Creek and Tule Lake High School is helping to monitor the effectiveness of this management strategy. Biology classes from Tule Lake High School placed automated temperature sensing devices, measured forage potential, identified aquatic invertebrates, measured cross sections and took photo points (see Tour: Mowitz Cr. Photo Points). Butte Valley High School monitored streams in and around Butte Valley including Butte Creek, Shovel Creek, Preather Creek, Musgrove Creek and Harris Creek. Both the Tule Lake and Butte Valley High programs were part of a Siskiyou County Schools 319H contract.

Upper Klamath Basin Photographs and Infrared Aerials from Bureau of Reclamation

Many photographs of the Upper Klamath Basin landscape, fisheries, wildlife and monitoring activities within KRIS have been provided by Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Falls Office. Slides were transferred to CD and then processed in Photoshop for final preparation before entry into KRIS. Infrared photographs were taken of the Tule Lake Lease Lands by the Bureau of Reclamation in July of 1995 as part of studies related to wetland restoration. The scale of the photos is 1:12000. Infrared photographs are very useful in remote sensing studies. Darker colors of red indicate more plant vigor. Marshes and upland areas also have distinctive color signatures. Crop patterns for the past ten years will soon be available as a part of a geographic information system project (GIS) for the Lease Land area as part of a University of California study. The color infrared photos could then be interpreted using the known cropping patterns. Photos were obtained from the Bureau of Reclamation Sacramento Office and a complete set of the entire Lease Land area was copied and is on file with Kier Associates as part of the KRIS project.

Map Samples in Version 3.0 from KRIS Map Projects

All KRIS database projects have companion ArcView projects for the geographic area covered and some selected themes are now included in KRIS Version 3.0, which has a new built in KRIS Map Viewer. KRIS Map projects, which run in Arc View 3.2, come separately from the KRIS database CD. A sub-sample of maps is integrated into Version 3.0 to demonstrate the capability of the KRIS Map Viewer which now allows users to select themes, if they are using KRIS on their hard drives. Not many layers were adapted because there was no budget for this activity. The Upper Klamath KRIS Map project relies heavily on base layers provided by Teale Data Center and Humboldt State University's Klamath Project.

Nearly all map layers have a readily-accessible companion metadata file that describes the map layer and provides contact information for the source of that layer. If KRIS is installed on your computer's hard drive and you are viewing maps using the KRIS Map Viewer (the map tab), you can view metadata for a layer by clicking on a layer in the map legend to make it the active layer and then clicking the "M" (metadata) button on the toolbar. If you are browsing KRIS on the www.krisweb.com Internet site, or viewing the web pages included on the KRIS CD-ROMs, you can view map metadata by clicking on a metadata link at the link at the bottom of a map page.

KRIS Map Project Partially Integrated into Version 3.0 Database

The Lower Klamath KRIS Map project relies heavily on base layers provided by Humboldt State University. No new data were added to the Lower Klamath KRIS Map project for Version 3.0 because of budget limitations, but selected themes were added to the KRIS database to demonstrate the new KRIS Map Viewer and its utility for sharing Lower Klamath watershed spatial data. Data are acquired from various sources and re-projected, easily understood legends crafted and metadata compiled by Dr. Paul Trichilo of the KRIS project. Data are arranged for ease of use in subsequent watershed studies. Vegetation data from Landsat also comes from HSU and the Spatial Analysis Lab and was derived under the supervision of Dr. Larry Fox. To learn more about vegetation and timber types, see the Vegetation Type Background page.

Photos of the Klamath Basin by Michael Hentz

Naturalist Michael Hentz has photographed the Klamath River and its watershed as a vocation and as a passion. His photos of the Klamath River watershed for the World Wildlife Fund serve to document riverine and upland conditions in this area recognized globally for its biodiversity. Hentz also boated down the Klamath River from its headwater tributary, the Sprague River, through Upper Klamath Lake, through several reservoirs and down the river to the ocean. Michael donated the use of his photos for KRIS Version 3.0 but requests credit for any use outside KRIS.

Note about documents in KRIS