Ground-Water Hydrology of the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon Kenneth E. Lite Jr., Oregon Water Resources Department
Study Area Upper Deschutes Basin Study Area Oregon
Major Parts of a Regional Ground- Water Study Geologic framework –Geologic controls on ground-water flow Hydrologic budget –Recharge –Discharge Flow-system –Flow directions –Water-level and discharge fluctuations Computer Modeling
Hydrogeologic Units Quaternary Sediment Cascade Range and Newberry Volcano Deposits Deschutes Formation Inactive Margin Deposits Ancestral Deschutes River Deposits Arc Adjacent Plain Deposits Proximal Volcanic Deposits Pre-Deschutes Formation Deposits
Recha rge Estima te Average Annual Recharge,
Hydraulic Head Distribution Generalized Water-Table Map of the Upper Deschutes Basin
To Streams > 500 cfs gain 100 to 500 cfs gain 50 to 100 cfs gain 10 to 50 cfs gain 0 to 10 cfs gain 0 to 10 cfs loss 10 to 20 cfs loss 20 to 50 cfs loss 50 to 100 cfs loss Measurement endpoint Estimated Stream Gains and Losses
Precipitation and SW trends Climate-Driven Fluctuations in Ground-Water Discharge At Fall River
SW and GW trends Climate-Driven Fluctuations in Ground-Water Discharge and Water Levels in Wells Fall River Discharge (CFS) Depth to Water in Well (Feet) Monthly mean discharge, Fall River Depth to water, Well 15S/10E-8ACD
Natural recharge occurs primarily in the Cascade Range. It takes time for the recharge pulses to propagate across the basin.
The response to recharge pulses is delayed and attenuated with increasing distance from the Cascade Range. Water-Level (2 feet per mark)
Summary Our present understanding of the ground-water hydrology is based on years of careful data collection and analysis. The unique hydrologic character is due to highly permeable volcanic deposits juxtaposed against older low-permeability deposits, and the incision of the Deschutes River down to these older deposits. The ground-water system of the upper Deschutes Basin helps maintain relatively even stream flow, however ground-water levels and streamflow vary markedly in response to climate cycles. Ground-water pumped from wells and used consumptively will mostly be reflected in reductions in ground-water storage and diminished ground-water discharge to streams.
Simulation of Regional Ground-Water Flow in the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon, by Marshall W. Gannett and Kenneth E. Lite Jr., WRIR Ground-Water Hydrology of the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon, by Marshall W. Gannett, Kenneth E. Lite, David S. Morgan and Charles A. Collins, WRIR Geologic Framework of the Regional Ground-Water Flow System in the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon, by Kenneth E. Lite Jr. and Marshall W. Gannett, WRIR Chemical Study of Regional Ground-Water Flow and Ground-Water/Surface- Water Interaction in the Upper Deschutes Basin, by Rodney R. Caldwell, WRIR Ground-Water and Water-Chemistry Data for the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon, by Rodney R. Caldwell and Margot Truini, WRIR