Geology, Hydrology and Fish of the Deschutes River Basin

Water management systems in the western United States prioritize historical economic uses of water, but are being tasked with addressing growing populations, unmet ecosystem needs, and climatic changes. Collaborative governance scholars posit that collaborative processes generate solutions better suited to resolving wicked natural resource problems than traditional regulatory approaches. However, scholars dispute how collaboration and regulatory enforcement in the form of litigation interact: does litigation destroy collaborative efforts or does litigation facilitate collaboration? In the Upper Deschutes River Basin in central Oregon, stakeholders engaged two collaborative processes to lay the foundation for a new water management regime. However, a participant in these processes was concerned that they were not progressing and filed a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act. This research finds that litigation, strategically applied under specific conditions, can facilitate collaboration.

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Slow chemical weathering in a semiarid climate: Changes in the mineralogy and geochemistry of subaerial lava flows in the Deschutes River Basin, central Oregon

Chemical Geology ◽

10.1016/j.chemgeo.2013.04.002 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 347 ◽

pp. 135-152 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Holli M. Frey ◽

Kathryn J. Szramek ◽

Matthew R. Manon ◽

Matthew T. Kissane

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Chemical Weathering ◽

Climate Changes ◽

Lava Flows ◽

Semiarid Climate ◽

Deschutes River ◽

Deschutes River Basin

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Whirling Disease: Reviews and Current Topics

Whirling Disease: Reviews and Current Topics ◽

10.47886/9781888569377.ch2 ◽

2002 ◽

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Columbia River ◽

Fish Populations ◽

Steelhead Trout ◽

Adult Fish ◽

Whirling Disease ◽

Myxobolus Cerebralis ◽

Hydroelectric Project ◽

Natural Production ◽

Deschutes River

ABSTRACT. Anadromous fish were excluded above Pelton Round Butte Hydroelectric Project (PRB Project), located midway (RM 100) on the Deschutes River in central Oregon, beginning in 1968. Reintroduction of these fish above the PRB Project is proposed to meet conservation concerns that arise from lack of natural production and separation of populations. One consideration, when moving fish groups that have been isolated one from the other for thirty years, is that of disease. The health of the fish populations above Round Butte Dam could be seriously jeopardized by the introduction of whirling disease. Straying hatchery steelhead trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were detected with Myxobolus cerebralis spores, in 1987, at Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery, below the PRB Project. Myxobolus cerebralis is established in tributaries of the upper Columbia River basin and of the Snake River basin, where some of these straying hatchery and wild steelhead trout may have originated. From 1997 to 2000, fish from the Deschutes River basin have been sampled for the presence of M. cerebralis. The parasite has been found in both straying hatchery and unmarked adult chinook salmon O. tshawytscha and steelhead trout. Presently there is no evidence of infection of resident fish or in returning adult fish originating from Round Butte Hatchery, although the potential for establishment of M. cerebralis in the Deschutes River watershed cannot be ruled out.

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