INR Water-related Work

Technical Assistance & Analysis

Lotic Habitat Assessment (ORBIC)

Collecting stream condition data for habitat assessment for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Aquatic Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) Program in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, and Nevada.

Wetland and Riparian Monitoring (ORBIC) 

Collecting wetland condition data for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Aquatic Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) Program in Southeastern Oregon and Northeastern California.

Managing Data, Information & Mapping Tools

Water Planning Landing Page and Mapping Tool

Water planning is a critical component to securing Oregon’s instream and out-of-stream water future in the face of increasing water scarcity and uncertainty. Through planning, and our Water Planning landing page and mapping tool,  you can understand your water situation and identify solutions to water challenges. 

Columbia River Basin Evapotranspiration Mapping Tool

Water planning and management requires quantifying aspects of water budgets from the field to the basin scale. Stakeholders within the Columbia River Basin (CRB) are reliant on evapotranspiration (ET) data from irrigated lands for water management, water rights, hydrologic modeling and prediction, and water planning. The Columbia River Basin Evapotranspiration Mapping Tool provides summarized evapotranspiration (ET) data at the 12-digit hydrologic unit level from the OpenET Data Explorer for the CRB. This project was a collaboration with OSU Extension, Oregon Water Resources Department, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Idaho Water Resources Department, Desert Research Institute and NASA.

Oregon Water Map Viewer (BETA Version)

The Oregon Water Map Viewer makes accessible readily available statewide water-related data and information generated by the Oregon Water Resources Department and partner agencies (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of Agriculture) to support water planning throughout Oregon. It includes a reporting feature that dynamically generates a “water report” for a user defined area of interest (user drawn or uploaded) or a pre-defined area of interest of a selected county, watershed, watershed council, or Agricultural Water Quality Management.

Mid-Coast Water Planning Mapping Tool

The Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership (MCWPP) is an inclusive community forum that examines water use in this Oregon coastal region, identifies water challenges, and proactively balances water needs. The Mid-Coast Water Planning Map Viewer was developed to support collaborative development of a water action plan for the MCWPP.

Oregon Watershed Restoration Tool

The Oregon Watershed Restoration Inventory (OWRI) is managed by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and originated with the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. The inventory includes the location and types of voluntary and collaborative actions of private citizens and landowners to improve aquatic habitat and water quality conditions since 1995. Access to the OWRI database is provided through the Oregon Watershed Restoration Tool. The tool is updated annually.

Transboundary Freshwater Diplomacy Database Project (OE)

INR’s Oregon Explorer Team created the Transboundary Freshwater Diplomacy Database Explorer in collaboration with OSU’s Dr. Aaron Wolf and colleagues. The Transboundary Freshwater Diplomacy Database is an award-winning, state-of-the-art Geographic Information System of the world’s international river basins and their institutions. The database includes the largest compendium of international and national water events, compacts, and treaties available.

Pilot Oregon Water Data Portal

The Pilot Oregon Water Data Portal addresses the growing need for accessible water data from across the state to be used by water management agencies, interested parties, universities and organizations. More than 17 state agencies in Oregon contribute to water-related decisions. The OWDP project was guided by a multi-agency Steering Committee and lead by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Convening Science Advisory Projects

Statewide Water Conference

Through Senate Bill 5506, the 2023 Oregon Legislature asked INR to convene a statewide water conference to facilitate learning and relationship building between sectors, identify research needs, and develop a statewide research and learning agenda. The statewide water project website is located here.

Mid-coast Water Resource Planning Project (2021)

Lead by Creative Solutions, LCC, the Institute for Natural Resources, OSU Extension, and Oregon Sea Grant collaborated to facilitate the Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership in developing their Water Action Plan.

Resources & Products

Trees to Tap: Forest Management and Community Drinking Water (2021)

There are 337 public water providers, servicing almost 3.5 million Oregonians, who rely on surface waters for some or all of their supply. These providers may own their source water watersheds, but many do not. As a result, they have little control on activities occurring in their source watersheds, many of which are forested and managed by a diversity of owners. The purpose of this project was to 1) update that report by synthesizing current science about the impacts of forest management on community drinking water supplies, and 2) describe and analyze the management of forested municipal watershed systems.

Resources & Products

  • Archived project webpage
  • Final Report: Trees to Tap Science Review Working Papers (15 June 2020) 
  • Video Links: March 2021 Trees to Tap Conference recording page with the video links embedded. This virtual conference reviewed the Trees to Tap Science Review using a mix of science presentations given by the project scientists and management presentations given by forestry and water professionals, regulators and conservationists. Science presentations gave a high-level summary of the Trees to Tap findings in each topic covered. Management presentations provided an overview which was followed by practical discussion of how to account for the report's scientific findings in practice.

Stage 0 Restoration (2020)

In coordination with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, INR convened a workshop in November 2020 to bring together practitioners, researchers, regulators and other stakeholders to discuss current topics and data gaps related to implementing and monitoring restoration projects intended to achieve a Stage 0 condition.

The workshop was open to discussion of all types of restoration actions focused on restoring Stage 0 conditions, but was primarily focused on outcomes and monitoring of larger-scale projects that utilized heavy equipment to move large amounts of sediment into incised channels from adjacent terraces to reset the valley floor and increase floodplain connection.

Resources & Products

  • Workshop Report (2021): Behan, Jeff, K. Fetcho, R. Davis, and L. Gaines. 2021. River Restoration to Achieve a Stage 0 Condition:  Summary of a Workshop Held November 5th and 6th, 2020. Report to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (Salem, Oregon) and the Institute for Natural Resources (Corvallis, Oregon). https://www.oregon.gov/oweb/Documents/Workshop-Summary-Report.pdf
  • Video Links

Stage 0 Workshop: Day 1 Sessions I & II - Stage 0 Background/Overview, and Challenges & Uncertainties

Stage 0 Workshop: Day 2 Current Monitoring and Evolving Knowledge & Communication Network/Process

OSU Extension Water Needs Survey (2019)

The Institute for Natural Resources and the Institute for Water and Watershed worked with OSU Extension Service staff and faculty associated with water to assess priority water issues that need to be addressed over the next 5-10 years to help guide Extension water activities toward the goal of creating a community of practice.

Ecological Effects of Tide Gate Upgrade or Removal (2018)

The project was commissioned by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) to foster better understanding of the effectiveness of their past investments in estuary habitat restoration involving tide gates, and to aid in targeting future investments.

Resources & Products

  • Final Report: Souder, J.A., L.M. Tomaro, G.R. Giannico and J.R. Behan. 2018. Ecological Effects of Tide Gate Upgrade or Removal: A Literature Review and Knowledge Synthesis. Report to Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University. Corvallis, OR. 136 pp. Submitted to Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board in fulfillment of grant #217-8500-14090. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/technical_reports/3b591f80b