Sprague River Water Quality Assessment & Monitoring & Lab Support

This project supported the Sprague River Water Quality Monitoring program, which included: (1) measuring flow, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, conductivity, chloride, and total suspended solids at six sites on a biweekly basis (weekly during high flow events) for an entire year; (2) year-long monitoring of stream temperatures on an hourly basis using continuously recording thermographs at a network of 16 sites throughout the Sprague River sub-basin; (3) monitoring diel water quality conditions (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity) from two long-term sites every other week over the summer months using continuously recording Hydrolab Datasondes; and (4) assisting with various aspects of water quality lab operation.

Additionally, this project provided funds to support an Environmental Lab Specialist position, which enabled us to continue our existing monitoring programs in and above Upper Klamath Lake.

First, continued intensive monitoring of the Sprague River sub-basin provides the means to quantify the cumulative effectiveness of management changes and restoration projects in different portions of the sub-basin. In other words, the monitoring data set provides an excellent baseline. Second, spatial and temporal patterns of nutrient loading and water quality are revealed, yielding crucial guidance to prioritizing restoration actions. Third, as we develop specific plans to reintroduce anadromous salmonids to the Upper Klamath Basin, this data set reduces key uncertainties, making our restoration strategy more likely to succeed. Fourth, use of our water quality lab reduces costs associated with many important research, monitoring, and restoration projects in the Upper Basin. At present, use of distant labs with high analytical costs and slow turnaround times has severely limited work involving nutrient analyses, a situation the Tribes lab will alleviate.