Oregon has a rich diversity of lakes and
reservoirs ranging from some of the clearest lakes in the world, to extremely
productive fisheries, to lakes in trouble
from pollution. Lakes and reservoirs are very important to the citizens of Oregon as they provide
drinking water, flood control, irrigation, power generation, and recreational
opportunities such as swimming, boating,
fishing, and relaxation.
The Online Atlas of Oregon Lakes
is a resource for the public,
resource management agencies, and scientists to better
manage and enjoy our lakes. The Online Atlas is an updated version of the
popular Atlas of Oregon Lakes published
in 1985 by the Oregon State
University Press.
The Online Atlas highlights lake
and reservoir water data stored within the Pacific Northwest Water Quality Data
Exchange (PNWWQX Exchange Network). The Exchange collaborates between
a variety of information management projects to facilitate the aggregation of
and access to a comprehensive source of data related to water quality in the Pacific Northwest. The PNWWQX was initiated by funds allocated from the EPA Exchange Network
Grant program.
The Online Atlas of Oregon Lakes
was developed by PortlandStateUniversity's Center for
Lakes and Reservoirs, Center for Spatial Analysis and Research, Nohad A. Toulan
School of Urban Studies and
Planning, and Academic and Research Computing. Funding was provided
through an EPA Exchange Network Grant administered by
Oregon DEQ and through contributions
from PortlandStateUniversity.
To see a poster presentation on the development of the atlas and the current
state of work see:Poster
Organization of the Atlas
The Online Atlas of Oregon Lakes is
organized into two platforms: a text and map based
pages similar to those included in the print Atlas of Oregon Lake, and an
interactive map interface. The interactive map contains links to
watershed, lake basin, and water
quality plots and statistics as well as links to individual pdfs of 1985 Atlas
of Oregon Lakes pages and the new text based
Online Atlas pages. The text based
Online Atlas pages contain the same information that is available on the interactive map, but
with context to guide uses through the information.
To
see the map based version see:Map
Based Pages (under construction)
Water Quality Assessments
Water quality
assessments for the lakes and reservoirs are primarily based
on data housed within the Exchange, however, data and conclusions from
literature sources are also considered.
The trophic status of lakes are
emphasized in the water quality assessment. Some of the variation in the
trophic status of Oregon's
Lakes is due to natural differences in climate, soils, topography, and
watershed size. Because of this natural variation, realistic expectations of
water quality in different parts of the state are different. EPAs
Ecoregions help address this variation in expectations. Oregon
has nine Level 3 ecoregions ranging from the arid NorthernBasin and Range to the wet forested CoastRange.
LakeMaps
in PDF Format
One page maps of approximately
200 lakes are available for viewing
and downloading in PDF format. These maps include a bathymetric
map of the lake and a smaller scale map showing the lake's watershed and
surrounding area. In addition there is an accompanying page showing a variety
of characteristics of the lake and its watershed. Sample maps can be viewed at: PDF Maps of Individual Lakes
