Honors Senior Theses/Projects
Date of Award
5-1-2014
Exit Requirement
Undergraduate Honors Thesis/Project
Department
Honors Program
Faculty Advisor
Mark M. Van Steeter
Honors Program Director
Gavin Keulks
Language
eng
Abstract
More than a century of irrigation water withdrawals, reclamation, and the construction of the Pelton-Round Butte hydroelectric complex have altered the Deschutes River in central Oregon. An examination of these human impacts in the Deschutes Basin finds the geomorphic and hydrologic impacts downstream of the hydroelectric complex to be less substantial than typically expected, while irrigation water withdrawals in the upper basin remain a serious issue. Mitigation and restoration efforts have achieved success in the larger context of the status quo of water rights and water use in the American West, though much work remains before anadromous fish reestablish a presence in the Deschutes Basin.
Recommended Citation
Albertson, Zander E., "Science and Values on the High Desert: Dams and Irrigation on the Deschutes River, Oregon" (2014). Honors Senior Theses/Projects. 19.
https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/honors_theses/19
PDF/A Verison