Modeling Hydrodynamics, Water Temperature, and Water Quality in the Klamath River Upstream of Keno Dam, Oregon, 2006–09

A hydrodynamic, water temperature, and water-quality model was constructed for a 20-mile reach of the Klamath River downstream of Upper Klamath Lake, from Link River to Keno Dam, for calendar years 2006–09. The two-dimensional, laterally averaged model CE-QUAL-W2 was used to simulate water velocity, ice cover, water temperature, specific conductance, dissolved and suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, ammonia, nitrate, total phosphorus, orthophosphate, dissolved and particulate organic matter, and three algal groups. The Link–Keno model successfully simulated the most important spatial and temporal patterns in the measured data for this 4-year time period. The model calibration process provided critical insights into water-quality processes and the nature of those inputs and processes that drive water quality in this reach. The model was used not only to reproduce and better understand water-quality conditions that occurred in 2006–09, but also to test several load-reduction scenarios that have implications for future water-resources management in the river basin.

The model construction and calibration process provided results concerning water quality and transport in the Link–Keno reach of the Klamath River, ranging from interesting circulation patterns in the Lake Ewauna area to the nature and importance of organic matter and algae.