Modeling to quantify the thermal effect of selected point sources to the Willamette River under existing and modified conditions: 2011, 2015, and 2016

To meet their permit requirements under the water-temperature Total Maximum Daily Load for the Willamette River, Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies members need to understand the potential thermal effects of various heat-mitigation alternatives for their treated wastewater discharges to the Willamette River, such as the installation of cooling towers that would decrease the temperature of their effluent. CE-QUAL-W2, a two-dimensional, hydrodynamic water quality model, has been used to investigate temperature and heat patterns in the Willamette River, the downstream effects of dam operations, and other anthropogenic effects on stream temperature such as effluent discharge from waste-water treatment plants. This data release child item includes flow and temperature input files for CE-QUAL-W2 scenarios that were simulated to investigate the potential effect of releasing cooled waste-water treatment effluent to the Coast Fork Willamette and Willamette Rivers by the Cities of Cottage Grove and Albany, and the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission near Springfield. By applying these boundary conditions to the appropriate CE-QUAL-W2 model documented in the primary landing page of this data release, a user may reproduce scenario results investigating the potential effect of cooling towers or other heat cooling devices for treated effluent on the temperature of the Coast Fork Willamette and Willamette Rivers.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {010:12}
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catalog_@id https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
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identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-64ef90c8d34e4b6d8ab730f2
metadata_type geospatial
modified 2023-12-06T00:00:00Z
old-spatial -123.6264, 43.3202, -121.7038, 45.6707
publisher U.S. Geological Survey
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 9162b804a45ad7a1582f9cece302e24f14c6eecaa8541004436c63e0daa123d1
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-123.6264, 43.3202], [-123.6264, 45.6707], [ -121.7038, 45.6707], [ -121.7038, 43.3202], [-123.6264, 43.3202]]]}
theme {geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • AmeriGEO
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • CKAN
  • GEO
  • GEOSS
  • National
  • North America
  • United States
  • environment
  • inlandwaters
  • modeling
  • oregon
  • surface-water-quality
  • usgs-64ef90c8d34e4b6d8ab730f2
  • willamette-valley
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer Laurel E Stratton Garvin
maintainer_email lstratton@usgs.gov
metadata_created 2025-09-23T14:43:09.892910
metadata_modified 2025-09-23T14:43:09.892916
notes To meet their permit requirements under the water-temperature Total Maximum Daily Load for the Willamette River, Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies members need to understand the potential thermal effects of various heat-mitigation alternatives for their treated wastewater discharges to the Willamette River, such as the installation of cooling towers that would decrease the temperature of their effluent. CE-QUAL-W2, a two-dimensional, hydrodynamic water quality model, has been used to investigate temperature and heat patterns in the Willamette River, the downstream effects of dam operations, and other anthropogenic effects on stream temperature such as effluent discharge from waste-water treatment plants. This data release child item includes flow and temperature input files for CE-QUAL-W2 scenarios that were simulated to investigate the potential effect of releasing cooled waste-water treatment effluent to the Coast Fork Willamette and Willamette Rivers by the Cities of Cottage Grove and Albany, and the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission near Springfield. By applying these boundary conditions to the appropriate CE-QUAL-W2 model documented in the primary landing page of this data release, a user may reproduce scenario results investigating the potential effect of cooling towers or other heat cooling devices for treated effluent on the temperature of the Coast Fork Willamette and Willamette Rivers.
num_resources 2
num_tags 15
title Modeling to quantify the thermal effect of selected point sources to the Willamette River under existing and modified conditions: 2011, 2015, and 2016