Ground-Water Hydrology of the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 00•4162 Prepared in cooperation with OREGON WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT; CITIES OF BEND, REDMOND, AND SISTERS; DESCHUTES AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES; THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE WARM SPRINGS RESERVATION OF OREGON; and U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Cover photographs: Top: Steelhead Falls on the Deschutes River near Crooked River Ranch, Oregon. Middle: Crooked River Canyon at Crooked River Ranch, Oregon. Bottom: North and Middle Sister with a wheel-line irrigation system in the foreground near Sisters, Oregon. (Photographs by Rodney R. Caldwell, U.S. Geological Survey.) U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Ground-Water Hydrology of the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon BY MARSHALL W. GANNETT, KENNETH E. LITE JR., DAVID S. MORGAN, AND CHARLES A. COLLINS Water-Resources Investigations Report 00–4162 Prepared in cooperation with Oregon Water Resources Department; cities of Bend, Redmond, and Sisters; Deschutes and Jefferson Counties; The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Portland, Oregon: 2001 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CHARLES G. GROAT, Director Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. For additional information contact: Copies of this report can be purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey USGS Information Services 10615 S.E. Cherry Blossom Drive Box 25286, Federal Center Portland, OR 97216-3159 Denver, CO 80225-0046 E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Internet: http://oregon.usgs.gov Suggested citation: Gannett, M.W., Lite, K.E., Jr., Morgan, D.S., and Collins, C.A., 2001, Ground-water hydrology of the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 00–4162, 78 p. CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................2 Background and Study Objectives....................................................................................................................................2 Purpose and Scope ............................................................................................................................................................3 Study Area.........................................................................................................................................................................3 Approach...........................................................................................................................................................................6 Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................................................................8 Geologic Framework...................................................................................................................................................................8 Geologic Controls on Regional Ground-Water Flow .......................................................................................................9 Hydraulic Characteristics of Subsurface Materials.........................................................................................................13 Aquifer Tests.........................................................................................................................................................14 Well-Yield Tests ...................................................................................................................................................18 Ground-Water Recharge ...........................................................................................................................................................19 Infiltration of Precipitation..............................................................................................................................................19 Canal Leakage.................................................................................................................................................................23 On-Farm Losses ..............................................................................................................................................................27 Stream Leakage...............................................................................................................................................................28 Drainage Wells................................................................................................................................................................39 Interbasin Flow ...............................................................................................................................................................40 Ground-Water Discharge ..........................................................................................................................................................41 Ground-Water Discharge to Streams ..............................................................................................................................41 Geographic Distribution of Ground-Water Discharge to Streams........................................................................42 Temporal Variations in Ground-Water Discharge to Streams..............................................................................47 Ground-Water Discharge to Wells..................................................................................................................................53 Irrigation Wells .....................................................................................................................................................53 Public-Supply Wells .............................................................................................................................................53 Private Domestic Wells.........................................................................................................................................56 Ground-Water Discharge to Evapotranspiration.............................................................................................................58 Ground-Water Elevations and Flow Directions........................................................................................................................58 Horizontal Ground-Water Flow ......................................................................................................................................59 Vertical Ground-Water Flow ..........................................................................................................................................61 Fluctuations in Ground-Water Levels.......................................................................................................................................64 Large-Scale Water-Table Fluctuations ...........................................................................................................................64 Local-Scale Water-Table Fluctuations............................................................................................................................65 Summary and Conclusions........................................................................................................................................................73 References Cited .......................................................................................................................................................................75 FIGURES 1. – 6. Maps showing: 1. Location of the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon, and major geographic and cultural features ..............................4 2. Location of field-located wells and land ownership in the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon..................................5 3. Lines of equal precipitation and graphs of mean monthly precipitation for selected precipitation stations in the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon.......................................................................................................7 4. Generalized geology of the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon................................................................................10 5. Distribution of transmissivity estimates derived from specific-capacity tests of field-located domestic wells in the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon, and the locations of aquifer tests conducted for this study ...........15 6. Deep Percolation Model grid and estimated recharge from infiltration of precipitation, 1993–95......................20 7. – 8. Graphs showing: 7. Annual mean components of the basinwide water budget, estimated using the Deep Percolation Model for water years 1962–97........................................................................................................................................22 8. Mean monthly components of the basinwide water budget, estimated using the Deep Percolation Model