USDA Report on Water and Related Land Resources, Lower Willamette River Basin, Oregon

Excerpts from the report: The Lower Willamette River Basin is located in the northern portion of western Oregon and includes the watersheds of the Willamette River and its tributaries from its confluence with the Columbia River to approximately river mile 32.7 and the Sandy River and other minor drainages of the Columbia River from the town of Bonneville to the city of St. Helens. The basin is bounded by the North Coast Basin on the west, the Middle Willamette Basin on the south, the Deschutes River and Hood Drainage Basins on the east, and the Columbia River on the north. The basin has a total area of 1,748,800 acres, about 23 percent of the entire Willamette Basin and 2.8 percent of the total area of Oregon. The basin includes a major portion of three counties - Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington - and a minor portion of four counties - Columbia, Marion, Tillamook, and Yamhill. The broad objectives of the cooperative survey were to gather basic data and information pertinent to the use and control of water for agriculture in the area, to highlight such major water related problems as erosion, flood prevention, and drainage, and to outline a general program for water and related land resource management to be used as a background for future detailed study and planning