Abstract

1
Willamette Valley (Hulse, 2008)
Willamette Vineyard (Danehower, n.d.)
Abstract The Willamette Valley of western Oregon
is characterized by agricultural and urban land
use, with multiple pathways for environmental
degradation. The southern part of the basin is
associated mainly with grass crops, while the
central and northern portions support various
types of crops including grains, field crops,
tree fruits and nuts, small fruits and berries
and vegetables. The primary threat to rural
degradation of water and soil quality is via the
widespread application of herbicides and
insecticides. These pesticides find their way
through the channel network, ultimately
discharging into the lower Columbia. This paper
provides an overview of the environmental setting
of the Willamette Basin and an expose on the
threat of pesticide use to regional water quality.

• Agriculture
• Dates back to mid 1880s with mostly cattle
  production and small crops.
• Crops included potatoes, peas, beans, cabbage,
  lettuce, squash, carrots, onions, parsnips,
  tomatoes, melons, apples, pears, peaches and
  wheat.
• Today, the commercial crops consist of grass in
  the south, and hops, berries, nuts, fruits,
  vegetables, plants, grapes, and Christmas trees.
• More than 40 different crop types have been
  identified in the basin
• Urban Areas
• First settled in mid-1880s
• Rapid and huge growth, for example several
  hundred percent growth in Portland area between
  1890 1930.
• About 3, 7million people lived in the state in
  late 2006 with the largest cities Portland,
  Eugene and Salem are all situated within the
  Willamette Basin.
• (Uhrich Wentz, 1999 Anderson et al, 1996 US.
  Census Bureau, 2006).

Table 1. Findings of total mass of 20 pesticides
in the Willamette River in 1996. Total mass is
listed in pounds of active ingredient. (Anderson
et al.,1997).
Introduction The Willamette Valley of western
Oregon is characterized by both agricultural and
urban use as well as waterways and forests (see
figure 1). In addition the area has also been
known for timber production and mining throughout
the past 120 years in varying degree, marking the
land and the basin. Today, the basin is widely
known for its agricultural production of various
berries, fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables.
However, these crops comes with a bi-product, the
use of herbicides and insecticides. These
pesticides find their way down the basin and
finally into the Columbia River.

• The Use of Pesticides
• With the widespread agricultural landscape of the
  basin, there is also widespread uses of different
  pesticides.
• Pesticides can be split into two parts,
  insecticides and herbicides.
• In samples taken, the following herbicides were
  the most abundant
• Most of the herbicides used in the Willamette
  Valley, including Atrazine, Metolachlor and
  Diuron are all broad herbicides used against
  weeds and unwanted grass
• These herbicides are not only used in
  agricultural sites, but also along shoulders on
  various highways and in urban areas.
• The insecticides found were both used in
  agricultural sites, but in urban areas.
  (Anderson, et al., 1997)

Future The Willamette Valley and Basin have a
rich agricultural history, along with other uses.
If the population keeps growing at the same trend
as in the past, the population in the valley is
expected to double by 2050. This will put an even
higher demand on both the use of the water, but
also the water quality. Pesticides as we know
them today will affect the water quality in some
ways. To help keep a good water quality there
need to be continuing sampling of the water, as
well as find pesticides that will not harm the
water and/or people and animals that live off the
water downstream. (Hulse, et al., 2002)
References Cited Anderson, C.W, Wood, T.M,
Morace, J.L. (1997) Distribution of Dissolved
Pesticides and Other Water Quality Constituents
in Small Streams, and their Relations to Land
Use, in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon, 1996.
U.S Department of the Interior U.S. Geological
Survey, Water-Resources Investigation Report
97-4268. Danehower, C. (n.d.) A quick Oregon
wine primer. Retrieved May 15, 2008 from
http//www.oregon.com/wines/cole.cfm Fegeas,
R.G., Claire, R.W., Guptill, S.C., Anderson,
K.E., and Hallam, C.A. (1983) U.S. Geological
Survey digital cartographic data standards--Land
use and land cover digital data U.S. Geological
Survey Circular 895-E, 21. Retrieved May 20, 2008
from http//or.water.usgs.gov/projs_dir/pn366/land
use.html Hulse, C (2008) Willamette Valley
photo. Retrieved May 15 from http//www.thesoggybl
ogger.blogspot.com/ Hulse, D., Gregory, S.,
Baker, J. (2002). The Willamette River Basin
Planning Atlas Trajectories of Environmental and
Ecological Change Oregon State University Press.
Retrieved May 5, 2008 from http//www.epa.gov/wed/
pages/projects/alternativefutures/alternativefutur
es.htm Pesticide Action Network (n.d.) Toxic
Trail Retrieved May 20, 2008 from
http//www.communityipm.org/toxictrail/issue1-Indu
stry.htm Uhrich, M.A. Wentz, D.A. (1999).
Environmental Setting of the Willamette Basin,
Oregon. U.S. Department of the Interior U.S.
Geological Survey. Water resources Investigation
Reports 97-4082-A. U.S Census Bureau (2008).
Oregon Quickfacts. Retrieved May 20 from
http//quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41000.html
Wilson, D. (n.d.) Spraying pesticides on peas
near Walla, Walla, WA. Photo retrieved May 20
from http//www.usda.gov/oc/photo/95cs4180.htm
Figure 3. Types of pesticides. (Pesticide Action
Network ,n.d.)
Figure 2. Spraying of pesticide (Wilson, n. d.)

• Water Quality tests in Willamette Valley
• In 1996, water quality tests were being conducted
  in 16 different spots on the Willamette River
  between Eugene and Beaverton.
• Samples were taken a total of 5 times, twice in
  the spring and fall and once in the summer.
• Tested in both agricultural (12) and urban (4)
  areas (see table 1)
• Showed evidence of 29 herbicides and 7
  insecticides, among them
• Atrazine (99 )
• Desethylatrazine (93)
• Simazine (85)
• Metoloachlor (85 )
• Diuron (73)
• All samples showed different results during
  different time of the year varying with the
  discharge of the rivers.
• Overall, the water quality samples failed on the
  high level of E.coli bacteria No DDT was found in
  either of the samples. (Anderson et al., 1997)

Figure 1. Willamette Basin Land Use (Fegeas et
al., 1983)

• Land Use History
• Mining
• Dating back to 1880s with gold, silver, copper,
  lead, zinc and cinnabar from mercury.
• Peak of the industry was during WWII, today the
  industry focuses on sand, gravel and crushed
  rock.
• Timber production
• Oregon has been the leading state in this
  industry since 1938.
• Between 1947-1995 a total of 128,700 million
  board feet (mbf) were cut down and processed in
  the Willamette Basin.