‘It is all locked up’: Researchers find huge buried reservoir in Oregon’s snowy Cascades – KGW.com
Next up in 5Example video title will go here for this videoNext up in 5Example video title will go here for this videoPORTLAND, Ore. — While the Oregon Cascades are buried beneath heavy snow and glaciers this time of year, new research is showing something big brewing under the surface. Researchers have discovered an aquifer that was much bigger than they ever expected. “It is all locked up in fractures in the bedrock but it’s what we call active groundwater, meaning it’s constantly flowing,” said Leif Karlstrom, who is volcanologist and professor of earth science at the University of Oregon and a part of the research team.Karlstrom — along with researchers from Oregon State University, Duke and the U.S. Forest Service — are trying to map out how much water is stored beneath the volcanic rocks of the Cascades.It was widely known for decades that there was an aquifer in the Santiam Pass region between Eugene and Bend. What they didn’t know was just how big it was.“The volume that we found is comparable to large continental lakes; it’s just locked up in the bedrock,” Karlstrom said. Researchers discovered the aquifer to be nearly three times the capacity of Lake Mead, a reservoir that covers parts of Nevada and Arizona. It also supplied water to those two states and California.Thanks to research from decades ago, it allowed them to get a better understanding of the aquifer’s scale. So, what does it mean to have 19 cubic miles of water running under the crest of the Cascades? Currently, not much. But it could have implications for water resources in the region as drought and hot weather limit snowpacks and water availability. “We have a tremendous, resource in the Cascades and that’s well known, we take it for granted living up here,” said Karlstrom.
