Temperatures of Three Headwater Streams in Northeastern Oregon

Stream temperature is an important component of water quality for salmon and other organisms. We studied the relationship between water temperature and elevation in three headwater streams in northeastern Oregon. Two streams had very little subsurface addition. One of these watersheds was largely burned over with little vegetation cover. The other was an intact, forested system with substantial vegetation cover. The third watershed was largely intact forest with tributary and subsurface cold-water inputs. Water temperatures were strongly associated with elevation (P