What is that on our cover? A plume of smoke? Dissolving chemicals? A drift of whale poop?
In this issue of Oregon’s Agricultural Progress, we explore the future of water in Oregon and beyond. The cover shows the Willamette Basin and its memories of channels, a LiDAR image created by Daniel Coe at Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.
LiDAR uses pulsed lasers to remotely measure landscape features. It’s just one of many new tools scientists are using to observe changes in water and climate. Scientists at OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences are not simply using these tools to document change; they are creating ways to mitigate the changes that we can control and ways to adapt to changes that we cannot control.
The stories in this issue explore new designs for protecting water quality, reducing water use, and living sustainably on this watery planet. When you think about it, our future is the future of water.