The Harney Basin is an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

in southeastern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the northwestern corner of the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

. One of the least populated areas of the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...

, it is located largely in northern Harney County, bounded on the north and east by the

Columbia Plateau The Columbia Plateau is an important geology, geologic and geography, geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington (state), Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range a ...

—within which it is contained, physiographically speaking—and on the south and west by a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

plain. The basin encompasses an area of in the watershed of

Malheur Lake Malheur Lake ( ) is one of the lakes in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, Harney County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located about southeast of Burns, Oregon, Burns, the lake is marsh fed by the Donner und Blitzen ...

and

Harney Lake Harney Lake is a shallow alkali lake basin located in southeast Oregon, United States, approximately south of the city of Burns, Oregon, Burns. The lake lies within the boundary of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and is the lowest point i ...

. Malheur Lake is a freshwater lake, while Harney Lake is saline-alkaline. The basin is bounded on the north by the southern end of the Blue Mountains. The ridge of

Steens Mountain Steens Mountain is a large fault-block mountain in the northwest United States, located in Harney County, Oregon. Stretching some north to south, on its east side it rises from the Alvord Desert at an elevation of about to at the summit. Ste ...

separates the basin from the watershed of the

Alvord Desert The Alvord Desert is a desert located in Harney County, in southeastern Oregon in the Western United States. It is roughly southeast of Steens Mountain. The Alvord Desert is a dry lake bed and averages of rain a year. Two mountain ranges ...

to the southeast. No streams cross the volcanic plains that separate the basin from the watershed of the

Klamath River The Klamath River (Karuk language, Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath language, Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok language, Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') is a long river in southern Oregon and northern California. Beginning near Klamath Falls, Oregon, Klama ...

to the southwest. The basin includes archeological sites of the Drewsey Resource Area.

Geography

The central basin receives an average of of rain per year, with the surrounding mountains receiving an average of per year. The center of the basin is flat and contains Malheur and Harney lakes, which receive the streams originating within the basin in the surrounding mountains, including the Silvies River from the north and the

Donner und Blitzen River The Donner und Blitzen River is a river on the eastern Oregon high desert that drains a relatively arid basin, the southern portion of Harney Basin, from roughly 20 to 80 miles (30 to 130 km) south-southeast of Burns including Malheur Nationa ...

from the south. Harney Lake is the actual sink of the basin, connected in some years to Malheur Lake but currently separated by constantly changing

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s. Both lakes cycle between open water in wetter years and marshes in drier years. The wetlands around Malheur Lake and Harney Lake form a

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

oasis in the basin, providing a

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

for many migratory

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

species, including 2.5 million

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s each year. Malheur Lake and its surroundings are embraced by

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located roughly south of the city of Burns, Oregon, Burns in Oregon's Harney Basin. Administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge area is roughly T-shap ...

Harney County, Oregon Harney County is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,495, making it the sixth-least populous county in Oregon. The county seat i ...

, had a total population of 7,422 at the 2010 census, and

Burns Burns may refer to: Astronomy * 2708 Burns, an asteroid * Burns (crater), on Mercury People * Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns ** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer Places in the United States * Burns, ...

in the plain north of Malheur Lake is the only community with a population larger than 1,000. Dryland ranching is the basis of the area's economy, with relatively little

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

water available from the streams that enter Malheur Lake.

Harney Basin Volcanic Field

The Harney Basin Volcanic Field is a series of volcanic flows of rhyolite and of tuffs of ash flows in around

Burns, Oregon Burns is a city in and the county seat of Harney County, Oregon, Harney County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 2,730. Burns and the nearby city of Hines, Oregon, Hines are ...

. The field is within the High Lava Plains Province.

Harney-Malheur Lakes watershed

The Harney-Malheur Lakes watershed is a Great Basin watershed., The adjacent

watershed of discharges into Malheur Lake and includes the river portion of the

. "''Alkali Field is located directly south of Malheur Lake, a few kilometers east of the Donner und Blitzen River.''" The High Desert Wetlands ecoregion is a set of Northern Basin and Range wetlands with in Oregon, including a large area around Harney and

History

The basin was formed approximately 32,000 years ago when

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

flows formed the Malheur Gap, separating the

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

of the basin from the

Malheur River The Malheur River ( ) is a tributary of the Snake River in eastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a high desert area, between the Harney Basin, the Blue Mountains and the Snake. In the past Malheur Lake (located in the enclosed Harn ...

, a tributary of the Snake River.

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

evidence indicates the basin was inhabited as early as 10,000 years ago. Pollen records indicate that the climate, especially the level of rain and snowfall, has varied greatly since the end of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. Evidence of prehistoric fishing techniques is found at several sites. Evidence suggests that there existed in the basin several species—in particular, the

chiselmouth The chiselmouth (''Gila alutacea'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Leuciscidae. This fish is found in western North America. It is named for the sharp hard plate on its lower jaw, which is used to scrape roc ...

, coarse-scale suckers, and

northern squawfish The Northern pikeminnow, Columbia River dace or colloquially Squawfish (''Ptychocheilus oregonensis'') is a large member of the minnow family, Leuciscidae. This predatory freshwater fish is native to northwestern North America, ranging from the N ...

—that are currently found only in the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

basin, indicating that at some point the Harney Basin may have been connected to the Columbia. During wetter years, the lake level of Malheur Lake was raised to a depth of , allowing the lakes to drain over the Malheur Gap. In modern times, however, the lake level does not rise above in the wettest years. In the 19th century, the basin was inhabited by the

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

tribe. It was explored and extensively trapped by

trappers Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and wildlife man ...

of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

in the 1820s. The basin lay far off the route of the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

, but in 1845 experienced mountain man Stephen Meek led an ill-fated party across the basin via Stinkingwater Pass, seeking a shortcut to

The Dalles The Dalles ( ;) formally the City of the Dalles and also called Dalles City, is an inland port, the county seat of and the largest city in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the large ...

along what has become known as the

Meek Cutoff Meek Cutoff was a horse trail road that branched off the Oregon Trail in northeastern Oregon and was used as an alternate emigrant route to the Willamette Valley in the mid-19th century. The road was named for frontiersman Stephen Meek, who wa ...

. A total of 23 people died while the party wandered in the basin until finding water at the Crooked River. Because of its climate, it received sparse white settlements and was largely left to the Paiute until the late 19th century. Settlement pressures and conflicts with the Paiute in other areas of Oregon caused President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in 1872 to create a reservation for the Paiute encompassing Malheur Lake and much of the basin. Growing settlement pressures, in particular the discovery of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the surrounding mountains, as well as the interest of white settlers to form ranches in the region, caused the

Commissioner of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

to abruptly terminate the reservation in 1879. The Northern Paiute would survive virtually landless until obtaining tracts of land near Burns in 1935. The basin has a widespread decline in groundwater which has put the region at risk of ecological and economic collapse. Irrigation pumping is dropping the water table as much as every year in one area.

References

External links