Umpqua Basin Collaboartive Monitoring 2025-2026

Our project is located throughout the Umpqua Basin, encompassing 2,569,527 acres of land and 1,740 stream miles of anadromous fish habitat, the largest watershed draining into the Pacific Ocean south of the Columbia River. There is a lack of data on water quality for many streams. This information is essential for human, fish, and wildlife survival. Identifying stream-specific limiting factors informs planning decisions to address issues in areas most in need of restoration and identify areas most in need of preservation. This project will perform monthly water quality monitoring runs in 5th field watersheds for three years, then monitoring select sites combined into 4th field reference runs. Sampling sites are selected in coordination with partners and located on public and private lands with permission. This partnership allows a greater range of sites to be monitored in the Umpqua Basin. All runs are monitored once per month, collecting water quality data on temperature, turbidity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate, blue-green algae (presence/absence), total coliform, E. coli, and photo points at 12-20 sites per 5th field watershed. Also, summer instream continuous temperature loggers, 25-40 units (funding dependent) recording every 30 minutes, are located throughout the watersheds. This allows a significant amount of important and actionable knowledge to be collected about our watersheds.

The Umpqua Basin Collaborative Monitoring Project is designed to address critical gaps in water quality data across the Umpqua Basin, which supports essential habitat for salmonids, including Oregon Coast coho, Chinook salmon, steelhead, and cutthroat trout. The primary goal of this project is to gather high-quality data on water quality to monitor trends, assess habitat conditions, and inform targeted restoration and preservation efforts to improve salmonid survival. The project monitors parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, nitrates, blue-green algae, and E. coli across 5th-field watersheds. This data helps identify areas needing restoration and preserve regions serving as cold-water refugia. Through partnerships with organizations such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), and the U.S. Forest Service, the project leverages shared resources to monitor key watersheds. The data generated informs local watershed management plans, supports regulatory frameworks like Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) evaluations, and prioritizes areas for restoration projects. The monitoring program has also been vital in determining streams and areas for restoration efforts. For example, it has already contributed to identifying streams like Butler Creek as critical refugia, leading to targeted restoration efforts that preserve cool water temperatures essential for salmonids. Moreover, the data has supported strategic designations, such as the Oregon Department of Agriculture classifying the South Umpqua-Days Creek area as a focus area for restoration.