Water quality and riparian monitoring in the Willamette

This project helped establish additional water quality monitoring sites within agricultural watersheds, monitor riparian vegetation along agricultural lands, and augment collaboration on monitoring activities with state and federal agencies and watershed councils. Data gathered through the water quality monitoring sites, riparian monitoring, and evaluation of other agencies’ and organizations’ information will be used to direct program efforts to maximize water quality and habitat improvements, habitat management and restoration, and action effectiveness evaluation.

This project addressed several limiting factors in the Upper Willamette River Conservation and Recovery Plan for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead, including agricultural land management impacts to riparian vegetation, high water temperatures, and runoff of pollutants including nutrients, pesticides, and sediment. Strategies identified in the recovery plan to address limiting factors include restore riparian condition and large woody debris recruitment, restore degraded water quality and protect unimpaired water quality, and restore degraded upland process to minimize unnatural rates of erosion and runoff. The recovery plan states that while many restoration projects have been completed to address these factors, they have been opportunistic rather than strategic. The monitoring activities conducted as part of this project has helped and will continue to help direct restoration activities so they are more strategic and comprehensive.

Five of the newly established water quality monitoring sites are located within this ESU, on the Calapooia River, Mohawk River, Amazon Creek, Muddy Creek, and Luckiamute River. Riparian monitoring will occur within the Long Tom, Marys, Luckiamute, Santiam, Calapooia, and Tualatin watersheds. ODA has and will continue to use these data, in addition to data gathered from state and federal agencies and watershed councils, to work with SWCDs to direct work strategically.

Goal is to achieve water quality standards to ensure that the Upper Willamette River can support healthy populations of salmonids and other aquatic life. Purpose is to work with SWCDs, watershed councils and other stakeholders to ensure restoration efforts are targeted at highest priority restoration needs and are effective at improving riparian conditions and water quality. ODA staff coordinate with federal, state and local partners to help ensure riparian restoration activities are coordinated with in-stream habitat restoration to make effective use of restoration resources and to restore stream function to meet water quality and fish management goals. Expected benefits include reduction in nonpoint source pollution from agricultural land uses, increased riparian shading and large woody debris recruitment.