ADVOCACY
Tualatin River Water Trail
Support our efforts to provide public access every 5 miles on the lower 40 miles of the Tualatin.
MORE ISSUES
Update on Planning for the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge
Last December the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gathered comments from the public about how our local refuge should be managed and used. Issues include recreational access, paddling, hunting & fishing, fees and more. Click here to read about the three management alternatives proposed for the Comprehensive Conservation Plan. Next Spring you will have another opportunity to weigh in when the draft environmental impact statement is released. Stay tuned.
Cleanup Plan for Lakeside Landfill
DEQ is putting the finishing touches on a cleanup plan for the Lakeside Landfill on the north side of the river near the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. The unlined landfill has been operating for almost 60 years and leaks pollutants into groundwater and the river. Tualatin Riverkeepers submitted comments on the long-term sustainability of the cleanup plan, which you can read online. More information on the landfill and the cleanup plan is available online from DEQ.
Metro's Growth Management Decision
Urban Growth Boundary on Cooper Mountain
This fall the Metro Council will decide if, how much, and where, they should expand the Urban Growth Boundary. TRK has taken issue with the Chief Operating Officer's recommendation that would expand the UGB in areas susceptible to urban runoff that damage streams. Read our comments,read Metro's analysis and submit your comments.
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Report Problems
You can help protect the Tualatin River System by reporting problems that you witness to the proper agency. Here are some steps to help you do that.
- For life threatening situations and crimes in progress, call 911 immediately.
- For a list of who to call, check out our Agency Contact List
- Help us track problems and their remedies by filling out an online Trouble Ticket
- For additional guidance call our office at 503-218-2580
- Photos help agencies respond quickly and appropriately. If you are able to take digital photo of the problem, send them to brian@tualatinriverkeepers.org after filling out the trouble ticket.
Become a member through your secure online donation to Tualatin Riverkeepers through Network for Good.
Save our Urban Creeks
Runoff from streets, rooftops, and parking lots is hammering our urban streams. Storm sewers are connected directly to the nearest creek, carrying rapid runoff and pollution. Rapid runoff causes erosion and flooding.
We know how to fix this problem using "Green Infrastructure", also known as Low Impact Development Approaches. Watch the video below to learn more about this problem and solution.
Your contributions to Tualatin Riverkeepers help us advance the protection of urban streams through effective public policy. We are working to change building codes, design standards, and pollution permits to bring our urban streams back to health. Please support our efforts with your gifts and your voice.
Learn more about
Stormwater Runoff and Urban Streams
Learn details about various
Low Impact Development Approaches
Sign up for ourAction Alertsto add your voice to those calling for urban stream renewal.
Protect Streams from Logging Road Runoff
Photo by Pacific Watershed Associates
We need your help!
This summer promises to be a busy time for those working to curb logging road pollution.
In May 2011, in a case called Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown, the Ninth Circuit ruled that EPA regulations require Clean Water Act NPDES permits for polluted stormwater discharged from pipes, ditches and channels along logging roads. Logging road pollution is one of the more widespread and harmful sources of stormwater pollution in the West.
In response to the NEDC v. Brown decision, EPA recently sent a draft notice of intent to regulate logging road pollution to the White House Office of Management and Budget. Although details are not yet public, in a press release EPA stated that it "is considering flexible options including non-permitting options that recognize the vastness, diversity, and complexity of the nation's logging road network and existing effective federal, state, local, and tribal best management practice frameworks."
Please email EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and President Obama and ask them to ensure that industrial logging road pollution remains regulated under the Clean Water Act’s NPDES permit program. Tell them you oppose efforts to exempt the timber industry and logging roads from the Clean Water Act.
Click here to email EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
Click here to email President Obama.
More information…
In September 2011, the State of Oregon and members of the timber industry asked the Supreme Court to review the NEDC v. Brown decision because they do not want to comply with the Act’s very effective NPDES permit program. In December 2011, the Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General to file a brief expressing the federal government’s views on the case. EPA’s recent notice comes just before the federal government is expected to file its brief on May 25. EPA’s action could have a significant impact on how logging road pollution is regulated in the future and whether the Supreme Court takes the case. Please help us preserve the NEDC v. Brown decision by emailing EPA Administrator Jackson and President Obama.
Read the 9th Circuit Court’s opinion and order.
Follow the Supreme Court proceedings here.
Learn more about the legal case here.
We will send you more updates as things develop over the next few months.
Please check the Washington Forest Law Center website for more information.
Going Green To Save Green: Economic Benefits Of Green Infrastructure Practices
American Rivers'series of new reports highlights the economic benefits of green infrastructure strategies to better manage polluted runoff. These practices, from rain gardens to green roofs, work by capturing rainwater where it falls. By reducing the polluted runoff that flows into rivers and streams, green infrastructure practices play a critical role in protecting clean rivers.
Unlike most traditional water infrastructure, green infrastructure practices can help communities save money while also providing a number of economic benefits that include reduced costs, increased energy efficiency, mitigating flooding and improving air quality.
Banking On Green: A Look At How Green Infrastructure Can Save Municipalities Money And Provide Economic Benefits Community-Wide
Across the country, communities are struggling with how to fix and replace failing and outdated infrastructure and meet new demand to manage stormwater and protect clean water. American Rivers worked with the American Society of Landscape Architects, ECONorthwest, and the Water Environment Federation to release the “Banking on Green” report to build on the current understanding of the cost-effectiveness of green infrastructure and examine how these practices can increase energy efficiency and reduce energy costs, reduce localized flooding, and protect public health.
Protecting Streams from Heat and Runoff
Water quality standards for the Tualatin River and its tributaries were first established by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in 1988. Every 5 years or so, DEQ reviews these standards for revision. These standards, called Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs.
This fall DEQ released proposed revisions to the Tualatin TMDLs that were designed to accommodate the growing population of Washington County by allowing treated sewage effluent to be discharged from wastewater treatment plants in Hillsboro and Forest Grove.
Tualatin Riverkeepers expressed some concerns to DEQ about these proposed revisions, particularly about the increase in temperature in a stretch of the river where small salmon grow up. TRK also raised significant issues about how the TMDLs are not protecting urban streams.
DEQ lists 12 urban streams in the Tualatin basin as being impaired for "biological criteria". Based on surveys of fish and macroinvertebrates (aka bugs), these streams have significantly less biodiversity than they once did.
Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies document the impact of urbanization on the biodiversity of streams. These studies are the basis of the Healthy Streams Plan published by Clean Water Services in 2005. Urbanization is characterized by impervious cover (streets, sidewalks, parking lots, rooftops) and storm drains connected directly to the nearest stream. This puts a lot of pollution, both chemical and physical in our local waters that impacts bugs and fish.
Tualatin Riverkeepers asked DEQ to address the biologically impaired streams with limits on Effective Impervious Area. We also asked DEQ to regulate runoff from large impervious areas, such as commercial parking lots, with permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
Believe it or not, people used to catch trout in our urban streams. One of the reason this seldom happens any more is that our streams are too warm. Tualatin Riverkeepers documented the increase in temperature casued by one small dam on Summer Creek and cited other research that shows these small top-flow dams consistently raise temperatures in streams and impact fish populations. We asked DEQ to address the temperatue impacts of these small dams in the TMDL revisions.
We also asked DEQ to hold forestry and agriculture more accountable for their impacts on streams and the river. To read all of our comments on revising the Tualatin TMDLs click here
Urban Stormwater
Stormwater runoff is the biggest source of pollution in the Tualatin River. In 2010 and 2011 municipal stormwater permits are up for renewal. TRK is advocating to make these permits more protective of our neighborhood streams and the Tualatin River.
Learn more about stormwater runoff.
Proposed Quarry Would Damage Refuge
A proposed rock quarry adjacent to the southern border of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge would excavate 300 feet deep and severely impact the flow of water to wetlands on the refuge and private wetlands with conservation easements. The conditional use permit is being opposed by Tualatin Riverkeepers,Friends of the Refuge, Raindrops to Refuge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and neighboring property owners.
Read the article in the Sherwood Gazette.
UPDATE: Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) remands hearings officer's decision to allow quarry.
Blue-green Algae
We have a new webpage devoted to the topic of cyanobacteria (aka blue-green algae). Please report sightings.
Scoggins Dam Fish Protection
Construction of the Scoggins Dam at Henry Hagg Lake cut off passage to spawning grounds for salmon and steelhead trout. Planning to raise the dam offers an opportunity to fix past damage and improve habitat.
Watch the Oregon Field Guide Video
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