Watershed Programs

Each year the Clackamas River Water Providers implement a number of on going programs and individual projects that benefit the watershed and promote source water protection efforts. Below is a description of some of the work we have completed. For a more detailed look at what we accomplished this past year check out our Annual Report! CRWP Annual Report.

Find a Sign Near You!

In 2014 the CRWP received a State Revolving Fund Drinking Water Protection Grant to install attractive interpretative signage at parks and boat ramps in the lower Clackamas River to help educate our river users on how their actions can impact water quality and what they can do to project our drinking water source. Due to the diverse ownership of parks and boat access points in the Clackamas River watershed the CRWP had to work with Oregon City Parks, Clackamas County Parks, Clackamas River Water (District), Oregon State Parks, and PGE on this project. Through this grant the signs were produced and installed at Riverside Park, Barton Park, and Milo McIver State Park in the lower river, and smaller version of the signs were installed by PGE at Timber Park, Promontory Park and along new river access point higher up in the watershed. As part of this grant the CRWP also worked with PGE and the Oregon State Marine Board to to get PGE’s renewly revamped Promontory Park marina certified under the Oregon Clean Marina Program.  Certifiction was finalized in July of 2016 and acknowledgement of this accomplishment is listed on the Oregon State Marine Board website. To learn more about how you can paddle, fish, and play in the Clackamas while protecting our drinking water source click here.

Riverside Park

GIS Assessment of Drinking Water Threats

In 2010 the CRWP hired Herrera Environmental Consultants to develop a GIS/Geodatabase as a tool to assess potential drinking water threats in the Clackamas watershed. During the first year, Herrera gathered relevant GIS data for the Clackamas River watershed and built the geodatabase. In the second year of the project, Herrera completed a series of GIS risk analyses that focus on six potential contaminant source categories identified as being high risk to water quality in the CRWP Drinking Water Protection Plan. The goal of these GIS analyses was to map risk factors known to have a strong negative correlation with drinking water quality in the Clackamas River watershed. Mapped “hot spots” generated from each analysis separately as well as the results of the six risk analyses overlaid together as an aggregate will be used by the CRWP to help focus drinking water protection priorities. In addition, Herrera developed a list of required datasets and a suggested approach for developing a GIS-based watershed emergency response system for the Clackamas River Watershed. The Risk Analysis work done in the second year of this project was funded by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency through the Oregon Safe Drinking Water Program administered by the Oregon Business Development Department. Click on the links below to see the Final Reports for each risk analysis. 

• Executive Summary 
• Septic Systems Analysis 
• Agricultural Analysis 
• Forestry Analysis 
• Urban Development Analysis 
• Vulnerable Soils Analysis 
• Point Source Pollution Analysis 
• Watershed Emergency Response System

Hazardous Materials Spill Risk Analysis

In the fall of 2013, the CRWP worked with Herrera to complete a risk analysis that looked at how hazardous material spills could affect drinking water quality in the Clackamas River watershed. The initial Hazardous Material Spill analysis identified more than 500 facilities store reportable quantities of 3,500 different hazardous substances in the Clackamas River watershed. The analysis grouped substances by physical state and quantity but did not distinguish by substance type, toxicity, or potential pathways to surface water. To better assess the distribution and magnitude of risk in the focus area, during the FY 2014-15 the CRWP hired Herrera to refined the GIS spill risk analyses to focus specifically on facilities storing large quantities of key categories of hazardous substances. This effort also including identifying potential spill pathways to the Clackamas River. 

January 28, 2015 Project Results Presentation 

Updated GIS Hazardous  Materials Spill Risk Analyses Results and Recommendations