The Freshwater Trust

Last updated

The Freshwater Trust is a conservation non-profit based in Portland, Oregon. The mission of The Freshwater Trust is to preserve and restore freshwater ecosystems.

Contents

History

The Freshwater Trust was a result of a merger between Oregon Trout and Oregon Water Trust in 2009. [1] Oregon Trout was founded by a group of conservation fly fishermen in 1983. Founded 10 years later in 1993 with the help of Oregon Trout, Oregon Water Trust became the nation's first water trust.

In 1991, the organization led a coalition to list several Pacific salmon under the Endangered Species Act. In 1996, they created Salmon Watch, a program to introduce students to the importance of protecting wild fish. In 1998, they led the effort to designate lottery dollars to habitat restoration.

In 2007, they began building the StreamBank web platform, an effort to use technology to increase the pace and scale of restoration. They received a patent for StreamBank in 2011, and two years later, they received the U.S. Water Prize for innovation. [2]

In 2015, Joe Whitworth, the organization's president, wrote a book documenting the "quantified conservation" approach that The Freshwater Trust uses to fix rivers. "Quantified: Redefining Conservation for the Next Economy" was published by Island Press. [3]

Overview

The Freshwater Trust returns degraded streams to healthy conditions. [4] Restoration actions include planting streamside, or riparian, forests to provide shade to a stream and stabilize banks; placing large woody structures instream to provide habitat for spawning and rearing habitat; restoring flow to dewatered streams; and reconnecting streams to closed floodplains. The Freshwater Trust also works with regulated entities to meet regulatory compliance through river restoration. [5]

The Freshwater Trust touts an approach called "quantified conservation." This is the idea that conservation actions must be linked to positive, quantifiable outcomes for the environment.

The organization also uses water quality trading to fix rivers. Water quality trading is a collaborative solution to address water quality and pollutant loads in a watershed. Water quality trading allows permitted point-source dischargers to invest in “green” rather than “gray” infrastructure (natural versus built) solutions. The Freshwater Trust assists a point source with designing and implementing trading program and bringing in regulators and non-point sources. [6] The U.S. Water Alliance awarded The Freshwater Trust the 2013 U.S. Water Prize for its work in this field. [7]

The Freshwater Trust, along with Willamette Partnership, was instrumental in bringing together stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest to shape consistent approaches to trading in the region. Trading programs can help achieve water quality goals in a way that is consistent with the Clean Water Act, is based in sound science, and provides sufficient accountability that water quality benefits are being delivered. [8]

Projects

The Freshwater Trust works throughout basins in the Pacific Northwest. Below is a list of some completed and ongoing projects by The Freshwater Trust.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willamette River</span> 187-mile Columbia River tributary in northwest Oregon, US

The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland, which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klamath River</span> River in Oregon and California, United States

The Klamath River flows 257 miles (414 km) through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second largest river in California after the Sacramento River. It drains an extensive watershed of almost 16,000 square miles (41,000 km2) that stretches from the arid country of south-central Oregon to the temperate rainforest of the Pacific coast. Unlike most rivers, the Klamath begins in the high desert and flows toward the mountains – carving its way through the rugged Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains before reaching the sea. The upper basin, today used for farming and ranching, once contained vast freshwater marshes that provided habitat for abundant wildlife, including millions of migratory birds. Most of the lower basin remains wild, with much of it designated wilderness. The watershed is known for this peculiar geography, and the Klamath has been called "a river upside down" by National Geographic magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogue River (Oregon)</span> River in Oregon, United States

The Rogue River in southwestern Oregon in the United States flows about 215 miles (346 km) in a generally westward direction from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean. Known for its salmon runs, whitewater rafting, and rugged scenery, it was one of the original eight rivers named in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Beginning near Crater Lake, which occupies the caldera left by the explosive volcanic eruption and collapse of Mount Mazama, the river flows through the geologically young High Cascades and the older Western Cascades, another volcanic province. Further west, the river passes through multiple exotic terranes of the more ancient Klamath Mountains. In the Kalmiopsis Wilderness section of the Rogue basin are some of the world's best examples of rocks that form the Earth's mantle. Near the mouth of the river, the only dinosaur fragments ever discovered in Oregon were found in the Otter Point Formation, along the coast of Curry County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clackamas River</span> River in Oregon, United States

The Clackamas River is an approximately 83-mile (134 km) tributary of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon, in the United States. Draining an area of about 940 square miles (2,435 km2), the Clackamas flows through mostly forested and rugged mountainous terrain in its upper reaches, and passes agricultural and urban areas in its lower third. The river rises in eastern Marion County, about 55 miles (89 km) east-southeast of Salem. The headwaters are on the slopes of Olallie Butte in the Mount Hood National Forest, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Mount Jefferson, at an elevation of 4,909 feet (1,496 m) in the Cascade Range. The Clackamas flows briefly north and then flows northwest through the mountains, passing through North Fork Reservoir and Estacada. It then emerges from the mountains southeast of Portland. It joins the Willamette near Oregon City and forms the boundary between Oregon City and Gladstone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKenzie River (Oregon)</span> Mckenzie Blue River

The McKenzie River is a 90-mile (145 km) tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range east of Eugene and flows westward into the southernmost end of the Willamette Valley. It is named for Donald McKenzie, a Scottish Canadian fur trader who explored parts of the Pacific Northwest for the Pacific Fur Company in the early 19th century. As of the 21st century, six large dams have been built on the McKenzie and its tributaries.

Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) or Columbia River redband trout. Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and North America. Like other sea-run (anadromous) trout and salmon, steelhead spawn in freshwater, smolts migrate to the ocean to forage for several years and adults return to their natal streams to spawn. Steelhead are iteroparous, although survival is approximately 10–20%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Atkinson</span> American politician

Jason Atkinson is an American politician in the US state of Oregon. The Republican grew up in the Southern Oregon city of Ashland. He served as a senator in the Oregon State Senate from 2001 to 2013. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Governor of Oregon in 2006. He stated his intention to run in the 2010 Oregon gubernatorial election, but withdrew from the race in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific lamprey</span> Species of jawless fish

The Pacific lamprey is an anadromous parasitic lamprey from the Pacific Coast of North America and Asia in an area called the Pacific Rim. It is a member of the Petromyzontidae family. The Pacific lamprey is also known as the three-tooth lamprey and tridentate lamprey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal cutthroat trout</span> Subspecies of fish

The coastal cutthroat trout, also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the several subspecies of cutthroat trout found in Western North America. The coastal cutthroat trout occurs in four distinct forms. A semi-anadromous or sea-run form is the most well known. Freshwater forms occur in both large and small rivers and streams and lake environments. The native range of the coastal cutthroat trout extends south from the southern coastline of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska to the Eel River in Northern California. Coastal cutthroat trout are resident in tributary streams and rivers of the Pacific basin and are rarely found more than 100 miles (160 km) from the ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson Creek (Willamette River tributary)</span> Creek in Oregon, USA

Johnson Creek is a 25-mile (40 km) tributary of the Willamette River in the Portland metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its catchment consists of 54 square miles (140 km2) of mostly urban land occupied by about 180,000 people as of 2012. Passing through the cities of Gresham, Portland, and Milwaukie, the creek flows generally west from the foothills of the Cascade Range through sediments deposited by glacial floods on a substrate of basalt. Though polluted, it is free-flowing along its main stem and provides habitat for salmon and other migrating fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tryon Creek</span> Tributary of the Willamette River in Oregon

Tryon Creek is a 4.85-mile (7.81 km) tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about 6.5 square miles (16.8 km2) in Multnomah and Clackamas counties. The stream flows southeast from the Tualatin Mountains through the Multnomah Village neighborhood of Portland and the Tryon Creek State Natural Area to the Willamette in the city of Lake Oswego. Parks and open spaces cover about 21 percent of the watershed, while single-family homes dominate most of the remainder. The largest of the parks is the state natural area, which straddles the border between the two cities and counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanno Creek</span> River in Oregon, United States

Fanno Creek is a 15-mile (24 km) tributary of the Tualatin River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about 32 square miles (83 km2) in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, including about 7 square miles (18 km2) within the Portland city limits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Slough</span> Waterway in the floodplain of the Columbia River in Oregon, U.S.

The Columbia Slough is a narrow waterway, about 19 miles (31 km) long, in the floodplain of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source in the Portland suburb of Fairview, the Columbia Slough meanders west through Gresham and Portland to the Willamette River, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the Willamette's confluence with the Columbia. It is a remnant of the historic wetlands between the mouths of the Sandy River to the east and the Willamette River to the west. Levees surround much of the main slough as well as many side sloughs, detached sloughs, and nearby lakes. Drainage district employees control water flows with pumps and floodgates. Tidal fluctuations cause reverse flow on the lower slough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cougar Dam</span> Dam in Oregon, U.S.

Cougar Dam is a 519-foot (158 m) tall rockfill hydroelectric dam in the U.S. state of Oregon. It has a gated concrete spillway and a powerhouse with two turbines totaling 25 megawatts of electric power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salmon conservation</span>

The survival of wild salmon relies heavily on them having suitable habitat for spawning and rearing of their young. This habitat is the main concern for conservationists. Salmon habitat can be degraded by many different factors including land development, timber harvest, or resource extraction. These threats bring about the traditional methods of protecting the salmon, but a new movement aims to protect the habitats before they require intervention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chehalem Creek</span> River in Oregon, United States

Chehalem Creek is a tributary of the Willamette River in Yamhill County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains a watershed of 43,400 acres (176 km2), about 68 square miles. Its headwaters rise on the eastern slope of the Northern Oregon Coast Range above Larsen Reservoir 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Gaston and discharge into the Willamette near Newberg. The word "Chehalem" is a corruption of the Atfalati Indian word "'Chahelim'", a name given in 1877 to one of the bands of Atfalati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental issues with salmon</span>

Salmon population levels are of concern in the Atlantic and in some parts of the Pacific. Salmon are typically anadromous - they rear and grow in freshwater, migrate to the ocean to reach sexual maturity, and then return to freshwater to spawn. Determining how environmental stressors and climate change will affect these fisheries is challenging due to their lives split between fresh and saltwater. Environmental variables like warming temperatures and habitat loss are detrimental to salmon abundance and survival. Other human influenced effects on salmon like overfishing and gillnets, sea lice from farm raised salmon, and competition from hatchery released salmon have negative effects as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt Creek (Middle Fork Willamette River tributary)</span> River in Oregon, United States

Salt Creek is a 30-mile (48 km) tributary of the Middle Fork Willamette River in Lane County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named for salt springs along its banks that are used as licks by deer. The stream originates as an outflow of Lower Betty Lake in the forested Cascade Range just southeast of Waldo Lake. It proceeds generally south, through Gold Lake, to Route 58, which it then follows mainly northwest for about 26 miles (42 km) to its mouth at the Middle Fork Willamette River just below Hills Creek Dam. At Salt Creek Falls—roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Willamette Pass and a little more than 22 miles (35 km) upstream from the mouth—the stream plunges 286 feet (87 m), discharging an average of 50,000 U.S. gallons (190,000 L) of water per minute, or 111 cubic feet per second (3.1 m3/s). Below the falls, the creek enters a narrow canyon shaped by glaciation and basaltic lava flows from higher in the Cascades. McCredie Hot Springs, at the former community of McCredie Springs, are natural hot springs along the lower half of Salt Creek beside Route 58.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Creek (Marys River tributary)</span> River in Oregon, United States

Oak Creek is a tributary, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long, of Marys River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The stream descends from forested hills north of Corvallis through the northwest part of the city and across the campus of Oregon State University.

Metolius Preserve is a conservation preserve owned and managed by the Deschutes Land Trust. It is located near Camp Sherman in Jefferson County, Oregon, USA. Conservation values include old-growth ponderosa pine forest providing habitat for sensitive plants and wildlife, and three segments of Lake Creek with salmon and trout spawning and migration habitat. The Preserve is open to the public for education and recreation. For access information, see the Preserve website.

References

  1. ↑ "Oregon Trout, Oregon Water Trust have new name". Portland Business Journal . March 3, 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Water Partnership Salutes Winners of U.S. Water Prize". Global Environment & Technology Association. Global Environment & Technology Association. 2013-02-27. Archived from the original on 2017-07-23. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  3. ↑ "Quantified: Redefining Conservation for the Next Economy." Island Press. Published September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Streams & Rivers Restoration". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  5. ↑ Freeman, Mark (July 14, 2013). "Cool waters". Medford Mail Tribune.
  6. ↑ Astor Boozer (August 11, 2014) “States Use Regional Partnership, Innovation to Protect Rivers and a Way of Life.” USDA Blog.
  7. ↑ “2013 U.S. Water Prize Winners Celebrated.” Archived 2015-08-27 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Water Alliance. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Regional Recommendations on Water Quality Trading." Willamette Partnership. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. ↑ Rogers, Julia (May 15, 2014). "Sandy River project hopes to hook salmon". Portland Tribune.
  10. ↑ "Fifteenmile watershed group recognized for fish efforts". The Dalles Chronicle.
  11. ↑ Freeman, Mark (July 14, 2013). "Cool waters". Medford Mail Tribune.
  12. ↑ “Utilities launch River projects”. McKenzie River Reflections. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.