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.
The Duwamish River is the name of the lower 12 miles (19 km) of Washington state's Green River. Its industrialized estuary is known as the Duwamish Waterway. Although heavily polluted, it is an important habitat for the wildlife. Important to the Duwamish people, the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center is on the west bank of the river and several parks have indigenous Lushootseed names.
New Jersey Meadowlands, also known as the Hackensack Meadowlands after the primary river flowing through it, is a general name for a large ecosystem of wetlands in northeastern New Jersey in the United States, a few miles to the west of New York City. During the 20th century, much of the Meadowlands area was urbanized, and it became known for being the site of large landfills and decades of environmental abuse. A variety of projects began in the late 20th century to restore and conserve the remaining ecological resources in the Meadowlands.
The Gowanus Canal is a 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km) canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th century as domestic shipping declined. It continues to be used for occasional movement of goods and daily navigation of small boats, tugs, and barges. It is among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States.
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River, which it roughly parallels, separated from it by the New Jersey Palisades. It also flows through and drains the New Jersey Meadowlands. The lower river, which is navigable as far as the city of Hackensack, is heavily industrialized and forms a commercial extension of Newark Bay.
Riverkeeper is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection of the Hudson River and its tributaries, as well as the watersheds that provide New York City with its drinking water. It started out as the Hudson River Fisherman's Association (HRFA) in 1966. In 1986, the group merged with the Hudson Riverkeeper Fund it established in 1983 and took on the name Riverkeeper. In 1999, the Waterkeeper Alliance was created as an umbrella organization to unite and support "keeper" organizations.
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a 36.59-acre (148,100 m2) park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive, a major milestone in the freeway removal movement, the park was opened to the public in 1978. The park covers 13 tax lots and is owned by the City of Portland. The park was renamed in 1984 to honor Tom McCall, the Oregon governor who pledged his support for the beautification of the west bank of the Willamette River—harkening back to the City Beautiful plans at the turn of the century which envisioned parks and greenways along the river. The park is bordered by RiverPlace to the south, the Steel Bridge to the north, Naito Parkway to the west, and Willamette River to the east. In October 2012, Waterfront Park was voted one of America's ten greatest public spaces by the American Planning Association.
Pacific Creosoting Company was a company founded on Bainbridge Island that treated logs with creosote as a preservative.
Many steamboats operated on the Columbia River and its tributaries, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, from about 1850 to 1981. Major tributaries of the Columbia that formed steamboat routes included the Willamette and Snake rivers. Navigation was impractical between the Snake River and the Canada–US border, due to several rapids, but steamboats also operated along the Wenatchee Reach of the Columbia, in northern Washington, and on the Arrow Lakes of southern British Columbia.
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.
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.
Coosa River Basin Initiative (CRBI) is a 501(c)(3) grassroots environmental organization based in Rome, Georgia, with the mission of informing and empowering citizens to protect, preserve and restore North America's most biologically diverse river basin, the Coosa. Since 1992, the staff, board and members have served as advocates for "the wise stewardship of the natural resources of the Upper Coosa River basin, or watershed, which stretches from southeastern Tennessee and north central Georgia to Weiss Dam in Northeast Alabama. This includes the Coosa River, the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers and the tributaries of these waterways as well as the land drained by these streams and the air that surrounds this land area."
Portland is a sternwheel steamboat built in 1947 for the Port of Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
Between 1947 and 1977, General Electric polluted the Hudson River by discharging polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) causing a range of harmful effects to wildlife and people who eat fish from the river. Other kinds of pollution, including mercury contamination and cities discharging untreated sewage, have also caused problems in the river.
The California Gulch site consists of approximately 18 square miles in Lake County, Colorado. The area includes the city of Leadville, parts of the Leadville Historic Mining District and a section of the Arkansas River from the confluence of California Gulch downstream to the confluence of Two-Bit Gulch. The site was listed as a Superfund site in 1983.
The Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site consists of a seawall along the coast of the Raritan Bay in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, United States. The seawall itself is made of slag. In this seawall, are large concentrations of lead, antimony, arsenic, and copper. The lead in particular has contaminated the nearby soil and surface water. The slag deposits are a by-product from NL Industries, a lead smelting company, dumping its wastes in the Raritan River. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) investigated the area and found large concentrations of metals to be dangerous to human health. The NJDEP called the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate the area further, which resulted in some of the slag being physically removed and the toxic areas being fenced off.
Newark Riverfront Park is a park and promenade being developed in phases along the Passaic River in Newark, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the Essex County Park System. The park, expected to be 3 miles (4.8 km) long and encompass 30.5 acres (12.3 ha), is being created from brownfield and greyfield sites along the river, which itself is a Superfund site due to decades of pollution. It will follow the river between the Ironbound section along Raymond Boulevard and Downtown Newark along McCarter Highway. Announced in 1999, a groundbreaking took place in 2008, and the first phase of the park opened in 2012. It was the first time residents of the largest city in New Jersey have ever had public access to the river. Other segments of the park have subsequently opened, while others are being developed. The East Coast Greenway uses paths and roads along the park.
The Willamette Escarpment is an escarpment that runs along the east bank of the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. The escarpment comprises two distinct sections: a 200-acre (81 ha) North Escarpment Unit, which extends from the Fremont Bridge northwest to the St. Johns Bridge, and a 75-acre (30 ha) South Escarpment Unit, which extends from the Sellwood Bridge north to the Ross Island Bridge.
Human Access Project (HAP) is an organization based in Portland, Oregon, whose mission is "transforming Portland's relationship with the Willamette River". The organization's vision is a city in love with its river. HAP was founded by Willie Levenson, whose official title is the organization's Ringleader, is a tireless and effective advocate for swimming in the Willamette River he brings his love of water to his work as an activist for recreational access to the Willamette River in Portland.
