Close to 150 children were treated to environmentally friendly, hands-on craft activities at the second annual Children’s Discovery Craft Carnival on Saturday, September 22.  The carnival was sponsored by the Johnson Creek Watershed Council as a part of Johnson Creek Days, a series of free community events during the month of September meant to raise watershed awareness.

^{Sabrina Litton, with Portland Water Bureau's Resource Protection and Planning, explains that although we live on a planet covered by water, more than 97 percent is salty, and nearly two percent is locked up in snow and ice, which leaves less than one percent to grow our crops and supply drinking and bathing water.}

Representatives from agencies including Leach Botanical Gardens, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, Bureau of Environmental Services, Portland State University, Metro, The Bug Chicks, and the Portland Water Bureau converged on Lents Park in northeast Portland, ready to show carnival goers simple and usable ways to preserve the Johnson Creek watershed.

Johnson Creek originates in Boring, Oregon, and flows 26 miles west through Clackamas and Multnomah counties, Gresham, and Portland before connecting with the Willamette River in Milwaukie. About 170,000 people live within the 52 square miles that make up the watershed.

The creek is a natural refuge in an urban environment and one of Portland's most important water resources. The Johnson Creek Watershed Council offer opportunities, such as the carnival to help raise community awareness of the important role that Johnson Creek plays in preserving fish and wildlife habitat as well as its potential for providing a respite for urban dwellers to enjoy and learn about nature.

For more information and to learn ways to help promote restoration and stewardship of a healthy Johnson Creek watershed, visit the following links:

• Watershed information
• On-going restoration projects
• Efforts to resolve environmental challenges
• Everyday ways to improve the Watershed’s health 

Lindsay Wochnick
Community Information & Involvement