You’re Invited to the annual Southwest Watersheds Open House! Come learn about SW Watershed Improvement Projects.

When: Wednesday, April 24, 2019, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where: Multnomah Center, Room 33 - 7688 SW Capitol Highway

Stop by on your way home for refreshments, kids’ activities and information.

Environmental Services (BES) works with SWNI, the southwest community, and partner bureaus and organizations to develop watershed plans and projects to improve water quality, address public interests, enhance fish and wildlife habitat, improve infrastructure, and restore watershed functions.

Please join BES and SWNI at this open house to discuss recently completed and current projects and give feedback on projects in planning and early design phases. Your participation helps shape plans to fit the neighborhood.

Stop by on your way home for refreshments and information about plans and projects to improve the health of SW Portland’s watersheds. Kids’ activities will be available, and all are welcome. To request translation services, contact Colleen.Mitchell@portlandoregon.gov.

A number of exciting projects in SW Portland will be highlighted, including:

Boones Ferry Road Culvert Replacement Project

Tryon Creek flows through a culvert under SW Boones Ferry Road that creates a barrier for fish moving to habitats in upper Tryon and Arnold creeks. Environmental Services is working with many partners to replace the culvert with a bridge. Construction expected in 2020.

SW Capitol Highway: Multnomah Village to West Portland    

Portland’s Bureau of Transportation, Bureau of Environmental Services, and Water Bureau are working in coordination on street, stormwater, water main, and fire suppression improvements on SW Capitol Highway. This project will improve safety and mobility for all modes of travel while improving stormwater management, protecting water quality in local streams, and updating water supply infrastructure to meet modern demands. Working together ensures successful outcomes—including reduced costs, improved efficiency, and enhanced service delivery to the Portland community. Construction is anticipated to begin in December 2019 and will last through most of 2020.

SW Texas Wetland Expansion Project

The existing Texas Wetland site will be expanded to capture and treat additional stormwater at the headwaters to Stephens Creek and help protect downstream water quality. A pedestrian connection through the area will also be provided. Construction expected in 2019.

Learn more about southwest watersheds and additional projects in the area on the web at www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/watersheds.

With questions, comments or for more information, contact Colleen Mitchell (503)823-5326 or Colleen.Mitchell@portlandoregon.gov.

See you on April 24^th!

For translation:

口笔译服务  |  Chiaku me Awewen Kapas  |  अनुवादन तथा व्याख्या.  |  Traducere și interpretariat  |  Устный и письменный перевод  |  Turjumaad iyo Fasiraad  |  Traducción e interpretación  |  Письмовий і усний переклад  |  Biên Dịch và Thông Dịch ) Colleen Mitchell 503-823-5326

(March 14, 2019) - About 70 students from Prescott Elementary School got their hands dirty this month to contribute to clean rivers. They planted about 400 native plants at Senn's Dairy Park in the Parkrose neighborhood in partnership with Environmental Services and Portland Parks & Recreation.

The students learned about the benefits of native plants and habitat restoration and were able to apply their learning at a park in their own neighborhood.

As the students learned, native plants attract birds, butterflies, and beneficial species, provide habitat for wildlife, and help keep our rivers and streams healthy.

Native plants reduce pollution by acting as a sponge - absorbing rainwater and returning that water to the ground where it replenishes soil and groundwater, and in turn helping the plants grow. The alternative is turning rainwater into stormwater -  letting rainwater wash over streets where it mixes with motor oil, dirt, grime, pesticide residue and other pollutants that then end up down our storm drains and in our waterways. Native plants and other green infrastructure prevent pollution and add beauty and habitat to our neighborhoods.

Find out about Environmental Services' Clean Rivers Education program. 

Find out more about the benefits of native plants and what they look like at www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/nativeplants. If you have an idea for a community planting, see Environmental Services' Native Plant Mini Grants.

People can also get involved in planting natives in local natural areas by connecting with local watershed councils and Portland Parks Stewardship.

September 17, 2018

Environmental Services’ longstanding partnership with local nonprofit Depave not only transforms asphalt patches, but also empowers Portlanders to take part in the city’s efforts to manage stormwater runoff and keep our rivers clean.

What’s Stormwater Runoff?

In a natural environment, soil and plants would absorb rainfall; but in the city, streets, buildings, and parking lots cover the ground. Rain washes over these surfaces and becomes stormwater runoff, which carries oil and other pollutants to rivers and streams.

Improving Neighborhoods Together

Environmental Services is working on an upcoming project supporting Depave and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership to improve North Portland’s Boise-Eliot/Humboldt Elementary schoolyard. Starting at 10 a.m. on September 22, volunteers will transform this schoolyard’s asphalt expanse into a stormwater-savvy soft play area. Volunteers will help remove more than 6,000 square feet of pavement, and the project will include a vegetated planting area, six new trees, creation of a wallball court with a mural showcasing watershed health, and stormwater-focused education for the school’s K-5 students.

This work will help reduce pollution to the Willamette River, and provide shade trees, a new soft play area, and habitat for native birds and pollinators. It’s also a chance for the students to learn about watershed health and urban habitat.

To participate in the Boise-Eliot/Humboldt Elementary School depaving work party, register at: https://depave.org/work/greenspaces. Volunteers must wear long pants and closed-toed shoes. All tools, safety gear, snacks, and lunch are provided. Music will be provided courtesy of DJ Depave.

A History of Partnership

Environmental Services and Depave have maintained a strong partnership since the nonprofit’s founding 10 years ago. In 2008, Depave earned a $10,000 Community Watershed Stewardship Program (CWSP) grant through Environmental Services to remove 3,000 square feet of parking lot and establish the grounds of Fargo Forest Garden, located in Portland’s Eliot neighborhood at the corner of NE Fargo Street and N Williams Avenue.

Greening Our City

A larger-scale depaving project took place starting in 2010 at Ascension Catholic Church at 743 SE 76^th Avenue. The church lot was a sea of asphalt, with oversized parking stalls and drive aisles lacking interior landscaping.  

As of fall 2017, Depave has removed 3,200 square feet of asphalt. A CWSP grant helped to gather over 150 volunteers from the church, Depave, and the community who installed over 800 native plants and completed two new rain gardens. Environmental Services installed 10 large diameter trees, helping to shade the parking lot, intercept stormwater during the winter months, and reduce the urban heat island effect. The Mount Tabor neighborhood church now manages around 500,000 gallons of stormwater runoff onsite annually.

Environmental Services is proud to have sponsored these kick-asphalt projects over the years alongside Depave. If you have an idea for a depave project of your own, apply for a CWSP grant or connect with Depave.

It's true that one person can make a difference. But a whole lot of people working together can move mountains (of ivy) and restore a forest, and a park, and a wetland and more.

Here's a great chance to team up in a citywide volunteer day to remove ivy and other invasive plants and help restore our natural areas and forests. You'll never look at our forests and natural areas the same way again.

Sign up for the15th annual citywide No Ivy Day, October 27, 2018 from 9 a.m. to noon. 

Choose the site that works best for you - from  Gateway Green and Nadaka Nature Park on the east side to Forest Park and Westlake Woodland on the west.

Led by our sister bureau, Portland Parks & Recreation, the events involve numerous community groups as partners. Refreshments, tools, and instruction will be provided at all locations.

Afterwards, you can join in a free celebration lunch and raffle from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at these locations: Mt Tabor, Forest Park and Marquam Nature Park. For more information sign up here.

Sign up now  - register for No Ivy Day October 27, 2018.

P.S. Want to see what else we're doing?

Citywide - Environmental Services restores natural areas and removes invasive plants throughout the year. Find out about invasive species management

Your garden - Environmental Services offers a poster of invasive plants and native plants and other resources. Find out about what to plant and what to pull.

July 24, 2018

We know green infrastructure is about more than the plants. When we plant a tree to help manage stormwater, we’re introducing a new, long-lived resident into the landscape. A tree is shade on a playground, a restorative view from a classroom window, an air filter for the fallout of urban life. Our investments enhance the lives of Portlanders, and they’re only possible through partnerships with the community. Thanks to these community partnerships, our work – and celebration – of healthy watersheds and community has come to fruit in the Lents neighborhood.

Since 2011, the Environmental Services Tree Program has partnered with the Confluence Environmental Center to helps us better serve community through AmeriCorps service placements. Our AmeriCorps members provide opportunities for underserved Portlanders through education, leadership, and the chance to make tangible change in the landscape. Last winter, our AmeriCorps member (Max Rodrigues, pictured below, front row, right) teamed up with Rosemary Anderson High School students to plant trees at the Wattles Boys and Girls Club. Max and Friends of Trees staff spent time in the classroom with students teaching them about trees and the many benefits trees provide for people. Students helped choose the trees they wanted to see on their campus, and then spent an afternoon hands-on, planting their new trees in the school yard. The trees include our native Oregon white oak, evergreen interior live oak, and beautifully flowering cultivars of silverbell and dogwood. While students enjoy their summer break, we’ll be watering the trees for the next three summers to help get them going in their new homes.

These new school yard trees join street trees planted in front of the school and throughout the Lents neighborhood and the Jade District through other BES-community partnerships.

If you’re interested in a map of the school trees to test your tree identification skills, come find us at the Lents Fair on Sunday, August 5^th, from 11am to 4pm. We’ll be at SE 92^nd and SE Harold, near Wattles Boys and Girls Club and the Belmont goats. In addition to the trees, Environmental Services staff are also excited to share the latest information about our most recent commitment to Lents: The Lents Stabilization and Job Creation Collaborative.

Wattles campus is adjacent to busy transportation corridors. Trees help to provide clean air and visual barriers.

Students at work!

Planting crew poses for a post-planting photo.

A blooming Rosy Ridge silverbell, Halesia carolina ‘Rosy Ridge’

Greening the Jade District one tree at a time