Monitoring Portland's Ecological Resources

The City of Portland and many partners are working to improve the health of our rivers, streams, and urban watersheds. Healthy watersheds have conditions suitable to protect human health and support thriving communities of native fish and wildlife.

Why does Environmental Services do environmental monitoring?

Environmental monitoring supports a broad set of responsibilities including watershed protection, sewage treatment, drainage infrastructure, construction and maintenance. Monitoring activities include:

• Water quality and sediment to meet obligations under the Clean Water Act including Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Superfund
• Fish and wildlife habitat monitoring in response to the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act
• Stormwater conveyance, drainageway and flows for the protection and design of infrastructure and stream restoration
• Project and permit requirements and effectiveness monitoring of watershed restoration projects
• Quantify benefits of sustainable stormwater facilities
• Watershed-scale monitoring, called the Portland Area Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Program (PAWMAP). PAWMAP systematically monitors watershed health to meet the above needs and to support the Portland Watershed Management Plan. Environmental Services uses information from PAWMAP to calculate the Watershed Health Index, terrestrial habitats to address objectives identified in the Portland Watershed Management Plan

In 2010, Environmental Services consolidated monitoring efforts into the Portland Area Watershed Monitoring and Assessment Program (PAWMAP). PAWMAP coordinated monitoring across all city watersheds to more evenly address the four watershed goals, expanded efforts to include systematic monitoring of terrestrial habitats and populations, and increased the rigor, accuracy and efficiency of the monitoring design.

Go to the PAWMAP page for more information.