May 4, 2015

Good science drives good policy.

Over the last 50 years, we’ve made great progress for the health of our watersheds. From the Big Pipe to the Crystal Springs Creek Restoration project, our public investments have made a difference.

The Bureau of Environmental Services has a new tool to help guide the next chapter in our story: Watershed Report Cards.

Healthy watersheds protect public health, make our community more livable, and support native fish and wildlife.

The Report Cards are a grading system to track Portland’s watershed health. Each watershed is assigned A-F letter grades for temperature, mineral content, wildlife numbers, tree canopy, and more!

Not only will the City be better able to identify problem areas, but Portlanders will also get a bigger picture of our overall environmental health – and how they can get involved in keeping Portland green.

We’ll grade watersheds across our community – in the Willamette, Willamette Tributaries, Fanno Creek, Tryon Creek, Columbia Slough, and Johnson Creek.

Check out BES' website for more information.

Portland Watersheds get inaugural report card; city and green leaders call it powerful tool

Andre Theen in The Oregonian