Protect and Restore Free Flowing Oregon Rivers

Thanks to your support, we can report the following major successes.

The tools are now in place to restore streamflows in the 72 mile reach of the Crooked River between Bowman Dam and Lake Billy Chinook in the Deschutes Basin. Thanks to legislation passed at the end of the 113th Congress, federal managers can now release water from storage to restore this reach of the Crooked River for native redband trout, Endangered Species Act listed steelhead and to support Central Oregon's recreational economy. It's hard to overstate the significance of this accomplishment. In the West, there are very few river restoration projects of this magnitude. Thanks to your support, we are seeing one blossom in Central Oregon.  

In the Rogue Basin, we are on the verge of removing the fourth and eight worst fish passage barriers in Oregon. Your gifts  help support the project to remove Fielder and Wimer Dams from Evans Creek. These dams have been identified as key to restoring threatened coho salmon in the Rogue Basin. Thanks to you, we are moving towards removal of these obsolete dams in 2015.

Thanks to your support, WaterWatch is addressing the twin and synergistic threats of climate change and growth to our rivers. In the last two months, WaterWatch won two appellate court cases that require Oregon's growing cities to account for the needs of imperiled fish. These cases will help address the threats of growth and climate change on our rivers by requiring cities and state agencies to account and provide enough water to ensure that populations of imperiled fish persist into the future. The cases also require cities to perform basic water conservation and planning. Both are critical if we are to meet future water demands and maintain healthy rivers in Oregon.

Oregon rivers and aquatic species thank you!