Healthy Streams Program

Program area map

We provide full funding, project planning, and technical assistance to landowners for streamside restoration to improve water quality, wildlife habitat, and the condition of the land. Current target areas include McCarthy, Abbey, and Rock creeks in the West Hills, and canals and ditches on Sauvie Island. The objective along McCarthy, Abbey and Rock creeks is to restore habitat for salmonid fish, enhance wildlife corridors, and improve water quality for all.

Riparian buffers provide many services:

Migration sites, cover, reproduction, nesting and forage for many wildlife species, including birds, amphibians, mammals, and pollinators
Cool, shaded water for salmon, other native fish and the aquatic invertebrates that feed them
Their diverse network of plant roots help minimize soil erosion
Noise buffering, privacy and visual beauty
Increased land values and landowner enjoyment
Reduced property taxes when enrolled with Multnomah County
Livestock exclusion from streams, which can include wildlife-friendly fencing

The objective of the Healthy Streams Program on Sauvie Island agricultural land is to improve water quality and reduce invasive plant species, tillage, and livestock use that occur directly adjacent to waterways, which contributes to erosion and sedimentation. Beyond the Healthy Streams program, we provide technical assistance managing riparian areas.

Quick-to-establish native plants, such as willow and red osier dogwood, are installed along the stream’s edge to stabilize the bank and minimize erosion.

We will pay to install and establish self-sustaining native woody and/or herbaceous plant “buffers” – depending on landowner and wildlife objectives.

Benefits include: