Watch “The Wondrous Lives of Pacific Lamprey” by Ben Clemens

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We had our first Watershed Group virtual presentation on September 22nd, and Ben Clemens, the Statewide Lamprey Coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, presented on:

The Wondrous Lives of Pacific Lamprey – A Story of Complexity, Diversity, & Adaptability

You can watch a recording of his video here:

Pacific Lamprey is a descendant of an ancient group of fishes that arose in the fossil record ~400 million years ago. Their biology and life history is an example of complexity, diversity, and adaptability. However, the number of this species has decreased significantly from the early 1900s as a result of river impoundment and multiple other limiting factors and threats in both the ocean and freshwaters. Native Americans use Pacific Lamprey for food, medicine, and multiple other uses, and the species also supplies myriad benefits to freshwater ecosystems.

New Funding Received for Projects

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New Funding for Neal Creek Instream Habitat Restoration Phase 1

The Watershed Group is working with several landowners along Neal Creek to improve a half-mile of stream habitat for winter steelhead and coho salmon. In June, we received a grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) for $63,000 to complete the restoration design. In July, we were awarded $38,000 from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Habitat Fund to help implement the project in 2021 along with major funding from the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs. We are also beginning to work with another set of Neal Creek landowners for a Phase 2 project.

 

 

 

New Funding for Eastside Lateral Pipeline Project

The Eastside Lateral Pipe line Project will begin construction this fall on the first phase of the pipeline. Over the past two months the project was awarded a $530,000 grant from OWEB and an additional $2.25 million from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Check out the recent article about the project in the Capital Press!

Announcing the Launch of the New Hood River Watershed Group Website!

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The Hood River Watershed Group is very excited to announce the launch of our new website!

Our goal with this new website is to provide our watershed community with an engaging and user-friendly way to learn about the Hood River Watershed Group, what we do, and what we’ve accomplished with our watershed partners over the last 30 years. We also wanted to provide a place for people to learn about the Hood River Watershed and how we as a community depend on and connect with the Watershed on a daily basis.

Our new website showcases information about the core components of the Watershed, including the water, the fish and wildlife, the forest and farms, and the people. The website highlights the work of the Watershed Group, providing information on habitat restoration, water conservation, watershed-scale planning and studies, monitoring, and education. Current and past project overviews offer visitors a closer look at the accomplishments of the Watershed Group and our partners.

We hope the website will foster a deeper connection with the Watershed and a better understanding of the need to protect and restore it. Join our mailing list to stay connected and learn about how to get involved with the Watershed Group.

Help us spread the news about our new website, and let us know what you think!

Eastside Lateral Pipeline Project in the news!

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The East Fork Irrigation District’s Eastside Lateral Pipeline Project, which will increase irrigation reliability for farmers and keep water instream for endangered salmon and steelhead by converting 10 miles of open irrigation canal to pipeline, was featured in an article by the Capital Press. The Watershed Group is partnering with East Fork Irrigation District on this project and other irrigation modernization projects in the District. Cindy Thieman, Watershed Group Coordinator, is quoted in the article.

Read the article here.

2019 Watershed Group Annual Report is live!

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Our 2019 Annual Report is live! Take a look for a recap of projects completed in 2019, as well as a snapshot of what we’ll be working on in 2020.

A huge thank you to all our partners, volunteers, Operations Committee members, and funders for making our work possible!