River Conscious Living: the Willamette River
Brittany Wester
SOC 228
TR 3-4:50
River Conscious Living: The Willamette Oregon 's Willamette River is the 13th largest river in the United States, not only does it span more than 11,000 square miles in total area but over 70% of all Oregonians live in the Willamette Basin. This river is as much a part of Oregon 's culture as Crater Lake or Mt. Hood, it is even a declared American Heritage river, yet we have become so disconnected from it that most people don 't even look down as they cross one of the many bridges in Portland. The Willamette River effects many aspects of our day to day life, many counties draw drinking water from the river, fish from the river were a part of our economy, 11 of the 13 dams on the river produce hydropower, the river 's tributaries create some of the richest farmland in the nation and the aesthetic value of the river is immeasurable. The history of the Willamette is a messy one, we stopped using it as a source of drinking water back in 1895 in favor of the Bull Run watershed, it was described as an "open sewer" in 1911 which led to the shutdown of commercial fishing in 1918 because of typhoid outbreaks. Multiple studies were done to the river ultimately revealing that the river was unable to support aquatic life. Water quality and industry dumping was just becoming a concern during this time but because the Northwest is so rich in resources the problems with the Willamette weren 't even acknowledged until 1938 when the Water Purification Act began requiring cities to build sewage treatment plants. The river was still experiencing problems with low oxygen and acidic waste which led to a Documentary by Tom McCall called, "Pollution in Paradise" that opened the eyes of Oregonians and led to his election as Governor in 1966. As Governor McCall created the DEQ and made the Willamette River cleanup a top priority. Oregon was leading the way in environmental cleanup and restoration with its work on the Willamette River. The river
SOC 228
TR 3-4:50
River Conscious Living: The Willamette Oregon 's Willamette River is the 13th largest river in the United States, not only does it span more than 11,000 square miles in total area but over 70% of all Oregonians live in the Willamette Basin. This river is as much a part of Oregon 's culture as Crater Lake or Mt. Hood, it is even a declared American Heritage river, yet we have become so disconnected from it that most people don 't even look down as they cross one of the many bridges in Portland. The Willamette River effects many aspects of our day to day life, many counties draw drinking water from the river, fish from the river were a part of our economy, 11 of the 13 dams on the river produce hydropower, the river 's tributaries create some of the richest farmland in the nation and the aesthetic value of the river is immeasurable. The history of the Willamette is a messy one, we stopped using it as a source of drinking water back in 1895 in favor of the Bull Run watershed, it was described as an "open sewer" in 1911 which led to the shutdown of commercial fishing in 1918 because of typhoid outbreaks. Multiple studies were done to the river ultimately revealing that the river was unable to support aquatic life. Water quality and industry dumping was just becoming a concern during this time but because the Northwest is so rich in resources the problems with the Willamette weren 't even acknowledged until 1938 when the Water Purification Act began requiring cities to build sewage treatment plants. The river was still experiencing problems with low oxygen and acidic waste which led to a Documentary by Tom McCall called, "Pollution in Paradise" that opened the eyes of Oregonians and led to his election as Governor in 1966. As Governor McCall created the DEQ and made the Willamette River cleanup a top priority. Oregon was leading the way in environmental cleanup and restoration with its work on the Willamette River. The river
Bibliography: 1. Quinn, D. 1992. Ishmael, New York, NY: Bantam/Turner. 2. Kline, B. 2011. First Along the River, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. 3. Lake, O. 2011. Water is Life, White Cloud Press. 4. Oregon Environmental Council. Willamette River, June 5, 2013.