2022 Annual Report

See below for previous years’ reports

Fish Passage/Badger Creek

Since 2016, JCWC has restored fish passage at one or more locations each year. In 2022, we removed a culvert on Badger Creek just off Telford Road. This the second site on this cold water tributary from which the Council has removed problem culverts. The focus of our fish passage program is to open cold water habitat to salmon, steelhead, and other native fish.

Thank you to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife for funding this project.

Dragonfly Monitoring Sheds Light On Habitat Quality

After monitoring odonate—dragonfly & damselfly—biodiversity for seven years, we’re learning a bit about how restoration impacts the populations of these wonderful insects. Our community scientists use the app iNaturalist to record observations of these odonates at several wetlands around the watershed.

For the first time this year, we’ve begun to monitor stormwater ponds in Gresham. One of our findings is that odonate biodiversity at these ponds is at least as high as that found in high quality natural wetlands. These Gresham stormwater ponds were designed to function as habitat in addition to attenuating stormwater. It seems as though they are succeeding!

Thank you to the City of Gresham, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, and East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District for funding our Community Science program.

Better Drainage Through Depaving

Just as a watershed is the area upstream of a point draining all the rainfall, a pipeshed is the impervious area—parking lots, roofs, streets—that drains to a single outfall in the stream. By depaving or reducing impervious areas and creating rain gardens in their place, we can direct rainfall to soak into the soil on-site rather than allow it to go into the storm drains. This improves water quality by intercepting oil and other petrochemical residues from parking lots. It also helps to reduce floods by allowing water to slowly soak into the soil rather
than quickly enter the storm drains and then the creek.

We’ve identified all the stream outfalls in the watershed and mapped the impervious areas that drain to each one, focusing on commercial and industrial properties. We’re continuing to refine our prioritization and have begun outreach to property owners. We have two depaving projects planned for 2023. Our first depaving/rain garden project in 2013 was at the St. Mary’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This year volunteers and the church’s congregation maintained the rain garden together in June.

Thank you to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board for funding this analysis project.

2022 Donors

Business, Foundation, Government, And Donor Funds

Our Partners

Individual Donors

Creek Heroes Society

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Financial Statement

Revenues And Expenses

Advisory Circle

Advisory Circle

Bill Bakke – President, Native Fish Society
Earl Blumenauer – U.S. House of Representatives
Diane Boly – Partner, Boly Welch (retired)
Teresa Huntsinger – Engineer, OTAK
Steve Johnson – Professor, Portland State University
Gary Klein – Wells Fargo (retired)
Walt Mintkeski – Environmental and Energy
Efficiency Engineer (retired)
Bob Sanders – Attorney, Wood-Tatum (retired)
Dick Schubert – Chemist (retired)

Garlic Mustard: Not So Tasty To Other Plants!

For 10 years, JCWC has been part of a partnership led by the West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District to control garlic mustard in the Metro area. Although this plant is edible, it exudes chemicals through its roots that are toxic to other plants. With funding from the Oregon State Weed Board, we’ve worked on pulling garlic mustard along Johnson Creek in East Portland from I-205 to Powell Butte.

“At these sites, the ground cover has gone down dramatically,” says Noah Jenkins, JCWC Riparian Project Manager. “It’s about 10% of what it was when we started in 2012.”

This project also serves as an experience-builder. We offer five paid 40-hour internships each year with this project. Our interns learn about riparian ecology and vegetation management strategies in addition to improving conditions for native plants along Johnson Creek.

Thank you to the Oregon State Weed Board and West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District for funding this program.

JCWC Board & Staff

Board of Directors

In 2022, we welcomed Kathy Dang, Julie DiLeone, and Damon Schrosk. We said farewell to Andrew Brown, Peregrine Edison-Lahm, David Gruen, Svetlana Hedin, Melanie Klym, and Bruce Newton.

Marianne Colgrove
Tim Crawley (Chair)
Kathy Dang (City of Portland BES)
Julie DiLeone (EMSWCD)
Katie Holzer (City of Gresham)
Roy Iwai (Multnomah County)
Denise Lopez
John Nagy (Clackamas WES)
Jacob Neal (Treasurer)
Mary Ann Schmidt
Damon Schrosk

JCWC Staff

In 2022, we welcomed Marlee Eckman, Monica Hescheles, and Sara Volk. We said farewell to Courtney Beckel and Gwyn Case.

Elizabeth Brosig – Restoration Project Manager
Marlee Eckman – Community Outreach Coordinator
Cathy Geiger – Finance & Operations Coordinator
Monica Hescheles – Volunteer Program Manager
Noah Jenkins – Riparian Program Manager
Daniel Newberry – Executive Director
Sara Volk – Outreach & Riparian Specialist / Confluence AmeriCorps Member


Previous Reports

2021 Annual Report

Fish Passage In North Fork Johnson Creek—A Six-Year Journey
Barrier #4 In The Kelley/Mitchell System: Check!
Focus On Monitoring

2020 Annual Report

The Value of Restoration Partnerships
Outreach During a Pandemic
Kelly Creek Dam Removal


2019 Annual Report

New Community Partnerships at Leach Botanical Garden
Ecosystem Restoration at Mitchell Creek
New Prairie Nesting Bird Surveys

2018 Annual Report

20 years of Watershed Wide Event
Our new office!
Pond monitoring
Low cost, cutting edge fish passage


2017 Annual Report

Focus on Equity
Focus on Fish Passage
Focus on Volunteers

2016 Annual Report

Culvert replacement on Badger Creek
New beaver and dragonfly survey projects
New record for volunteer participation
Workforce development project for green jobs


2015 Annual Report

JCWC’s 20th anniversary
New 10-year Action Plan
Tacoma MAX boardwalk opening
Street tree inventories in Powellhurst-Gilbert

2014 Annual Report

Prioritization of 273 culverts throughout watershed
Science Pub Talks
Riparian program


2013 Annual Report

Rain garden at Saint Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Church
Salmon habitat improvements  at Tacoma MAX Station
Fish passage & stream flow assessments
Work with stream side landowners

2012 Annual Report

Citizen science research and monitoring projects
Statistics on fish surveys
JCWC’s volunteer program


2011 Annual Report

Messages from Board Chair and Executive Director
Current strategic plan
Johnson Creek Interjurisdictional Committee
Outreach and educational efforts

2010 Annual Report

Launch of the Conservation Registry
Watershed Wide annual volunteer event
Freshwater mussel surveys
Youth Engage Program

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