Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission Wins Award for Restoring Riverbanks and Watershed
The Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) and The Freshwater Trust were honored for their restoration work of riparian areas along the Willamette River and its tributaries.
The Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies honored the two organizations with an award for Outstanding Agency Project for their instrumental roles in forming the Pure Water Partners (PWP) at their annual conference in Bend on July 18th. The PWP is a multi-partner collaborative that works with private landowners to restore natural vegetation to riverbanks and tributary waterways. This restoration of native plants helps to improve biodiversity, protect the river from pollutants, provide cooler water temperatures, and provide wildfire resiliency.
The PWP was officially formed in 2021 by the MWMC, The Freshwater Trust, the Eugene Water and Electric Board, and other local conservation organizations and agencies. The group has been instrumental in providing education to landowners about how their actions can improve the health of local rivers and working with them to replant riverbanks with native trees that will provide shade and cool the McKenzie and Willamette rivers.
