Salem has more than 90 miles of streams and tributaries within city limits.
Every summer, the Stream Cleaning Program team traverses the bulk of those streams, collecting trash and clearing debris from waterways to reduce pollution and prevent flooding.
On a sunny July morning, the 11-person crew, clad in hip waders and rubber boots, bushwhacked up Pringle Creek at Woodmansee Park and filled their trucks with fast food containers, empty soda cans and wood causing logjams.
Then a call came in reporting a table in Mill Creek east of downtown.
The team, composed of current and recently graduated college students working paid internships, loaded up and headed north.
Salem team hauls 41,887 pounds of trash from streams in 2023
Last summer, the team inspected and cleaned almost 60 miles of creeks, cleared 41,887 pounds of trash and removed 54 debris jams. They respond to all parts of the city, from Glen Creek and Brush Creek in West Salem to south's Croisan Creek and Clark Creek to Mill Creek and Pringle Creek flowing through downtown.
Deborah Topp, the city's environmental outreach supervisor, said the Stream Cleaning Program was created in the wake of the 1996 Willamette Valley flood that caused water levels to surge and killed eight people in Oregon.
Topp said the program preserves the habitat of dozens of fish, waterfowl, amphibians and insects, cleans neighborhoods, reduces the risk of flood during high flows and provides valuable data for the city and FEMA.
"The streams are actually the backbones of the city stormwater system," she said. "We want to make sure we are having as minimal impact to the habitat as we can."
The streams, Willamette River and Salem's water source in the North Santiam River are all part of the same water cycle, she added.
"Having clean water is important for all living beings," she said.
Interns learn mapping, environmental stewardship, job skills
For three months, the summer crews work eight-hour shifts, five days a week to plan, respond, clean the creeks and haul loads away.
The summer crew interns, many of whom are environmental and natural sciences majors, get hands-on fieldwork experience learning to document invasive plant species, beaver dams, flood-prone locations and using geographic information system mapping software. GIS programs map geographic information for analysis and are used in urban planning, environmental science, surveying and computer programming fields.
Luke Westphal first became involved with the program as an environmental science student at Willamette University.
He said he enjoyed the hands-on aspect of the work and being outdoors.
"I was hooked," Westphal said. "I wanted to be a part of it every summer."
He interned for four crews and went on to work for a nonprofit 10 years before returning to Salem to lead the same crew and work as the urban streamside program coordinator.
"It's a very physically challenging program, but while they're doing that, they're using their brains," he said. "They're having to navigate complicated stream dynamics, figure out how to manage the creek effectively and how to document what they're observing so that our staff in our department and other departments can take the data they collect and make good decisions for the creek."
Ingrid Aosved, who recently graduated from Willamette University with a degree in environmental science and a minor in chemistry, signed up for the program wanting more fieldwork experience.
"I had heard from some friends who've done this internship that it was really rewarding work and they felt like they had learned a lot from the process," she said. "It's something that I'm passionate about... being able to take care of water quality in this area is important to me."
She said her first month of the program has been fun and informative.
"I learned a lot about Salem specifically and Salem's stormwater and stream processing, but also a lot of skills that are applicable to what I could be doing in the future," Aosved said. "I'm really excited about it."
Table cleanup at Mill Creek
At Mill Creek, the team navigated down the steep bank and blackberry brambles to grab the water-logged table and seatless office chair discarded in the stream.
The resident who reported the trash watched from a nearby apartment balcony and shouted his gratitude.
"Thanks for coming out," he said, as the crew waded upstream and found beer cans and a water gun.
The team worked together to pull the table and trash up the bank before continuing on to the next creek.
To report creek issues in Salem, contact Public Works Dispatch at 503‑588‑6311.
To learn more about the program, visit cityofsalem.net/community/natural-environment-climate/environmental-planning-management/streams-wetlands/keep-salem-s-streams-clean/stream-cleaning-program.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth
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