History of the Johnson Creek Watershed Council

In the mid-1980s, a small grassroots group called the Friends of Johnson Creek (also known as the Johnson Creek Marching Band) began leading tours of Johnson Creek, highlighting it as a community asset. It was the first time that any group had portrayed Johnson Creek in a positive light publicly. For years, Johnson Creek had been known primarily as a degraded eyesore that frequently flooded. Several government agencies had tried unsuccessfully to solve the flooding problems, prescribing top-down engineering solutions, which were met with resistance, if not outright hostility from local residents, who felt that government was forcing a costly solution on them without their input.

In 1990, the City of Portland began convening multiple agencies and citizen stakeholders to develop a Johnson Creek Resource Management Plan (RMP). The Johnson Creek Corridor Committee (JCCC), as the coalition was called, met monthly for almost five years before publishing the RMP in 1995. Unlike previous failed planning efforts, the JCCC insisted that both government agencies and citizens groups begin working on early enhancement projects and public education programs, even before planning was finished. These early projects were critical in overcoming more than forty years of inertia and began building a culture of creek stewardship that today is one of the core strengths of the Johnson Creek Watershed Council. They also were an important tool to identify and engage the many and diverse types of community interests in Johnson Creek. Previous planning efforts had made the mistake of treating Johnson Creek stakeholders as uniform, with flooding as their sole concern.

One of the key recommendations made during Resource Management Planning was that a permanent group be formed to provide continued leadership, fostering the nascent stewardship ethic in the watershed. The Johnson Creek Watershed Council (JCWC) is this permanent group that grew out of the Johnson Creek Corridor Committee. Its first meeting as the Johnson Creek Watershed Council was in 1995.

The timing of JCWC’s formation was fortuitous as it coincided with the statewide establishment of watershed councils and the development of the Oregon Plan for salmon and watersheds. One of the key features of the Oregon Plan is its focus on voluntary restoration actions rather than regulatory mechanisms to achieve endangered species recovery and watershed health. It is predicated on a spirit of volunteerism and stewardship and the belief that it takes local knowledge of problems and a local sense of ownership to achieve long-term watershed health. Another key tenet of the Oregon Plan is that healthy watersheds support the economy and quality of life of Oregon.

1984

Friends of Johnson Creek / Johnson Creek Marching Band formed

1984
1990

Johnson Creek Corridor Committee (JCCC) formed

1990
1995

Johnson Creek Resources Management Plan approved by the JCCC and formally adopted by various watershed jurisdictions

1995
May 3, 1995

First meeting after renaming as the Johnson Creek Watershed Council (JCWC)

May 3, 1995
1995

Fiscal agent agreement signed between JCWC and East Multnomah SWCD

1995
1995

Oregon House Bill 3441 passed, providing guidance for forming watershed councils as locally organized, voluntary, non-regulatory groups

1995
1996

JCWC Watershed Coordinator hired (first paid staff) with funding from the Governor’s Watershed Enhancement Board, City of Portland, and City of Gresham

1996
1997

The Oregon Plan for Watersheds and Salmon placed into statute by the Oregon State Legislature

1997
2001

JCWC designated a (501(c)3) tax exempt organization by the IRS

2001
2015

JCWC joins the Clackamas Partnership – a collaboration of Portland metropolitan area watershed councils, government agencies, tribes, and other organizations committed to improving watershed health

2015
2023

JCWC has seven paid staff, seven full-time and one part-time, and one Americorp member

2023
2023

The Clackamas Partnership receives a $3.5 million grant from NOAA for 10 restoration projects to be completed in 2026

2023

Johnson Creek flows 26 miles from its headwaters near Boring, Oregon, to where it meets the Willamette River. Along the way, it passes through forests, farms, golf courses, parks, industrial stretches, and neighborhoods, and through the five cities of Boring, Happy Valley, Gresham, Portland, and Milwaukie. Despite much development the creek remains an important home for a number of threatened and native fish and wildlife, including steelhead and cutthroat trout, coho and Chinook salmon, red-legged frog, painted turtles, salamanders, pileated woodpeckers, and great blue herons.

History of Floodplain Management in Johnson Creek Watershed

If you’re new to our story, read a comprehensive history of floodplain managment written by Rebecca Dorff.

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