The Council's mission is "to facilitate community-supported maintenance and restoration of the streams, rivers, and lakes within our watersheds".
UPCOMING EVENTS:
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We are putting together a great speaker series this year to help us all better understand our watersheds and how to manage them, starting from below the ground and moving upward! Here is what we have planned so far, with more in the works.
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First-off, geologist Ellen Morris Bishop, will be presenting, When Yellowstone Came to Baker County: How a major geologic hotspot crafted our local landscapes. Come learn about the geologic detective work underway making the connection between Yellowstone and Baker County, and what this means for out water and watersheds! This spring we are taking our show "on the road" to engage with our friends outside of Baker City. Ellen will be presenting at the Richland, Oregon Library, 42008 Moody Road on April 3rd at 6:00 p.m. Come join us as we learn together and then spend some time talking about watershed issues in the Richland/Halfway area!
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Update! Unfortunately, Jason McClaughry has had to cancel is May presentation. Stay tuned for further developments.
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Next Fall, Dallas Hall Defrees, Regenerative Ranching Program Director with Sustainable Northwest will be speaking to us about sustainable/regenerative agricultural practices. This talk will be November 1st, time and location to be determined.
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Baker Resources Coalition high school interns construct a beaver dam analogue on Camp Creek during the summer of 2023.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Camp Creek Ecosystem Resiliency Project
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Walking along present-day Camp Creek, one can only imagine how abundant beaver populations once influenced the ecosystem. Presently, Camp Creek is incised, there is little connectivity with the historic floodplain, and lowered water tables fuel upland vegetation encroachment. Flows are routed quickly through the system with little opportunity for sediment deposition or water storage. Reduced water storage makes this system and the surrounding human communities particularly susceptible to floods, drought, and wildfire.The goal of this project is to reconnect Camp Creek with its historic floodplain using Low-Tech Process-Based restoration. This technique promotes the restoration of natural stream processes through the installation of different types of hand-made structures. Specifically for Camp Creek, installed and planned structures include Beaver Dam Analogues (BDAs) and Post Assisted Log Structures (PALS).
Take a virtual tour of the
Powder River Watershed
Click here to read about the collaborative effort that PBWC is involved in working to conserve sage-grouse in Baker County.
2024 Action Planning
In 2023, the Powder Basin Watershed Council updated their Strategic Plan for 2023-2027. We are now beginning the exciting process of developing a Watershed Restoration Action Plan! We are inviting community members and local natural resource experts to help us develop a 10-year framework for future Watershed Council work. Join the effort to increase watershed, climate, and wildfire resiliency throughout the Powder Basin!
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Want to get involved? Contact us via email: pbwcwrc@qwestoffice.net, or phone: 541-523-7288, to join our planning process!
2023-2027 Strategic Plan
Do you want to learn more about Powder Basin, current subbasin conditions, or the Watershed Council's goals and strategies? Click the link below to check out are updated Strategic Plan!
