McKenzie Watershed Council
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Addresses watershed management issues and provides a framework for coordination and cooperation in developing and implementing a watershed action program.
06/11/2026
Thank you so much to Karen Richards of KLCC for her coverage of floodplain restoration on the McKenzie River! Check out KLCC’s new article:
'The kind of work that truly moves the needle:' McKenzie River restoration projects involve large-scale landscape changes
McKenzie River floodplain projects use heavy machinery and thousands of logs to improve water quality, restore wildlife habitat and help buffer wildfires.
You may think of a river as a winding band of deep water, hemmed in on both sides by tall, rocky banks.
But Eli Tome, the Director of Conservation for McKenzie River Trust, would like to change that perception.
“Part of our work is hopefully showing the community that when somebody says ‘a river,’ that you think of a connected wetland complex,” said Tome. “Really it’s the whole system, connected to its banks, and thriving little ecosystems that are off to the side, with beaver damming it up.”
📷 Karen Richards, KLCC
✏️ Karen Richards, KLCC
Image Description: Lara Colley (McKenzie Watershed Council) and Susan Fricke (Eugene Water and Electric Board) talk to Karen Richards of KLCC.
06/10/2026
A huge thank you to Country News for their recent article on floodplain restoration on the McKenzie River: “On Oregon’s McKenzie River, an unprecedented approach to restoration takes shape. A bold process aims to repair the damaged watershed.”
“An hour’s drive east of Eugene, Oregon, Quartz Creek pours down the flanks of the Western Cascades, across a widening valley and into the McKenzie River. One morning last August, I stood on a bridge spanning the creek and watched thunderheads boil up over a distant ridgeline, trying to wrap my head around how this place became itself.”
Read more about floodplain restoration on Quartz Creek and the South Fork McKenzie River:
https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-6/on-oregons-mckenzie-river-an-unprecedented-approach-to-restoration-takes-shape/
📷 Sarah Koenigsberg, High Country News
✏️ Jaclyn Moyer, High Country News
Image Description: “This aerial view of the South Fork of the McKenzie River shows the river flowing as a single channel (background) into a restored section of the river (foreground).”
06/09/2026
What does a healthy river look like—and how do we help it get there?
Join scientist Dan Scott for a two-hour field tour of Quartz Creek to explore a restoration site where large wood is being used to support a more natural, resilient river system. Once common in Pacific Northwest rivers, fallen trees play a critical role in slowing water, shaping channels, and creating the deep, cool pools that fish like salmon and trout depend on.
During this guided walk, you’ll see how these restoration techniques work in real time. We’ll visit areas where wood has been added to the creek and talk through how it supports the creek's reconnection to its floodplain, improves habitat, and responds to changing conditions over time.
This is a chance to get outside, ask questions, and learn directly from the science behind the work. Whether you’re curious about river health, fish habitat, or how restoration projects take shape on the ground, this tour offers a close-up look at the benefits—and complexities—of working with nature.
Come experience Quartz Creek and see restoration in action.
Register / Learn More: https://events.mckenzieriver.org/
06/03/2026
This , we're back with more ! With in-water work already underway at the South Fork Floodplain reconnection project, today we ask: “Why reconnect the floodplain?” This week we’ll explore the many economic benefits of floodplain reconnection.
Taking care of our watersheds just makes cents! According to an April 2026 report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), restoring healthy watersheds provides economic value to the community in a number of ways, including:
💧 Lowering drinking water costs by restoring natural filtration processes that remove pollutants from the water supply, reducing infrastructure costs.
🏠 Increasing property value of nearby lands. Properties near high quality waters are attractive to homeowners and businesses.
🚣 Increasing recreation opportunity by preserving high quality waterways and watersheds so that visitors want to continue visiting.
😌 Increase quality of life and health benefits such as physical and mental health benefits from visiting natural areas and parks. Over time, this can provide significant savings in health care costs.
🌊 Reducing natural hazard costs by protecting communities from expensive damage, clean-up costs, and decreased economic activity caused by floods and wildfires by restoring natural infrastructure to prevent them.
🎣 Sustaining subsistence hunting, fishing, and foraging by keeping water clean and habitat intact.
👷 Providing millions of jobs nationwide, as well as bringing state and federal dollars to local contractors and enhancing conditions for all whose livelihoods are supported by clean water.
For more information and examples of these economic benefits in action, check out the EPA report: https://www.epa.gov/hwp/benefits-healthy-watersheds
The image shows the South Fork of the McKenzie River in Phase 3 of the project area. The river bends toward the camera with mountains filling in the background.
📷Carla Rothenbuecher
It’s an exciting day on the McKenzie River, where in-stream work season begins on the third phase of the South Fork Floodplain Reconnection Project. So, what does it take to reconnect the floodplain? A collaborative effort at landscape scale!
Building on more than a decade of collaborative restoration work in the McKenzie subbasin, this project brings together the USDA Forest Service, the McKenzie Watershed Council (MWC), Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB), and McKenzie River Trust (MRT) to implement the third phase of Lower South Fork McKenzie River Valley Reconnection Project. Additional project management and in-water work support are being provided by the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council (UDWC) and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) respectively. With a total project cost of approximately $6.4 million, the effort is funded through a combination of federal, state, and local investments, including support from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and the USDA Forest Service.
The project is part of a broader, basin-wide effort to restore floodplain connectivity across the Middle McKenzie River system, where partners have already completed several large-scale restoration projects and have more planned in the coming years.
“The scale of this work reflects the strength of our partnerships,” said Darren Cross, McKenzie River District Ranger. “By working together, we’re able to restore entire river systems in ways that wouldn’t be possible individually.”
Throughout the summer, crews will work to reconnect the river to its surrounding valley. This includes redistributing sediment, placing large wood, and reactivating dormant side channels to give the river room to spread out, slow down, and follow its natural processes once again.
Community members may see increased activity in the project area during this time, including heavy equipment and temporary access changes. Efforts are being made to ensure public safety and minimize impacts to people and wildlife.
Check back throughout the summer for project updates and every !
05/26/2026
Join Oregon State University Extension - Lane County and the McKenzie Watershed Council for a field tour of large-scale restoration projects in the McKenzie River watershed, covering topics like riparian forest, floodplains, habitat restoration, and water quality.
Saturday, June 6, from 9 am - 12 pm
Finn Rock Landing, Vida OR
Fee: $5 (scholarships are available by request!)
Register online: beav.es/fw7
In cooperation with Lane County Small Woodlands Association and Lane Families for Farms & Forests .
05/20/2026
Join OSU Extension and the McKenzie Watershed Council for a field tour of large-scale restoration projects in the McKenzie River watershed, covering topics like riparian forest, floodplains, habitat restoration, and water quality.
Saturday, June 6, from 9 am - 12 pm
Finn Rock Landing, Vida OR
Fee: $5 (scholarships are available by request!)
Register online at beav.es/fw7
In cooperation with Lane County Small Woodlands Association and Lane Families for Farms & Forests
Join OSU Extension and the McKenzie Watershed Council for a field tour of large-scale restoration projects in the McKenzie River watershed, covering topics like riparian forest, floodplains, habitat restoration, and water quality.
Saturday, June 6, from 9 am - 12 pm
Finn Rock Landing, Vida OR
Fee: $5 (scholarships are available by request!)
Register online at beav.es/fw7
In cooperation with Lane County Small Woodlands Association and Lane Families for Farms & Forests
Don't forget to join us for the second spring naturescaping workshop! We'll be in Leaburg next Thurs (5/21) at 6pm for another great presentation from PWP's Landscape Designer on how to design and tend a beautiful garden of native plants. 🪻🌺🌻
https://www.facebook.com/events/1597866548106965
05/06/2026
This , the McKenzie Watershed Council and EWEB are back with more ! We’re exploring one answer to the question: “Why reconnect the floodplain?” It's also – so we’re focusing on how reconnecting the floodplain can improve water quality!
The McKenzie River in particular is the sole source of drinking water for 200,000 people in the Eugene area – and it is an excellent source. It’s exceptionally clear most of the time – but during storms, rains can pull sediments down from the hillsides and into the waterways.
Land management practices over the last 150 years have changed the shape of our river valleys. Rivers should naturally flood the valley floor, forming braided wetland complexes with cool, slow-moving waters. But by confining rivers into single-thread river systems to protect roads, bridges, homes and other infrastructure, rivers become more like fire hoses that transport sediments downstream. When water is no longer allowed to connect to its floodplains, it loses the chance to slow down and let sediments to drop out or get filtered through downed wood and plants.
By reconnecting the river to its floodplain, we’re helping the river spread out and dissipate its energy across the floodplain. By slowing water down, sediment drops out and settles into the riverbed, protecting the McKenzie’s crystal-clear waters and reducing the need for EWEB to add as many chemicals to remove sediments as part of the drinking water filtration process.
In other words, by reconnecting the river to its floodplain, we’re restoring its natural filtration processes! Not only do we lower the cost for drinking water treatment, but we support water quality for all the people, fish, plants, birds, and bugs that we share the McKenzie with!
The image shows an in-stream photo from Phase 1 of the South Fork Floodplain Reconnection Project, completed in 2018. Wood crisscrosses the river, whose waters are clear enough to see aquatic plants growing below the surface.
Follow along throughout the summer for project updates and every !
s.forestservice
Big things are happening on the South Fork McKenzie River this summer! This video shows the results of Phase 1, completed in 2018. The South Fork Floodplain Reconnection Project - Phase 3 begins this month, launching a multi-partner effort to reconnect flowing water to more than 335 acres across 1.8 miles of the river’s historic floodplain.
The USDA Forest Service Willamette National Forest, in partnership with McKenzie Watershed Council, Eugene Water & Electric Board, and McKenzie River Trust will begin implementing the Lower South Fork McKenzie River Valley Reconnection Project – Phase 3, building on more than a decade of collaborative restoration work in the McKenzie basin. The project will take place upstream of Blue River, Oregon, along Forest Service Road 19.
So, why reconnect the floodplain? Working together to restore natural river processes will improve:
💧 water quality
🐟 fish habitat, and
🤝 community resilience.
The McKenzie River is the source of drinking water for approximately 200,000 people in the Eugene area. The area includes rich habitat for spring Chinook salmon, bull trout, and other native species. Over time, the South Fork McKenzie River has been cut off from its floodplain. These changes have led to faster-moving water, less complex habitat, and diminished capacity for water storage during extreme rain, increasing risk of flooding in the area.
Slowing flows and spreading them out across the floodplain will help to contain sediment churned up during storm events – the greatest contributor of contamination to the McKenzie River. In addition to benefitting water quality, the project will enhance habitat for ESA-listed species and other native wildlife, while also improving the river system’s resilience to wildfire and climate impacts.
Preliminary site work, including staging, is already underway. In-water restoration activities will begin in June, with construction continuing through the summer and project completion anticipated in early September.
Check back throughout the summer for project updates and every !
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