2019 Announcements
Next Partnership meeting January 9th, 2020
Recap of our Beaver Creek field tour on August 23, 2019
Meet Alexandria, our new Water Planning Coordinator
Partnership meeting on September 19
Oregon's Kitchen Table survey results are online
Next Partnership Meeting January 9th, 2020!
The Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership (MCWPP) will meet on Thursday, January 9th, 2020 from 4-7:15pm at the Toledo Fire Hall, 285 NE Burgess Rd, Toledo, OR 97391. Dinner will be served. First time attendees, please arrive at 3:30 for an orientation to the Partnership.
The public is invited to attend this free event, generously hosted by the City of Toledo! Participants will learn about the interests and needs of self-supplied water users in the region, which includes rural homes, farms, and industries that supply their own water as opposed to getting it from a municipality or other water provider. Nearly 30% of residents in Lincoln County provide their own water from wells, springs, or streams for in and around the home. We will have a presentation from the Well Water Program at Oregon State University on how to take care of domestic wells. We will also have a presentation from Oregon Department of Agriculture on the work of the Pesticide Stewardship Partnership in the Yamhill watershed and how it might inform work in the Mid-Coast. Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships find ways to reduce pesticide levels while measuring improvements in water quality and crop management using a cooperative, science-based approach. During the meeting the Partnership will identify criteria to help evaluate and prioritize the issues that partnership will ultimately focus on for strategy development.
Click here to view the agenda!
Please RSVP at https://bit.ly/mwpprsvp
Wrapping Up Step 3 Update!
Join a Working Group!
As the leaves are starting to change this fall season the Partnership is undergoing some exciting changes as well! We are going to be making a final push to finish up Step 3 of the Planning Process (which, if you needed a reminder, Step 3 is to assess current and future water needs and vulnerabilities). The Working Groups will be using Problem/Issue Statements to help us refine and reach consensus on the problems and issues that we will tackle in the solution building phase. These statements will be coming out of our three working groups who have been working over the past year to learn more about the water needs/uses in our region. We highly encourage partners to join the Working Groups to be a part of this Step 3 work. If you have not heard already about our Working Groups click here to learn more.
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The Instream/Ecology working group is examining water needs for fish, the environment, recreation, and any other water user that needs their water to remain in the stream. Sign up for the mailing list here. Next Working Group Meeting: January 7th 1-2:30pm at Guin Library in the Barry Fisher Room.
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The Municipal/Water District working group is examining the water needs and issues of water users served by municipalities and water districts, which includes homes, businesses, and industry. Sign up for the mailing list here. Next Working Group Meeting: January 7th 10am-12pm at the Seal Rock Water District office.
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The Self-Supplied working group is examining water needs for domestic, commercial, and industrial water users that provide their own water and don’t rely on a city or water district. Sign up for the mailing list here. Next Working Group Meeting: No working group meetings are scheduled at this time.
To view the Problem/Issue Statements Worksheet click here. These statements will be carried on to the the Partnership via the Coordinating Committee once they have reached consensus in the Working Groups. In order to be a part of this consensus-based decision-making process Partnership members, (and/or their alternates) need to read and sign the Charter (must have attended two of the last four Partnership meetings to be eligible). To see the Step 3 Path Forward which gives an overview of the inputs, outputs, timeline and roles of individuals moving forward click here. If you have any further questions or want to sign the Charter please feel free to reach out to our local Planning Coordinator Alexandria Scott at alexandria@midcoastwaterpartners.com.
Recap of Our Beaver Creek Field Tour on August 23rd, 2019!!!
For our first stop we went to the Brian Booth State Park Welcome Center for an introduction to Beaver Creek ecology and to explore land acquisition models with recreation and restoration. We heard from Paul Engelmeyer with The Wetlands Conservancy who spoke to us about the Beaver Creek and its listing as a high priority area for the State Conservation Strategy and Coho Recovery Plan. We also talked about Oregon’s Statewide Planning Goals around water and citizen involvement. We heard from Dylan Anderson and Glennis Cates from Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to get some more information about the history of the area and what it is like to balance recreation and restoration efforts. Lastly, we talked about Beaver Creek Nursery which is a large native plant nursery that is growing species that otherwise struggle to grow without cultivation and are used for local restoration efforts. This tied in the idea of ecological connectivity and the importance of social connectivity. All of this together gave us an example of restoration in the lower portion of the basin can be complimented by restoration in the upper portion of the basin.
Photo credit: Paul Engelmeyer.
For our second stop we stopped off at the Erik Horvath Restoration Project site to learn about bringing native hydrology, vegetation and species back to Beaver Creek with community partners across private and public Lands. We heard from Ari Blatt from the Mid-Coast Watershed Council and Chris Mayes from the U.S. Forest Service about large wood placements that took place in 2007 and 2014 at this site. Why was this important? Large wood placements are beneficial for aquatic insects which serve as food for juvenile salmonids and they help to retain spawning gravels that would normally be lost or pushed further downstream from water ripping through these streams during high flood events. Large wood placements can also cause water to come up onto the floodplain and suspended clays can settle which can be beneficial for landowners.
Photo credit: Paul Engelmeyer.
For our last stop we went to the Seal Rock Water District intake site to hear from Adam Denlinger general manager of the District about balancing human and ecological Communities. The district itself currently receives treated water from Toledo but in the event of a natural disaster this line would be impossible for the district to access. So, in 2014 they conducted a study and found that the most favorable solution would be to develop the district’s own primary water supply from Beaver Creek, for which the district received water withdrawal authorization in 2016. With a combination of loan and grant money from USDA’s Water and Waste Disposal Program, as well as $3,481,000 from the State of Oregon, the SRWD will install an intake system on Beaver Creek and construct a plant that uses membrane filtration to treat the water. The treatment plant will be located above the tsunami impact zone and the facilities will also be designed to promote rapid recovery after a natural disaster, following Oregon’s Resiliency Plan. Overall, this municipal water project will provide a reliable water source and infrastructure that is built to new seismic and tsunami resilience standards, ensuring safe drinking water for this rural community of 5,500 people.
To wrap a successful field tour, we enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by Seal Rock Water District at the Seal Rock Garden Club. Emily-Bell, Alexandria and Adam gave some closing statements to end the tour and gave everyone a reminder to RSVP for our September Partnership meeting. Overall it was a successful and fun field tour full a great conversations and questions!
Meet Alexandria Our New Water Planning Coordinator!
Who is Alexandria? I am a Lincoln City local with a passion for water quality and the Mid-Coast region! My passion for Water has taken me down a wide variety of pathways here are just a few:
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Oregon Coast Aquarium Youth Volunteer Program
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Oregon State to get my Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry
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Hatfield Marine Science Center to volunteer in labs
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James Cook University in Townsville, Australia for 6 months to study at one of the top Universities in the world for Marine Biology and Biodiversity
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Devils Lake Water Improvement District to work as a water quality field technician
My work for the District is what brought me to my first Partnership Meeting in April. Afterwards I couldn’t wait be more involved so when I saw the posting for the Water Planning Coordinator position, I knew I had to apply! To be able to work so close to home, focusing on regional water issues, coming up with innovative solutions to those issues and being able to communicate with such a diverse group of partners is exactly what I had been looking for. I am 8-weeks into the position now and could not be more thrilled about what I have learned so far!
To look towards the future, I wanted to look at the past first to understand what the Partnership has accomplished thus far and the obstacles it has faced. My first 5-weeks on the job I poured over every single document that the Partnership had ever put out and began to put some of the puzzle pieces together to get a better picture of the Partnership. On August 23rd we had the Beaver Creek Field Tour, which was my first event for the Partnership as the Water Planning Coordinator, this was a fun way to introduce myself to the group in a smaller setting. In September, we had our Partnership meeting at the Siletz Tribal Community Center where we enjoyed some delicious food and heard from some of our partners involved in the Instream Ecology Working Group and went over the results of the Oregon Kitchen Table Survey. This really gave me a large-scale view of the Partnership and gave me the chance to meet even more of our partners and hear about their experiences over the last 3-years of this process.
A couple fun facts about myself are that I love scuba diving and I have traveled to almost every continent and have made it one of my missions in life to travel to all of them at some point. Traveling for a large portion of my life taught me a lot about working with people with very different backgrounds, values and opinions and I am excited to use that experience to help me in my work in the Mid-Coast region.
If we have not had the chance to meet yet, please feel free to reach out I am always happy to do a meeting or even just grab a coffee to talk about the Partnership and answer any questions you may have. Occasionally I am out in the field or have meetings with our partners outside of the office so if you want to come by the Seal Rock Water District please call my direct line or work cell phone to make sure I am in the office! I am really looking forward to working with all of you on this Integrated Water Resources Strategy Plan moving forward!
Workspace Location: Seal Rock Water District
Office Direct Line: 541-563-5585
Cell: 541-270-7427
Partnership meeting on September 19!
The Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership (MCWPP) will meet on Thursday, September 19th 2019 from 4-8pm at the Siletz Tribal Community Center, 402 Government Hill Rd, Siletz, OR 93780.
The public is invited to attend this free event, generously hosted by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians! Participants will hear the results of the Partnership’s Public Engagement Survey on Local Values and Attitudes about Water, made possible with Oregon’s Kitchen Table. They will also learn about and discuss instream water needs in our region, including current efforts to protect and enhance instream waters. Dinner will be served. First time attendees, please arrive at 3:30 for an orientation to the Partnership.
Click here to view the agenda!
Please RSVP at https://bit.ly/mwpprsvp
Oregon’s Kitchen Table survey results are up online!
Nearly 680 people participated in the various engagement opportunities (online and paper surveys and in-person listening sessions in Spanish and Mam), with 11% indicating that they were Spanish speakers. You can read the whole report on Oregon’s Kitchen Table.
We were excited to see people’s enthusiasm in participating as well as the high level of interest in our region’s water that people expressed. The engagement helped identify areas where people want to know more and be part of solutions going forward.
Across demographic groups, these were some of the common themes we heard:
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The top three issues that participants think about the most are: health, water, and environment and ecology, in that order.
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Not surprisingly, 95 percent of participants use water for personal or home use (like drinking, cleaning, and more).
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The people who responded to the survey frequently think about water use across the region. Over forty percent think about water use most of the time, while 17 percent think of it all of the time. By contrast, less than 10 percent of respondents think about it rarely or never. Even so, the vast majority of respondents did not know about the Partnership before this survey.
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With 100 gallons of water to give to various uses, participants would give the most water (32.6 gallons) to residential water supply for year-round residents. Water for fish and wildlife was second with 23.7 gallons. Water for tourist lodging and tourist attractions came in last with 7.6 gallons.
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When asked about their concerns about being able to make sure there is water for people, business, and nature, the results were split across concern for household use, infrastructure, and fish and wildlife as the top concerns.
The Partnership will discuss the findings at our September meeting and incorporate these results into our three working groups as well as our assessment of current and future water needs for the region. As always we invite anyone interested in learning more about our work to join us. We have many decisions ahead of us as we consider strategies and solutions to balance water in the region and we feel it is important to reach out to the broader community to support our work.
Thank you for helping us get the word out about the Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership survey late last year. It will help inform the Partnership as we work to balance water needs in the region.
We’re hiring a local Water Planning Coordinator!
We are very excited to announce that we are looking to hire a local Water Planning Coordinator to support the Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership!
The Partnership keeps growing and we’re making steady progress in building a shared understanding of the unique water needs of the coastal communities, the environment, and the economy in the Mid-Coast watersheds. Our partners and consultants have been vital in launching the Partnership and keeping us all connected over the past 2+ years. We have recognized for quite some time that, in order to keep the Partnership coordinated and moving forward, we need more capacity. The time has come to get some dedicated boots on the ground to help us out.
We are hoping to attract a pool of energetic, internally motivated, water lovers who are skilled at building relationships and interested in making integrated water resources planning and management a reality on the coast and in Oregon. It is a great position for a critical thinker who enjoys thinking about complex problems and looking for innovative solutions. This is an exciting opportunity that offers fair pay and flexibility.
Click here for the job posting.
Click here for the full position description.
More information about the Partnership can be found at www.midcoastwaterpartners.com.
Applications will be received until May 17, 2019
To inquire about this position and apply, please contact Barrett Business Services located in Newport, OR
Phone: 541-574-9892
Email: Kristin.Arment@bbsihq.com
Can you spread the word to your networks to help us find the best candidates?
Hopefully you’ll get a chance to help us welcome a new local Water Planning Coordinator at our next Partnership meeting! Thank you for your help getting the word out!
Your co-conveners,
Adam Denlinger, Seal Rock Water District
Alan Fujishin, Gibson Farms
Tim Gross, City of Newport
Harmony Burright, Oregon Water Resources Department
Next Partnership Meeting April 23rd
It’s been a busy winter season for the Mid-Coast Water Planning Partnership. Working Groups continue meeting to explore current and future water needs and challenges in the region, and there’s lots to discuss at our next MCWPP meeting, so you won’t want to miss out!
Don’t miss our next Partnership meeting scheduled for April 23, 2019, from 4 – 8 pm hosted by the City of Lincoln City and the Muni-District Working Group at the Side Door Cafe and Eden Hall – 6675 Gleneden Beach Loop, Gleneden Beach, OR 97388 – Dinner will be served!
If this is your first time attending, please arrive at 3:30 pm for a brief orientation to the Partnership.
The April 23rd meeting will include:
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Public Survey Results provided by Oregon Kitchen Table (OKT).
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Presentation by Sustainable Northwest – Oregon Community Forest Initiative.
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Available Training Services Provided to Working Groups by the National Policy Consensus Center.
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Learn about municipalities and district water supplier’s challenges and opportunities.
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Mid-Coast Water Conservation Consortium.
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10-minute progress reports from our 3 Working Groups – Self-Supplied Water Users, Muni-Water District Suppliers, and In-Stream/Ecology.
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Opportunities for the Working Groups to meet and plan their next steps.
Please RSVP at bit.ly/mwpprsvp.