Water Environment Services

Watershed Action Plans help to improve water quality and restore, enhance and protect our watersheds. They are basin-specific strategies that prioritize activities and investments in watershed management.

How Well Do Our Watersheds Function?

Kellogg-Mt. Scott

• Complete Document
• Table of Contents and Acronyms
• Executive Summary
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
  • Chapter 2 Figures
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
  • Chapter 4 Figures
• Chapter 5 Watershed Assessment for Kellogg-Mt. Scott
  • Figure 5-1 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
  • Figure 5-2 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
  • Figure 5-3 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
  • Figure 5-4 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
  • Figure 5-5 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
  • Figure 5-6 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
  • Figure 5-7 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
  • Figure 5-8 Kellogg/Mt. Scott Assessment Map
• Chapter 6 Action Plan Summary
• Chapter 6 Action Plan Description Sheets
• Appendix A
  • Appendix A Figures
• Appendix B
• Appendix C
• Appendix D

Rock Creek

• Complete Document
• Table of Contents and Acronyms
• Executive Summary
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
  • Chapter 2 Figures
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
  • Chapter 4 Figures
• Chapter 5 Watershed Assessment for Rock Creek
  • Figure 5-1 RocK Creek Assessment Map
• Chapter 6 Action Plan Summary
• Chapter 6 Action Plan Description Sheets
• Appendix A
  • Appendix A Figures
• Appendix B
• Appendix C
• Appendix D

Supporting Documents

• The River Starts Here
• USGS study of insecticide levels in urban streams

For more information please contact Leah Johanson at (503) 742-4620

Clean water is the biggest lifesaver in human history.

Thanks to advances in producing clean water over the last 200 years, life expectancy in the United States has more than doubled to 78.8 years. Most people take drinking water coming out of taps in our homes for granted. It’s also hard to imagine not being able to flush a toilet to carry wastewater away. The toilets and sewer systems we use today save millions of lives by preventing the spread of deadly diseases that come from dirty water.

At Clackamas Water Environment Services, we provide wastewater treatment services for more than 190,000 customers. 

Each year, our treatment facilities clean more than seven billion gallons of wastewater.  In the process, we convert materials that have long been considered “waste” into energy and natural fertilizer. We operate and maintain five resource recovery facilities, 23 pumping stations and more than 360 miles of pipes. 

Our Facilities

Tri-City Water Resource Recovery Facility (TCWRRF)

Kellogg Creek Water Resource Recovery Facility (KCWRRF)

Hoodland Water Resource Recovery Facility (HWRRF)

Fischer's Forest Park

Brought online: 1971
Fischer’s Forest Park is a small treatment system serving one community. This site supports individuals with a septic system process and is not open for public tours.

Boring

Brought online: 1986
Boring treatment system serves a community of approximately 150 people. The station uses nitrification and ultraviolet light to clean water prior to discharging into the fork of Deep Creek. 

Tour our Facilities

Learn how our technology works to:

• protect the health of your family and the environment
• produce clean water, energy and other useful products
• support economic vitality

Ask questions and tell us about how we can keep you, our valued customer, informed and engaged. Children attending with their parents must be at least 10 years old.

Please complete the Facility Tour Request Form and email it to: WES-AdministrativeSpecialistRequests@clackamas.us

For more information, email wescustomerservice@clackamas.us or call 503-742-4567.

Due to construction and safety restrictions, tour availability may be limited.

Trash it, Don’t Flush it!

Our septage procedures are designed to comply with all applicable District, State and Federal regulations. Septage is regulated by our Rules and Regulations. The Tri-City Water Resource Recovery Facility (TCWRRF) is the only designated receiving facility in WES. Haulers that discharge septage at the TCWRRF are required to have a valid Septic Tank Waste Discharge Permit, which is issued for a three-year period.

Permit Application Process

To apply for a WES Septic Tank Waste Discharge Permit, septage haulers must complete and submit a completed Application for Permit form, current copy of DEQ license for sewage disposal, a $10,000 Surety Bond or Bond Continuation Certificate, a current copy of the DEQ Pumping Truck Inspection Report and three-year permit* fee. The application review process takes approximately 3–5 days after which the WES staff will then issue or deny a septage discharge permit.

Septic Tank Waste Discharge Permit application can be downloaded online. For additional information, contact WES Industrial Pretreatment Program at 503-557-2834.

* WES Septic Tank Waste Discharge Permit is a three (3) year permit, however, surety bonds, DEQ license, and DEQ Truck Inspection are issued annually. An updated copy of these items must be submitted to WES Septage Program annually.

Sources

WES accepts septage originating from within Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties. City, State, and Federal regulations prohibit septage haulers from discharging industrial process wastes at the TCWRRF.

Septage loads are accepted Monday through Friday (except on holidays) between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.

What are biosolids?

The wastewater treatment process separates solids and water, after which clean and disinfected water is discharged to a neighboring water body, the solids are carefully processed in anaerobic digesters to meet state and federal regulations. This further processing converts the dewatered solids into a useful, slow-release fertilizer, which contains a range of plant-essential nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and potassium. Biosolids also contain small amounts of other important minerals such as magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc and calcium. Not usually found in commercial fertilizers.

WES currently recycles biosolids for beneficial use on dryland wheat farms in Eastern Oregon. Biosolids add valuable organic matter to the soil as a beneficial amendment. Organic matter provides a food source for soil microbes, increases the ability of the soil to hold water, and improves soil structure.

In addition, biosolids provide climate benefits. They capture and store carbon in the soil, and they reduce the need for commercial fertilizers, which are produced by a fossil fuel-intensive process.

• Water Environment Services Biosolids Management Plan
• Fact Sheet - Biosolids: A Beneficial Resource

A petitioner needs to complete the Annexation Packet for annexing property into a service district. 

The Annexation Packets are available below and also by calling 503-742-4567. Once you have completed the Annexation Packet return it to our office. The Annexation Packet is then filed with Clackamas County Elections. The Elections office requires two checks to accompany boundary change applications, one to Clackamas County for the application fee and the second to Metro for the mapping fee.

Clackamas County Service District No. 1

CCSD#1 provides sanitary sewer and surface water services to the North Clackamas Service Area (NCSA) in unincorporated urban Clackamas County, north of the Clackamas River and east of Oatfield Road. Residents of the City of Happy Valley are retail customers of the district.

Clackamas County Service District No. 1 Annexation Packet

Tri-City Service District (TCSD)

The TCSD primarily provides regional collection and wholesale sanitary sewer treatment services. The TCSD boundaries coincide with those of the partner cities of Gladstone, Oregon City and West Linn. Property owners must first annex to one of the member cities, then to TCSD. Only those parcels in one or another of the cities can receive sanitary sewer service.

Tri-City Service District (TCSD) Annexation Packet

We administer sanitary sewer, surface water management, and erosion control programs in urban areas of Clackamas County.

Plan review and permitting are part of the broader land use and permitting process in unincorporated Clackamas County, the City of Happy Valley and Rivergrove. We review and approve all public and private sanitary, storm and erosion control plans for development activities such as:

• Any activity that requires a building permit: construction of structures, roadways and utilities
• Grading or excavating
• Land division, including subdivisions, land partitions and lot line adjustments

Annual Reports

• 2023 Annual Report
• 2022 Annual Report
• 2021 Annual Report
• 2020 Annual Report
• 2019 Annual Report

Newsletters

• July 2024
• April 2024
• January 2024
• October 2023
• July 2023
• April 2023 
• January 2023
• October 2022
• July 2022
• April 2022
• January 2022
• October 2021
• July 2021
• April 2021
• January 2021 
• October 2020
• July 2020
• April 2020
• January 2020

Owned and maintained by WES since 1998, the 82nd Drive Bridge connects Gladstone and Oregon City for walkers, joggers and bicyclists who use it to cross the Clackamas River. Built in the early 1920s,  the bridge was converted for pedestrian use after the construction of Interstate 205 was completed in the mid-1970s.

The bridge also carries sanitary sewer pipes and other important utility lines.

In 2020, Clackamas Water Environment Services (WES) reopened the 82nd Drive Pedestrian Bridge to pedestrians and bicyclists after completion of several upgrades, which include seismically-retrofitting the bridge to withstand a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The bridge is now capable of providing vital passage for emergency vehicles across the Clackamas River should such a catastrophic earthquake occur.

The upgrades also include newly-installed sanitary sewer pipes and provide additional protections for pipes and utility lines that run across the bridge.

“Increasing resiliency is the driving force behind all WES projects,” said WES Director Greg Geist. “WES is proud to support Clackamas County’s priorities, which include building a strong infrastructure and ensuring safe, healthy and secure communities.”

The $3.6 million project was funded with monthly service charge revenue and system development charges. WES secured required permits with the cooperation of the cities of Oregon City and Gladstone, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Department of State Lands. WES also collaborated with the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Clackamas County Department of Transportation and Development.

Built in the early 1920s, the bridge was once a state-owned thoroughfare for automobiles to cross the Clackamas River. The bridge was converted for pedestrian use after I-205 opened to traffic in the 1970s. In 1998, WES bought the bridge from the City of Gladstone in order to install sewer pipes that divert flows from WES’ Kellogg Water Resource Recovery Facility in Milwaukie to its Tri-City Water Resource Recovery Facility in Oregon City.

Charting the Bridge Upgrades

February 2020

As upgrades on the bridge wound down, crew members were focusing their work on pipes carried by the bridge across the river, including the installation of a new forcemain and bolstering of existing pipes. 

January 2020

Work to strengthen the structure of the bridge was finished. Crews installed a new forcemain pipe on the bridge while bolstering existing piping that was carried across the Clackamas River. 

December 2019

The bridge deck was replaced while work to strengthen supports under the bridge took place. Seismic upgrades were made to mechanical connections that attach the bridge deck to the supports. Crews also installed new force main piping and completed upgrades to existing piping that the bridge carries across the river.

November 2019

Structural supports for the bridge were strengthened. Rock anchors were installed to stabilize the piers while pilings were driven into the ground to support the bridge where it connects to the road on the Gladstone side of the river. Existing piers were bolstered with concrete and rebar work. Steel beams were placed between the roadway on the Gladstone side and the first concrete pier, which allowed for the installation of the new deck.

October 2019

Pile driving on the Gladstone side of the bridge was completed while old wood timber supports and the bridge deck on the Gladstone side were removed. Work continued on strengthening the existing bridge piers and adding new supports. All in-water work was completed.

Bridge Charms

Dedicated August 28, 2009

Artists: Dale Wilhelm and James Schmidt

“Bridge Charms” is a sculptural work that consists of suspended stainless steel cable strung through the girders at either end of the 82nd Drive/Park Place Pedestrian Bridge. From the cable, dangle objects, bejeweling the bridge like a charm bracelet. The ornamental pendants represent the recreational uses of the Bridge/Clackamas River area, the natural aspects of the region and the historical references of the region. Additionally, circular colored pendants reflect color onto the Bridge and the surrounding environment. After extensive research and feedback from the stakeholder committee, WES employee and bird aficionado Dan Strong, Oregon City Mayor Alice Norris, and Erik Thorsgard and Tony Johnson, Cultural Liaisons from the Grande Ronde Confederation, the artists selected the following objects for the pendants:

• Bicycle
• Fly Fishing
• Chinook Paddle
• Fish Skeleton
• Canoe
• Model-T Automobile
• Wagon Wheel
• Old-fashioned Tree Saw
• Cedar Osprey Sneaker (shoe)
• Salamander Salmon
• Old fashioned Faucet
• Merganser (duck)

The Carli Creek facility ensures a cleaner Clackamas River, protection for endangered wildlife and proves that a balance between nature and industry is possible. 

Since December 18, 2018, the innovative Carli Creek Water Quality Project has been filtering harmful pollutants from stormwater runoff from surrounding industrial properties before it reaches Carli Creek and the Clackamas River, the drinking water source for nearly 400,000 people in Clackamas County. 

In 2012, we recognized the importance of the property to river water quality and acquired the former farmland to establish the facility. In 2013–14, water quality monitoring showed pollution levels exceeded standards for:

• E. coli
• copper
• lead
• zinc

threatening water quality, fish and other wildlife. An elaborate fish rescue operation was performed before construction began.

Project Features

• a meandering channel with pools along nearly 1,700 linear feet of Carli Creek
• 61 large wood habitat structures for fish and other aquatic wildlife
• a backwater channel
• floodplain enhancements through grading, invasive, and non-native species removal, and planting a diversity of native species
• enhanced wetlands and an additional 1.36 acre of wetland

Project Funding

The total project budget including land acquisition was $4 million. WES was supported by key partnerships, such as Portland General Electric (PGE) who awarded WES $380,000 for the stream restoration elements of the project. In addition to the PGE grant, funding for the project came from surface water fees paid by property owners within the WES service area.

Photos

	Aerial of the project
	From one of the outfalls to step pools
	Habitat structures for wildlife
	Project’s wetland groundbreaking
	Birdseye view of project site
	Site preparation to protect from erosion
	Project's proximity to the river
	Work to naturalize creek channel
	Native fish protected during construction
	Extensive restoration efforts to improve habitat
	WES staff helping to protect wildlife
	Large wood installation stabilizes streambanks
	Fish salvage protected existing species
	Small schools of fish have returned post instream work
	Evidence of recent beaver activity at the site

WES Advisory Committee

The Clackamas Water Environment Services (WES) Advisory Committee provides input and makes recommendations on surface water and wastewater issues to WES and the BCC. Additionally, the committee:

• Provides a forum for coordinating, learning, understanding and gathering input on surface water and wastewater plans, policies, rules and regulations, fees, and projects;
• Reviews, discusses and makes recommendations on proposed operational and multi-zone capital improvements to the region's surface water and wastewater treatment systems, master plans, investment strategies and capital projects; and
• Advises on and supports the implementation of educational and public engagement strategies on issues relating to wastewater services, bio-solids management, surface water management, watershed health, erosion control and other related topics.

Members have experience and/or background in wastewater management, watershed health and restoration, economic development, and surface water. Members must reside or work within the WES service area.

WES serves the cities of Gladstone, Happy Valley, Johnson City, Milwaukie, Oregon City, West Linn, Rivergrove and the communities of unincorporated Clackamas County.

History

After the formalization of the Water Environment Services (WES) partnership between Clackamas County Service District No. 1 (CCSD#1), Tri-City Service District (TCSD) and the Surface Water Management Agency of Clackamas County (SWMACC) in 2016, the Board of County Commissioners of Clackamas County (BCC) acting as the governing body of WES, approved a standing advisory committee consisting of customers, stakeholders and city representatives referred to as the Water Environment Services Advisory Committee. The committee held its first meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. 

WES Technical Advisory Team

The Technical Advisory Team (TAT) is a group of technical experts from WES and its member communities, the cities of Gladstone, Happy Valley, Johnson City, Milwaukie, Oregon City, and West Linn. The TAT is comprised of WES engineers, city public works directors, and city engineers and technical staff who meet quarterly to share knowledge and collaborate on sanitary sewer infrastructure issues.

The purpose of the WES TAT is to: 

• Provide a forum for technical staff to collaborate and share knowledge on sanitary sewer related issues. 
• Provide a forum for coordinating, learning, understanding and gathering input on wastewater plans and projects. 
• Review City proposals for funding under the Regional Inflow and Infiltration Reduction IGA.

The WES TAT is intended to strengthen WES’ relationships with city technical staff for the purpose of maintaining a strong and cohesive wastewater collection system.