Jurisdictions, organizations sign Declaration of Cooperation to address flooding

A Declaration of Cooperation identifying processes for watershed management and flood mitigation in the Cedar Mill/North Johnson Creek watershed was signed on Oct. 9 by members of the Cedar Mill Creek Flood Remediation Collaborative (CMCFRC).

"This declaration gives us a roadmap to address a long-standing problem that involves local governments, businesses and property owners," said Andy Duyck, chair of both the Collaborative and the Washington County Board of Commissioners. "The challenges we're facing within the watershed are not just one organization's responsibility, or within one organization's ability to influence."

In spring 2017, Washington County Department of Land Use & Transportation (LUT) and Clean Water Services (CWS) successfully applied to have the collaborative watershed management project designated as an Oregon Solutions project by Gov. Kate Brown. The Oregon Solutions program brings jurisdictions, agencies, businesses, organizations and community members together to address mutual problems.

"The Oregon Solutions designation helped cement this partnership," Duyck said. "It helped us use technical experts from all the government entities which, combined with public input, allowed us to create a process to manage and preserve the environmental integrity of the watershed while mitigating flooding."

Cedar Mill and North Johnson creeks drain 5,300 acres from the West Hills to Beaverton Creek in the Tualatin Hills Nature Park. The creeks travel throughout the area and often flood during periods of heavy rain - impacting homes, businesses and roads. The collaborative has met extensively with affected property owners and community members to identify issues. Engineers, scientists and planners from the various jurisdictions developed possible mitigation strategies, which were subsequently made available for additional public comment.

The collaborative partners include: Beaverton Chamber of Commerce; City of Beaverton; City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services; CWS; National Marine Fisheries Service; Nike, Inc.; Oregon Department of Environmental Quality; Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development; Oregon Department of State Lands; Oregon Department of Transportation; Regional Solutions, Office of the Governor; Reser's Fine Foods, Inc.; TriMet; Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD); Tualatin River Watershed Council; Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD); LUT; The Wetlands Conservancy; and Willamette Partnership.

"By signing this Declaration of Cooperation, all of the collaborative partners are committing to continue working together to mitigate flooding and improve the Cedar Mill/North Johnson Creek watershed," Duyck said. "The coming years will focus on refining the partners' collective approach and developing more specific actions."

In the upcoming months, the collaborative's core partners (LUT, CWS, THPRD, the cities of Beaverton and Portland and SWCD) will develop a proposed three-year work program focusing on Cedar Mill/North Johnson Creeks watershed including:

The work program will be brought before the Washington County and CWS Board of Commissioners in December or January 2019.