As global warming progresses, good quality water will become our most precious resource. Our forested watersheds produce our cleanest drinking water and the healthiest habitat for fish and all the aquatic life in the ecological chain. As forest land is denuded by clear cutting, or converted into urban and suburban landscape, water runs more rapidly into streams and rivers, often wasting itself in destructive flooding followed by drought, instead of slowly filtering through trees and healthy ground cover to replete our underground aquifers and ground water. In Oregon we receive nearly half of our yearly rainfall in just three months, November, December, and January. We need that rainfall to be captured by healthy watershed, to replete our underground aquifers to carry us through our dry summer months.
Ka’imiloa’s environmental program is focused on preserving the health of our local watershed. Gordon Creek is the last salmon-spawning stream in the lower Sandy Basin, which drains into the Columbia River in Northwest Oregon. This stream also provides the drinking water for the town of Corbett. Gordon Creek and its surrounding watershed have no spectacular cliffs or waterfalls, but have the every day beauty found in many of Oregon’s small, forested watersheds.
Gordon Creek’s salmon are at risk, if stream temperatures exceed the safe level for salmon enough days of the year. Gordon Creek is listed at a 303d stream, for temperatures exceeding safe limits when measured by DEQ. Kaimiloa supports temperature monitoring on an ongoing basis. Results of 2009 monitoring are below. Yearly esults since have showed that temperatures remained below danger levels, and monitoring continues to establish a baseline with which to compare results after major harvest activities in the watershed.
Donations: Please see our donations page. All monetary donations to our environmental program will go directly toward purchase of temperature and also turbidity monitors.
Donation of land in the Gordon Creek watershed to Ka’imiloa Foundation is also tax deductible, and will be preserved as forested watershed.
Ka’imiloa’s environmental program is focused on preserving the health of our local watershed. Gordon Creek is the last salmon-spawning stream in the lower Sandy Basin, which drains into the Columbia River in Northwest Oregon. This stream also provides the drinking water for the town of Corbett. Gordon Creek and its surrounding watershed have no spectacular cliffs or waterfalls, but have the every day beauty found in many of Oregon’s small, forested watersheds.
Gordon Creek’s salmon are at risk, if stream temperatures exceed the safe level for salmon enough days of the year. Gordon Creek is listed at a 303d stream, for temperatures exceeding safe limits when measured by DEQ. Kaimiloa supports temperature monitoring on an ongoing basis. Results of 2009 monitoring are below. Yearly esults since have showed that temperatures remained below danger levels, and monitoring continues to establish a baseline with which to compare results after major harvest activities in the watershed.
Donations: Please see our donations page. All monetary donations to our environmental program will go directly toward purchase of temperature and also turbidity monitors.
Donation of land in the Gordon Creek watershed to Ka’imiloa Foundation is also tax deductible, and will be preserved as forested watershed.