EMSWCD has a new Executive Director!

Photo headshot of Kelley Beamer

We are thrilled to announce the selection by the Board of Directors of our new Executive Director, Kelley Beamer!

Kelley Beamer served as the Executive Director at the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts (COLT) for more than 10 years and will bring to East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (EMSWCD) her experience in forging partnerships with diverse communities and advancing land conservation to protect farm and forest lands.

“We are excited to welcome Kelley as our new Executive Director,” says Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky, EMSWCD Board Chair. “Her passion for place-based conservation aligns beautifully with the Board’s recently adopted Strategic Plan. Kelley will bring experience, great communication skills, and time-tested partnerships to the organization. We feel very fortunate to have found a home-grown leader who has worked with urban and rural communities across the state and in our district.” Read more →

Watch our rain garden installation feature on “This Old House”!

EMSWCD partnered recently with This Old House for a feature demonstrating how to plan the site for a rain garden and install it! Watch below as our Urban Lands Program Supervisor Kathy Shearin meets with landscape contractor Jenn Nawada to help Aaron and Autumn install a rain garden in their front yard. The section on rain gardens is in the first nine minutes of the video.

Learn more about rain gardens here!

Visit the This Old House website here.

Weed Wrenches now available at local tool libraries!

Image of four local tool libraries, Green Lents, Souteast Portland, East Portland and Northeast Portland Recieving free Weed Wrench tools from East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District

It is a great time to start pulling invasive species like the Tree of Heaven. We just delivered Weed Wrenches to Northeast, Green Lents, Southeast, and East Portland Tool Libraries so you can stop by and borrow them for free! Check the tool libraries website for hours and more details.

See more about Tree of Heaven here: https://wmswcd.org/species/tree-of-heaven/

EMSWCD Board statement regarding Portland Water Bureau filtration plant project siting

Multnomah County Hearings Officer
Multnomah County Community Services, Land Use Planning
1600 SE 190 Avenue
Portland, OR 97233

Re: case # T3-2022-16220 – Proposed Portland Water Bureau Filtration Plant Project

The East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (EMSWCD) is a nonregulatory government agency representing residents of Multnomah County east of the Willamette River to the far end of the county. The mission of EMSWCD is to help people care for soil and water.

EMSWCD understands that Portland Water Bureau (PWB) is obligated by US Environmental Protection Agency regulations and the terms of a compliance order entered into between the PWB and Oregon Health Authority to have a system operational no later than 2027 that is capable of removing Cryptosporidium and other potential contaminants.

While EMSWCD supports the provision of clean, safe drinking water for all PWB customers, we are concerned about the proposed location of the water filtration facility. The proposed location for the facility is on land designated as a Rural Reserve. Consistent with its Rural Reserve designation, this location represents some of the very best farmland remaining in EMSWCD’s service area. It has prime agricultural soils, favorable topography, legal water rights, and is sizeable enough to support commercial farming operations. Siting this facility on Rural Reserve-designated land not only equates to farmland loss, but it also sets a negative precedent of constructing facilities intended to serve a primarily urban population on land that is protected for agriculture. Read more →

Our board requirements have changed with passing of SB775

5 people speaking in a office setting.

Governor Kotek has signed SB 775 so it is now official. Any registered voter living in a conservation district with at least 250,000 people can now run for all board positions. Previously, for the three zoned positions on our board, you had to own or manage 10 acres of land. This has changed!

The next opportunity to run for our board will be in the 2024 general election. Look for more information on that process when we get closer to the election cycle. Please let your networks know!

Our website is now translated!

We are pleased to announce that our website can now be viewed in twelve other languages! All of the text content, buttons and menus on the site are automatically translated into the language of your choosing. To view the site in another language, please find the dropdown menu at the top of the page and select a language.

Please note: as the content is automatically translated, you may encounter some translation errors. If you notice an error, please feel free to reach out to us and report it. Please also note that although the text is translated, most brochures and other files linked on our site are not. If you would like to request a translation of any materials, or assistance in another language, please contact us.

Available translations currently include:

We hope you will explore the translated versions of our site and that you find them useful! For any questions or concerns, please contact us.

One year update: solar power at Headwaters Farm

aerial angled view of two structures at Headwaters Farm, including a barn in the foreground and a storage shed in the background, with solar-panel-covered roofs visible on both structures

Thanks to a 2019 Renewable Development Fund grant (RDF) from Portland General Electric, EMSWCD was able to purchase and install a 70kW photovoltaic system at Headwaters Farm. The solar panels were installed on two structures on the farm and began feeding electricity into the grid in April of 2020. In its first year of solar production, the renewable energy system generated 84 megawatt-hours, or enough to offset around 90% of the farm’s annual electricity consumption! This equated to a savings on the farm’s electricity bills of just under $10,000 for the year.

The Headwaters solar project was made possible with support from the PGE Renewable Development Fund, which contributed $55,566 towards the $155,374 total project cost. The Energy Trust of Oregon also contributed $23,715. Together over 50% of the project’s cost was covered by the Energy Trust and PGE’s RDF funds, with the balance coming from EMSWCD.

Nancy Hamilton, EMSWCD’s Executive Director, said of the project: “We are excited to be generating electricity at the farm and reducing our carbon footprint. And we are very grateful to PGE and their Green Future customers, as well as the Energy Trust of Oregon, for helping to make this solar project happen. The Headwaters Farm solar installation is an important demonstration opportunity for our farmers and visitors to Headwaters Farm, and the wider community we serve. The project also made a lot of sense for us financially.” Read more →

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