Put the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District to work for you!
If you live east of the Willamette River in Multnomah County, you are automatically eligible for free technical assistance via phone, email, and regular mail. We are non-regulatory – we are only interested in helping you. All of our services are provided free of charge.
We offer technical assistance with managing:
- Mud & manure
- Soil erosion
- Areas near streams, creeks, and rivers
- Pastures
- Livestock watering
- Irrigation water
- Well protection
- Stormwater management
- Outdoor water conservation
- Invasive weeds
- Wildlife habitat
- Fertilization of crops and pastures
- Riparian buffers
Is my property eligible for a site visit?
Schools, governments, and other public properties are automatically eligible for a site visit. Due to high demand, however, we are only able to offer in-person site visits to the following private properties:
- Rural, working, and agricultural lands such as farms, nurseries, and woodlots.
- Businesses, non-profits, and residences within 300 feet of a stream, river, or wetland, and/or a “high conservation value” natural area (as determined by EMSWCD staff)
- Low-income multifamily housing units anywhere within Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary
- Businesses, non-profits, and residences within Gresham’s Downspout Disconnection zone, for stormwater management assistance only
- Site visits are allowed only when both you and our staff feel it is possible to do so safely.
- Our staff will call the day before or morning of a scheduled visit to confirm you feel the site visit can be done safely.
- Our staff will be provided with and are required to wear masks or face coverings whenever in the immediate proximity of the landowner or any other person. Our staff will also encourage you to wear a face covering during the visit.
- Our staff are required to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between people throughout the visit at all times. We will terminate the site visit if required distance of at least 6 feet cannot be maintained.
- No part of the site visit can take place indoors. All conversation and activity must remain outdoors, with the exception of well-ventilated barns or out-buildings where social distancing can be maintained.
- Handshakes or any other contact is not allowed, and no paper or other materials will be exchanged.
- You have the option of talking to staff on cell phones during the site visit if needed to improve the ability to hear each other or to converse from a distance.
Site visit protocols
In light of the current COVID-19 Global Pandemic and in compliance with current State guidelines, EMSWCD has generated and is strictly adhering to updated site visit protocols, which we have listed below. For your safety and ours, these protocols must be observed during a site visit.