At 5:15 a.m. on July 30, 2017, a robo-call and email blast were sent to 50 irrigators and stakeholders in the Fifteenmile watershed.
The messages were not unsolicited spam; they were collaborative, proactive water management in action. The alert acted as The Freshwater Trust, farmers, state agencies and other nonprofits had all intended it to.
2009 was a blazing hot year.
Oregon’s Fifteenmile watershed, which originates on the northeastern slopes of Mt. Hood and meets the Columbia River near The Dalles, was suffering as a consequence. That summer, extended high air temperatures and low flow in Fifteenmile Creek created a lethal combination, killing thousands of juvenile fish, including threatened winter steelhead. Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), people can be held civilly and criminally liable for any activity that harms listed species. Thus, this event prompted enforcement officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to pay a visit to Fifteenmile Creek.
