The Glenn and Gibson Creeks Watershed Council of West Salem
Our Mission: to foster better understanding and stewardship of watershed resources
Our Purpose
The Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council is a local volunteer organization (non-governmental) with membership open to all. Our purpose is to share information, reduce duplication of activities and to help address watershed management issues in the watershed and provide a framework for coordination and cooperation among key interests.
Our History
Glenn and Gibson Creeks Watershed Council formed in 1996 in response to concerns from the 1996 Willamette River flood. The Council was recognized by Polk County and the City of Salem in 1998. Since that time, a watershed assessment has been completed, work plans organized, and projects are moving forward. Our goal remains to engage every resident in the watershed to become informed and active in watershed health.
You Are Invited!
As a local volunteer organization (non-governmental), Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council membership is open to all. If you are a person who cares about the ecological and economic health of our community streams and rivers, please consider joining us at a council meeting to learn more.
Our Vision
Vision: a balanced ecosystem that supports a healthy watershed and provides for an economic base and viable communities.Our Advocacy
Glenn and Gibson Creeks Watershed Council advocates for watershed health through involvement in the community planning and development process, working with the City of Salem and Polk County to ensure that land use, planning and development practices are carried out in an environmentally sustainable manner.Our Meetings
We're meeting by Zoom on the second Tuesday of every month from 5:30 pm to 6:45 pm. Email bierlykenneth@gmail.com to request a link to the Zoom meeting. Anyone interested in watershed issues is invited to attend.More About Our Work
Hover over photos for details
Removing Invasive Ivy
Community Project
GGWC Meetings
Eola Ridge Park
Pollinator Garden Awareness
The Oak Savanna
Weeding the Oak Savanna
Audubon Society Volunteers
Learning About Nature
Cinnabar Caterpillar
Learning and Helping
Starting Early
Property Owners
Eola Ridge Park
Illegal Fill Dumping
Rain Garden
Some of Our Valuable Partners
We are fortunate to count among our
partners a wide variety of governmental and civic organizations.
Talk to us about partnering with the Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council
Our partners include:
- Polk County
- City of Salem
- West Salem Neighborhood Association
- Salem-Keizer Schools
- Salem Audubon Society
- Salemtowne
- Salem Electric
- Friends of West Salem Watersheds
- Rickreall Watershed Council
- Spring Valley Watershed Council
- Luckiamute Watershed Council
- Polk Soil and Water Conservation District
Goldcrest Brook: A Case for Stormwater Management
Presentation by Peter Dalrymple
Mr.
Dalrymple presented information learned from the City of Salem’s
study of the rapid and extensive erosion along Goldcrest Brook,
a tributary of Glenn Creek. The City became engaged in this
study in 2018, when streamside landowners along Goldcrest Brook
reported rapid bank erosion. View
Goldcrest Brook / Dalrymple PDF
The presentation included an
explanation of hydromodification (a blanket term for how
alterations in land use change the hydrologic characteristics of
streams), the study’s look at changes in Goldcrest Brook over
time including development in the watershed, impacts of the
development, ongoing monitoring of the stream channel and flows,
and possibilities for minimizing the impacts of development
going forward.
Consultants are at work creating a model
to help better understand hydromodification and how to create
rigorous stormwater design standards to better protect stream
channel integrity, water quality, aquatic life and streamside
property. Riparian buffers, access corridors and good utility
data are all part of the solution to protecting streams through
the process of development in the watershed. Since restoration
of these streams is difficult, protection is important.
Become a GGWC Volunteer!
We are a non-government, volunteer group of neighbors from diverse perspectives working together to learn about the watershed and doing what we can to improve our area watershed quality and enhance local habitat conditions.
GGWC Meeting Info
We meet the second Tuesday of every month from 5:15 pm - 6:45 pm in the Breezeway Room at Salemtowne (at the confluence of the Glenn and Gibson Creeks). Anyone interested in watershed issues is invited to attend.
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