State law required an audit of an agency with the mission of restoring Oregon’s watersheds and salmon. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) had been spending a share of lottery funds for over a decade toward its mission when we took on an audit of their program.
The restoration mission in Oregon is daunting but not impossible. The wave of immigrants over the Oregon trail in the 1850s began significant development, affecting thousands of miles of rivers and streams, sometimes willfully and sometimes without awareness. For example, the pioneers turned forests into farmland which washed soil into rivers, raising their temperatures and ultimately reducing the volume and diversity of animal, insect, and plant life. Many other human actions affected the ecology of the rivers, such as industrial pollutants, chemically enhanced lawns, large dams and irrigation diversions.
It had taken millennia for the natural systems of the Pacific Northwest to evolve and reach an equilibrium among all the species, the geography, and the climate. The introduction of humans and their modern commerce broke that equilibrium, and we are trying to apply what we now know to restore it. Salmon were the most obviously affected species and their numbers declined and continue to do so, even as hatcheries unsuccessfully try to mitigate the losses. For example, we now know that our well-intentioned efforts of the past to clear river channels actually reduced habitat for young salmon because fallen trees provide them food and shelter.
In the West, we are not so far from that equilibrium—most of the species still exist, though not in the proportions of the past. We also know that these natural systems can rebuild themselves with just a little extra human effort, but future vigilance is also needed to mitigate impacts.
Our audit reviewed OWEB’s efforts to build capacity and sustainability for local restoration work, to develop partnerships, and to monitor and apply adaptive management practices. Our audit had positive conclusions, but also some recommendations. The title was intended to convey the program’s past success as well as necessary steps for the future: Continuing Sound Partnerships and Strategies for Restoration and Protection.
The program’s efforts were built around a framework called the Oregon Plan, which intended to enlist the support of property owners, community-based groups, and other stakeholders to physically restore stretches of rivers and to monitor the water conditions, numbers of salmon, and other wildlife. The iconic salmon were also considered an indicator species for the overall health of the rivers and, for many Oregon rivers, became listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The lottery money paid for staff to visit communities and engage with soil and water conservation districts, local government agencies, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other organizations to align efforts. These groups were offered funding to pay for equipment rental, water testing, and other activities to restore more natural conditions in and around the rivers. Just as importantly, the groups were expected to continue their efforts over the years, and to ensure that their improvements were not undone.
OWEB built an online library of reference materials to explain the science of healthy streams, to help individuals diagnose problems, and to provide practical instructions for restoration and other technical information. This ensured that when the local groups applied for improvement grants from OWEB, their projects were scientifically sound and lasting. In addition, OWEB coordinated with agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers or the Transportation Department (for culvert upgrades) which could further leverage the group efforts.
Over the decade, many groups formed and improved sections of rivers by working with property owners in science-based actions. They worked with highway engineers to replace culverts that blocked salmon passage, upgraded irrigation systems to screen out salmon and better conserve water, removed invasive junipers, and addressed erosion and bacterial contamination that reduced water quality.
Sustainability for the long term was a fundamental requirement of the mission. The magnitude of rivers needing attention was huge and, while restoring a section of stream was a long-term investment, restoration could be undone over time. To meet these needs the wisest course was to build a community that cared about its rivers and would continue those sound practices into the future. River masters, watershed councils, and ongoing partnerships all contribute to the community infrastructure that could produce lasting results.
We tested the quality of that key effort in our audit. We conducted extensive interviews of community group members, current and former board members, agencies, and stakeholders to identify any possible problems that could interfere with their efforts, but found few issues. We found committed and active individuals who worked with farmers, ranchers, and other property owners. These people in turn could advocate for river improvements, and also received financial support to accomplish the work. We concluded that the program was operating as intended.
While we saw that these efforts were achieving their intended purpose, the projects were often disconnected and needed to be more systematically addressed. For example, there is little value in replacing culverts under a roadway to allow passage for returning salmon if earlier barriers downstream mean those culverts can’t be even reached by the fish. OWEB had been moving toward more “river basin” approaches to restoration, but its system of awarding restoration projects was still emphasizing community-building.
We recommended that rather than just choosing among proposals made by the groups without regard to location on a river, OWEB establish statewide and regional goals and priorities that could be the basis for funding decisions. With a decade of successful capacity-building established, this next step seemed obvious and necessary, and OWEB embraced it.
One other important aspect of sustainability was the ability of OWEB to adopt the best practices for restoration. The Oregon Plan states that watershed restoration efforts will need to adapt, evolve, and improve based on information obtained from monitoring, independent scientific review, and the knowledge of the people putting the Oregon Plan to work. Our audit found that OWEB applied adaptive management strategies including learning from experience, applying alternative approaches, and making changes to current programs. Nonetheless, we recommended additional effort in measuring their progress and results to help better inform them and the public.
The “systems view” of our report reveals another layer to consider in any audit. To be sustainable, organizations also need to adapt, acquiring information to be more efficient and effective, building stronger relationships with other agencies and stakeholders, and adjusting to changing conditions to maintain an equilibrium and gain successful results. This lesson about how humans and their systems interact with other systems is perhaps the most important of all.
