AnnualReport

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The Upper Deschutes Watershed Council seeks to protect and restore the two-million-acre Upper Deschutes River watershed through collaborative projects in habitat restoration, watershed education, and long-term monitoring. 

We refer to our environmental education program as The Upstream Project. This is due to the fact that sometimes coordinating unique, hands-on, outdoor education activities feels like swimming upstream. However, just like the rewards that salmon and steelhead reap when they make it back to their natal streams to spawn, the students we work with gain incredible benefits from their time spent connecting to nature and learning about themselves and nature outside.  

With The Upstream Project, we work with about 3,000 K-12 students throughout Central Oregon each year. Our education program is interdisciplinary, diverse, and inclusive in order to engage and connect with all types of learners bringing a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.  Through art, writing, science, music, and outdoor exploration, we seek to connect youth to the nat-ural world in order to inspire them to develop a sense of place, a sense of stewardship for our rivers and streams, and an inspired and empowered sense of self.   

The Upstream Project

education

M I L E S T O N E S &A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S

LBS. OF GARBAGE and weeds removed from the

Deschutes River and streambank at the annual Deschutes River Cleanup

ACRES OF HISTORIC spawning, rearing and floodplain

habitat restored to date along 4 miles of Whychus Creek

AVERAGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS

engaged with nature and inspired to protect our rivers and streams each year

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS

contributed to restoration and stew-ardship activities in the past year

350 3000 2901360

HOURS SPENT BY STUDENTSoutside learning about the

Upper Deschutes watershed

6500DA M R E M A I N I N G

With its removal in 2020, trout and salmon will be able to access the entire 38.6 miles of Whychus Creek

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By theNumbers

Habitat restoration and monitoring are two key pillars of our work at the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council. Restoration work physically improves, restores or creates habitat for fish and wildlife. This restoration work often improves water quality, water quantity, habitat, and other ecological benefits to the broader natural world. Monitoring involves studying and understanding the benefits our restoration work provides, or where we might be falling short, to inform us how we can improve and what addi-tional actions may be needed. As one example, we measure and monitor stream temperatures to understand how stream flow and habitat restoration impacts stream temperatures with the end goal of keeping our streams cold for fish and other aquatic species. 

Our restoration work involves cycles of planning and design that then leads to project implementation. In fiscal year 2019, we worked with partners to implement the Ryan Ranch restoration project along the Deschutes River near Dillon Falls upstream of Bend. Four projects along Whychus Creek near Sisters and one along the Deschutes River at Riverbend Park in Bend are in the design and planning phase heading towards implementation in 2020, 2021 and beyond. One of those projects will remove the last dam on Whychus Creek allowing reintroduced salmon and steelhead to once again access all available habitat along 38 miles of Whychus Creek.  This and other habitat restoration projects will expand on four stream miles and 350 acres of habitat restored in Whychus Creek to date.

Our monitoring work shows increased numbers of young salmon and steelhead trout using the restored habitat compared with non-restored habitat. Increases in macroinvertebrate diversity and overall numbers are providing more food for fish in these restored habitats. Our monitoring work also shows that increased flow in streams means cooler water temperatures leading to better habitat conditions. These results are even more exciting when combined with seeing adult spring Chinook returning and specif-ically using restored habitat in Whychus Creek this past summer. These results are encouraging but we also know much work remains. This work extends beyond creating habitat for fish in Whychus Creek, to restoring healthy watershed conditions across the Upper Deschutes benefiting fish, wildlife along with the central Oregon communities.

Restoring our Rivers & Streams

restoration & monitoring

Cover, education, and staff photo: Marisa Chappell Hossick Restoration photo (top): Scott NelsonMonitoring photos (middle, bottom): Emily Zamarripa

u p p e r d e s c h u t e s w a t e r s h e d c o u n c i l w w w . r e s t o r e t h e d e s c h u t e s . o r g

Thank you toour supporters!Adam and Rachel AlbrightBill and Tracey AnthonyGayle BakerBend Park and Recreation DistrictKen BierlyHerb BlankBonneville Environmental FoundationTroy BrandtBrooks Resources CorporationBobby BrunoeMike BuettnerPeggy CareyLisa CenaCentral Oregon DivingChildren’s Forest of Central OregonCity of BendJim and Judy ClintonSarah Sally CollinsCris Converse

William CornogRobert CorriganCulture Watch NWGreg and Karen DavidgeDeschutes BreweryDeschutes CountyDeschutes Land TrustDeschutes River ConservancyWayne and Tracy DickinsonKatherine DimontJesse DrakeE.H. and M.E. Bowerman Advised FundMathieu FederspeilFirst Interstate BankMichael FisherHelen FreilichFriends of the Sisters LibraryAmy Stuart and Mike GerdesDavid and Cynthia GlickPatricia GreenCindy GreerPeter HallSamantha HatchJohn and Heidi Hoffman

Max Heller and Natalie Robbins Ryan HoustonGenevieve HubertCharles HumphreysSamanthia KingsleyTreiste KobleChris and Carey KraybillClair and Sharon KunkelMason and Cassie LacyAnne LaferriereLaird Norton Family FoundationCynthia LaRocheMichael LattigNick LelackDaisy LopezDanielle MacBainCarlos MarinoSteve and Lisa MarxJade MayerJack and Jan McGowanRich and Janet MeganckLisa MeredithEric and Kolleen Miller

Jeff and Maureen MooreNational Forest FoundationRon and Becky NelsonNetwork for GoodNew Key LLCChuck and Debbie NewportDennis OliphantOregon Community FoundationOregon Watershed Enhancement BoardMegan PalmerDan PebblesPelton Round Butte FundBen and Maeve Perle Mathias Perle and Julie Amberg Jeff PerreaultPortland General ElectricArie and Gladys PilzNatasha Bellis and David PilzShon RaeLiz RainwaterRE/MAX Key PropertiesREI

Paul ReidmillerSara Wiener and Joanne RichterBruce RonningSkjersaa GroupLoren SmithGail SnyderLisa SomogyiJohn Stephenson and Nancy Gilbert John SwansonTheodore and Phyllis SwindellsMichael TastMichael TaylorThe Healy FoundationThe Roundhouse FoundationThe Tides FoundationTrail Blazers FoundationLaurence WeinbergJeff WhitesideNeil and Alisha WiaterTed Wise and Susan StraussU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceRick and Chris WrightBrett and Andrea ZechmannZimmerman Family Foundation

staff board

Kris Knight executive director

Kolleen Miller education director

Mathias Perlerestoration program manager

Lauren Morkmonitoring program manager

Alyssa Grove education coordinator

Samantha Bourque program assistant

Bill Anthony  Cris Converse  Michael FisherNancy Gilbert Gena Goodman-Campbell Jason Gritzner Will Groves Carey Kraybill Clair Kunkel Danielle MacBain Chuck Newport secretary Davíd Pilz Shon Rae Joanne Richter vice president  Ted Wise Rick Wright president

2019 FinancialsRevenue Expenses

State Grants $449,907Non-Governmental Grants & IndividualContributions $250,269Federal Grants $232,300Other Revenue $42,998Events $34,198

Total $1,031,336

Education* $136,627Restoration $633,800Monitoring $95,997Fundraising $38,285General/Administrative $143,551

Total $1,048,260

State Grants43.6%

Restoration61%

Education*13%

General/Administrative

14%

Non- Governmental

Grants & Individual Contributions

26.4%

Federal Grants 22.5%

Other Revenue 4.2% Events 3.3% Fundraising 3%Monitoring 9%

revenue

expenses

*A significant portion of funding for our education programming comes from individual contributions and community support.