Skip to main content

Oregon State Flag An official website of the State of Oregon »

Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships

Oregon Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships identify potential concerns and improve water quality affected by pesticide use. The partnerships combine local expertise and water quality sampling results to encourage voluntary changes in pesticide use and management practices. Land use within each of the partnerships varies. In some areas watershed partners place an emphasis on urban pesticide use, in others agriculture and/or commercial forestry may be of greatest concern. 

Explore DEQ’s PSP Data Viewer to access water quality data collected by the Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships Program. It’s a new tool that provides easy access to anyone who wants to know what pesticides are in their local streams. The tool provides access to current and historic pesticide water quality data that DEQ and the Oregon Department of Agriculture use to inform the management of the program, which monitors for more than 130 chemicals in Oregon surface waters.

What partnerships do:

  • Identify local, pesticide-related water quality issues
  • Share water quality monitoring results with local communities and other stakeholders
  • Provide context for water quality data and water quality criteria or benchmarks
  • Help pesticide users identify and implement solutions
  • Use long-term monitoring to measure success and progress 
The goal is measurable environmental improvements, making Oregon waters safer for aquatic life and humans.

Since 2000, DEQ and other state agencies have worked closely with partners in watersheds across the state. Currently there are nine partnerships:

  • Hood River
  • Mill Creek and Fifteenmile Creek (in Wasco County)
  • Walla Walla River
  • Clackamas River
  • Pudding River
  • Yamhill River
  • Amazon Creek watershed project (in and around Eugene) 
  • Middle Rogue (near Medford)
  • Middle Deschutes (near Madras)

Partners include:

  • Department of Environmental Quality  
  • Oregon State University Extension Service 
  • Oregon Department of Agriculture  
  • Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 
  • Oregon Department of Forestry  
  • Oregon Health Authority  
  • Watershed and other natural resource groups 
  • Local landowners and growers 
  • Soil and water conservation districts 
  • Tribal governments
The Pesticide Stewardship Partnership program receive guidance from an inter-agency Water Quality Pesticide Management Team. This team developed a statewide plan to protect water quality from pesticide impacts. It also designates priority pesticides that could affect water quality and helps evaluate monitoring data. 

DEQ and ODA periodically sponsor free pesticide waste collection events around Oregon for farmers and other commercial and institutional applicators. The purpose of these events is to reduce the risks to surface and groundwater from accidental release of pesticides by providing a cost-effective and safe way to manage these wastes.

Household pesticides can be disposed of through DEQ's Household Hazardous Waste Program.

All 2022 collection events have been completed. The schedule for 2023 will be announced after it'​s finalized.​

Contact

David Gruen 
Columbia River Coordinator
503-719-2282

For more information, see the joint agency fact sheet: Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships in Oregon.