Overview
State and federal agencies work together to improve water quality and fish habitat under the
Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds (OPSW). Outcomes of this work are monitored and documented by OWEB, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD), and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
OWEB supports the monitoring and reporting of these investments by:
- Providing
grants to monitor current conditions in watersheds and evaluate the effects of restoration and conservation actions.
- Convene interagency teams to coordinate monitoring-related initiatives and issues.
- Compile data on restoration actions (see the
Oregon Watershed Restoration Inventory)
- Produce Biennial Reports that document progress for the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds (OPSW) (2021-2023 Biennial Report)
Inter-Agency Monitoring Teams
Oregon Plan Monitoring Team (OPMT)
Convened by OWEB to review Open Solicitation monitoring grants, the OPMT includes representation from Oregon’s Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Quality, Fish and Wildlife, Forestry, and Water Resources. Through the collaborative grant review process, OPMT fosters communication and data sharing among these agency partners.
STREAM Team
The STRategic Enterprise Approach to Monitoring (STREAM) Team provides a forum to discuss the needs of individual agencies related to water monitoring, natural resources data management, and information sharing to meet Oregon’s broader goals and objectives. In addition to OWEB, STREAM Team partners include Oregon’s Departments of Agriculture, Environmental Quality, Fish and Wildlife, Forestry, State Lands, and Water Resources, Oregon Health Authority, and technical assistance from Oregon State University.
STREAM Team Mid and North Coast Monitoring Summit
The following overview document outlines the responsibilities, monitoring, and information needs for each of Oregon’s state agencies engaged in water monitoring efforts. The document is intended for use as a reference by natural resources practitioners engaging in conversations about water monitoring and information needs throughout Oregon.
Monitoring Oregon’s Waters: Summary of State Agency Actions
Monitoring Outcomes
Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD)
OWRD works with partners to operate a
statewide network of gaging stations that is essential for the management of Oregon’s water resources. In addition to gages run by partners, OWRD operates more than 250 gages. Monitoring streamflow is essential for the regulation and distribution of water rights, including those for instream uses, according to priority date. Stream gages are also critical for basin water budgets, flood forecasting, and understanding interactions between groundwater and surface-water-dependent ecosystems. OWRD also requires water use measurement where needed in order to ensure compliance with water rights and to distribute and manage water.
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
DEQ collects and provides information on surface water, and biological and aquatic habitat quality through several ongoing programs:
Ambient Monitoring Network: This is a statewide network of 146 sites near the mouths of large rivers and 15 sites on streams intersecting agricultural land use, sampled in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. DEQ samples each site every other month and has operated the Ambient Monitoring Network for several decades. DEQ calculates the Oregon Water Quality Index every year based on data from the Ambient Monitoring Network and posts annual
Water Quality Data Reports.
Toxics Monitoring: DEQ operates a statewide Toxics Monitoring Network consisting of 60 sites, each monitored at least annually, and maintains an
interactive map and reports from DEQ’s basin-specific toxics monitoring investigations.
In spring 2025, DEQ also supported an Oregon Health Authority-funded project to assess toxic contaminants in targeted fish species from 7 commonly fished waterbodies. DEQ collected the fish, processed fish tissue, and sent composited fish tissue samples to OHA’s contracted laboratory for analysis. A fellow from the Association of Public Health Laboratories is working in the DEQ Laboratory’s Organics analytical section to develop a method for analyzing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in fish tissue.
Biological and Aquatic Habitat Monitoring: DEQ’s biomonitoring program collects and identifies aquatic insects and measures stream habitat characteristics to assess overall aquatic community health. DEQ maintains a network of 12 reference sites to track long-term trends and has developed a
process to identify more than 400 reference sites – those riparian areas that are least disturbed by human activities – across the state. In early 2025, DEQ completed a peer-reviewed methodology for assessing biocriteria impairments and published the methodology for the 2024 Integrated Report in March 2025.
Results from All Water Quality Monitoring Programs are published in the Ambient Water Quality Monitoring System.
Contact
Please direct questions or comments to
Audrey Hatch, Conservation Outcomes Coordinator, 971-345-7002, or
Ken Fetcho, Effectiveness Monitoring Coordinator, 971-345-7018