Office of Healthy Working Rivers

Portland’s alive with efforts to take care of and work with our rivers...

• From the clean-up of Portland Harbor and riverside brownfields,
• to riverfront redevelopments like Centennial Mills,
• to building riverside trails and parks,
• to comprehensive planning for the length of the Willamette,
• to assuring a robust port.

The "Rivers Office" helps coordinate these efforts and raise public awareness of the importance of the Willamette and Columbia to our lives as Portlanders.

The Office of Healthy Working Rivers’ mission is to foster:

• Environmental restoration
• Community involvement
• Economic development...

...along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers as they flow through Portland

In January 2009, the Portland City Council established the Office of Healthy Working Rivers (Rivers Office), to bring a new focus to implementing projects that advance the City’s goals of:

• clean and healthy rivers
• a prosperous working harbor
• increased awareness of our rivers
• a vibrant waterfront
• successful partnerships to implement river projects

The Rivers Office facilitates and promotes the economic, transportation, ecological, and recreational assets of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers.

The Rivers Office

• Engages citizens, neighborhoods, industries and businesses, non-profits, and government partners in advancing Portland’s river goals
• Fosters development of clean, sustainable river-related industries
• Protects, restores and connects habitats for fish and wildlife that live in, or pass through, our river corridors
• Supports the Portland Harbor Superfund clean-up to ensure a successful, cost-effective outcome
• Reconnects Portlanders to their rivers through improved access and first-hand river experiences
• Provides a conduit for community information-sharing on river news, events, programs, and issues
• Promotes efficient and collaborative permitting processes
• Encourages city, state and federal policies that balance river development, river use, and environmental restoration

To view a list of current Rivers Office projects, click here.

To view the ordinance creating the Office of Healthy Working Rivers, click here.