Lisa Libby's blog

Check out the newest feature on PortlandMaps: airport noise maps. Click here for a great example.

PortlandMaps now shows the noise levels around the Portland International Airport and how they impact surrounding neighborhoods. There are a number of maps showing noise levels at different distances from the airport, the aircraft landing zones and the areas impacted by noise.

 Source: usinfo.state.gov

Arbor Day and Earth Day are just around the corner and Portland is gearing up for fun activities and community service events throughout the city. Arbor Day events kick-off on April 4 with more than a week of tree planting and recognition events. Earth Day is April 22 (observed on April 19), with a variety of activities for all ages.

The Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) needs your help in updating the Stormwater Management Manual. This is your chance to comment on the revised draft before it is adopted by City Council in late spring. The public review period is open until Friday, April 4 at 5 p.m. Comments can be submitted online at the BES website, or questions can be directed to rsmith@bes.ci.or.us.

Ecoroof at People's Food Co-opThe city requires all new residential and commercial developments to manage stormwater runoff on-site. The Stormwater Management Manual helps developers and property owners choose the best way to do so on their property. The management practices in the manual focus on landscape facilities, such as ecoroofs, planters and bioswales. The updated manual will be available in July 2008.

A positive city audit shows that BES has strengthened its construction contract management process using recommendations from the last city audit, which was done in 1998.

Clay Street Flyer

Join the City of Portland in celebrating our newest Green Street. The festivities begin with YOU. Help Portland kick off the design phase for the Green Street project on SE Clay Street from the Willamette River to SE 12th Avenue. It's St. Patrick's Day, so wear green and celebrate the greening of our city.

Portland Green StreetThanks to leadership by Congressman David Wu, a new bill has passed through the House Science and Technology Committee to expand funding for green streets research throughout Portland and the rest of the country.

What could you do to improve your watershed?

The Community Watershed Stewardship Program is offering grants up to $10,000.00 for community groups and organizations to improve their watershed.

Warming could fry salmon

The region's signature fish can't survive in warm waters; they're already feeling the heat.

By Michael Milstein, The Oregonian (January 6, 2008)

Salmon survived massive dams and fishing fleets, but now they're feeling the heat of global warming -- and it's likely to hammer them as hard as anything they've faced.

Although the government has spent billions to save salmon, warming will probably force even more extreme measures in coming years at the expense of water and power for people.

Biologists who have spent their careers watching over the fish said temperatures expected to rise an average of 0.2 to 1 degree per decade over the next century will probably wipe out some fragile runs of salmon. Snow will fall as rain instead, feeding floods that flush away their eggs. Heat waves will multiply, leaving less refuge to which they can retreat.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Portland's Community Watershed Stewardship Program (CWSP) granted $79,600 in 2007 to 17 community groups for projects that promote clean rivers and streams and healthy watersheds.

Stewardship grants encourage groups and citizens to get involved in watershed improvement projects and leverage community resources to expand stewardship efforts. Projects fundedVolunteer removes invasive plants this year include sustainable stormwater management (ecoroofs and bioswales), streamside and natural areas restoration (invasive plant removal, cleanup, and native plantings), and environmental education. Grant recipients can use funds for native plants, supplies, equipment, room rentals, transportation, and technical assistance toward any community-based watershed project in the City of Portland.

Land located at lower elevations generally has groundwater closer to the surface. Construction sites that involve significant soil removal may expose groundwater, requiring dewatering efforts that discharge to the City's sewer system.

Sewer user fees are based on measured incoming water to the City treatment facility. Since groundwater is not being measured by a City utilities meter the City can require the installation of a private metering device to accurately calculate appropriate charges.

This past year Sam ordered a complete evaluation of all construction sites to ensure that all commercial customers were paying appropriate and accurate sewer user charges relating to ground water discharge.

There are between 3,000 and 4,000 properties in Portland connected to public sewers that don't have a legal route of service. Many of these properties share a "party-line" connection that is also used by one or more of their neighbors. And many of the affected property owners don't discover it until a sewer line fails or there is a property inspection before a sale. The cost of upgrading these connections can exceed $25,000, depending on the distance of the nearest public sewer. Recognizing the financial hardship this can be for a homeowner, Commissioner Adams directed BES to develop a programmatic approach to upgrade party-line sewers.

Now, the city proposes speeding up extension of public sewers to serve these properties, offering property owners a guaranteed price for the public sewer costs, providing options for property owners to lock-in and start paying the public sewer costs, and extending existing safety net and private plumbing loan programs to help residents manage the costs.

Inside the Big PipeConstruction on Portland's East Side Big Pipe made good progress in 2007. When it's complete in 2011, the 22-foot diameter, 6-mile tunnel will parallel the east bank of the Willamette River from SE 17thh and McLoughlin to Swan Island.

The project includes construction of more than 9,000 feet of new pipelines to bring a mixed flow of stormwater and sewage to seven large diameter shafts under construction along the alignment. The $464 million project will wrap up Portland's 20-year program to control combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to the Columbia Slough and Willamette River.

Commissioner Sam forged a partnership between the Portland Brownfield Program and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on efforts to clean the Columbia Slough, called the Rapid Site Reuse initiative. In 2007 DEQ initiated a new effort to clean contaminated sediment in a target geography of the Columbia Slough by providing a means by which parties responsible for the contamination can pay for cleanup in a cost effective and efficient manner. Through the Rapid Site Reuse initiative, the DEQ continues to focus on the slough sediment and the Portland Brownfield Program offers its assistance to sites adjacent to the slough.