Water Management and Conservation

Featured Resources

Network of Oregon Watershed Councils

The Network of Oregon Watershed Councils is a statewide non-profit organization that supports the work of Oregon’s community-based watershed councils. Located in the state capital of Salem in the northwest corner of the U.S., the Network serves some 90 councils across the state through training, conferences, and networking events, by providing a voice with agencies and funders, by tracking important issues, and by helping councils learn from each other to increase their efficiency and impact.

Oct 2018 | Online resource

Strangers in Our Waterways

This video reveals how the introduction of non-native organisms—fish, shellfish, and even aquarium plants—has affected native organisms in and around our waterways.

Jan 2011 | Video

Water-wise Gardening in Central Oregon

You can have a colorful and beautiful landscape while conserving water and saving time, energy and money. Learn innovative conservation techniques for water-wise gardening, or xeriscaping, in central Oregon. Full plant lists give you...

Amy Jo Detweiler | Jun 2020 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Water Systems: Taking Care of a Precious Resource

These best practices for wells, ponds and other water systems can help you secure a safe, reliable water supply and help to ensure that we protect our streams, lakes and groundwater. This is one of a series of Rural ...

Rachel Werling | Dec 2019 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Stressed trees show dieback

Browning or dieback is usually caused by weather-related stress, sometimes in combination with pests and diseases.

Mar 2018 | Article

New ‘droughty’ soils model for Pacific Northwest could aid forest health in changing climate

Scientists have developed a new approach to modeling potentially drought-prone soils in Pacific Northwest forests, which could aid natural resource managers to prepare forested landscapes for a changing climate.

Chris Branam | Aug 16, 2018 | News story

Latest Resources

Viticulturist finds that southern Oregon vineyards could save costs on water

Southern Oregon wine grape growers might be able to cut their water usage by almost half because of a new study led by Oregon State University Extension Service that found wine grape water usage estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's AgriMet was 44% higher than necessary.

Nov 2021 | Impact story

Survival Basics: Sanitation and Waste Management

The Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake will cause heavy damage to our water and sewer systems, rendering them unusable for weeks, months or years. What will we do when our toilets, sinks and plumbing systems don’t work? Does...

Oct 2021 | OSU Extension Catalog Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Top tips for gardeners to help fight climate change

As Oregon gardeners have noticed, our climate is changing. This is primarily due to human activities releasing excessive greenhouse gases into the atmosphere over the last 150 years. As a result, we’re seeing temperatures ...

Brooke Edmunds | Sep 2021 | Article Peer reviewed (Gray level)

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Latest News

Dig into hundreds of publications from OSU Extension online catalog

Have a gardening question? Find an answer in one of OSU Extension's publications.

Kym Pokorny | Nov 22, 2019 | News story

New analysis reveals challenges for drought management in Oregon’s Willamette River Basin

In Oregon’s Willamette River Basin, managing water scarcity would be more effective if conservation measures were introduced in advance and upstream from the locations where droughts are likely to cause shortages, according to a new study.

Chris Branam | Jul 15, 2019 | News story

Economic analysis provides watershed moment for environmental groups

Economists have found that in the United States, watershed groups have had a positive impact on their local water quality.

Chris Branam | Oct 11, 2018 | News story

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