Thank You for 40 Incredible Years — Here's to 40 More!
The entire team at WaterWatch of Oregon would like to thank you for your generous support during our end of the year fundraising campaign, and pledging your support in the ongoing work to protect Oregon's rivers. We're proud to partner with you and our fellow Oregonians in this effort, and even as we honor WaterWatch's past and kick off our 40th anniversary, we remain laser-focused on the critical work ahead this year as we begin to build out the next 40 years of WaterWatch's legacy. More to come!

Instream Applications for the Upper Willamette Basin
Public comment wraps up in mid-January for new instream water right applications in the upper basin of the Willamette River, including portions of the river's headwaters east of Eugene. Part of a package of over 260 instream applications for the Willamette basins submitted by ODFW, these important water rights will protect water flowing instream in perpetuity once adopted. Thank you for your response to our earlier action alerts on Willamette basin instream water rights, and look for a new action alert for the Upper Willamette early next week.

Thanks to Everyone Who Joined Us at Portland Patagonia
WaterWatch executive director Neil Brandt and communications manager Tommy Hough spent a few hours with customers and staff at the Downtown Portland Patagonia store during the thick of the holiday season last month to share more about our mission and campaigns, hand out copies of Instream and our 2024 accomplishments report, and help gift wrap purchases in recycled Patagonia tote bags. Thanks to WaterWatch development officer Jesse Robbins and the Patagonia team for helping arrange this fun holiday event.

Farewell to One of Our Great Environmental Presidents
Even before his death at 100 on Dec. 29th, President Jimmy Carter had long been recognized for his environmental contributions and affinity for fly fishing. As president, Carter installed solar panels atop the White House, moved the U.S. away from a reliance on foreign oil, encouraged greater energy conscious behavior, and signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act into law, still the largest expansion of protected public lands in U.S. history. A state funeral for the 39th president will be held next Thursday, Jan. 9th.

Find WaterWatch of Oregon on Bluesky
After several requests from WaterWatch members and supporters, we've created a WaterWatch of Oregon account on the Bluesky social media platform. Bluesky began in 2019 as a research initiative at Twitter, before becoming an independent company in 2021. While Bluesky launched as an invite-only platform nearly two years ago, it quickly grew last fall, reaching 20 million users by the end of November. Let your friends and family know about our Bluesky account at waterwatchoforegon.bsky.social and follow us there!