The Clackamas Basin Pesticide Stewardship Partnership
The Clackamas River provides drinking water for 300,000 people, recreation for thousands, and safe harbor for endangered fish to spawn, rear and migrate. The Clackamas Basin Pesticide Stewardship Partnership (Clackamas PSP) is a voluntary, collaborative process to protect the river and its tributaries. Local and state organizations offer water quality monitoring, resources and training for landowners and managers to enable more efficient and effective pesticide use that reduces drift and runoff.
Helping Clackamas Growers and Applicators “Keep it Local!”
THE PROBLEM: Pesticides carried by stormwater runoff, wind, and irrigation can contiminate steams and the Clackamsas River, threatening aquatic life and the safety of drinking water. Regulations will be put in place unless we solve the problem locally.
THE SOLUTION: We need your advice and expertise. Help us understand how pesticides are applied to gardens, lawns, crops, and nursery stock. Work with the Clackamas River Basin Council, Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, and Oregon State University to create a plan for the Clackamas Watershed.
YOUR PARTICIPATION: By joining in this collaborative effort, our region can avoid costly regulations and time consuming reporting for businesses. You will learn about improved application practices that are effective and save money, and get technical assistance for implementation and equipment upgrades. Local efforts will generate good neighbor relations, a Clackamas River Basin that is healthy for aquatic species, and a safe drinking water sources.
GET INVOLVED EARLY!: Make your priorities know. A local council of growers, applicators, crop consultants, and pesticide dealers will create a strategic plan to avoid costly and time consuming regulations. Be part of the solution!
TAKE THE NEXT STEP: Contact Suzi Cloutier at [email protected] and download or review the three documents below for additional details.
Clackamas River,
photo courtesy Clackamas River Basin Council
Pesticides of Concern
Since 2000, water monitoring has detected pesticides in Clackamas River tributaries that exceed benchmarks to protect fish and invertebrates. Since 2005, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has monitored four sites on tributaries to the lower Clackamas River for pesticides:
- Noyer Creek
- North Fork Deep Creek (two locations)
- Rock Creek
- Sieben Creek
Pesticide active ingredients and common trade names of pesticides found in the Clackamas Basin at high levels or frequencies of concern include:
- simazine: Princep
- chlorpyrifos: Yuma and Lorsban Advanced
- bifenthrin: Capture 2EC, Brigade 2EC, Brigade WSB, Wisdom
- diuron: Karmex, Direx
- oxyfluorfen: Goal 2XL, Goal Tender
- chlorothaloni: Bravo Weather Stik, Chloronil 720
- dichlobenil: Casoron
Clackamas PSP Monitoring Fact Sheet_ Feb 2015 Revision_1-29-15.pdf
Voluntary Steps in a PSP
- Monitor water quality to identify pesticides of concern (approaching or above unsafe levels, or found at high frequencies).
- Share and explain water quality monitoring results with those who are interested in protecting the quality of local streams and rivers.
- Engage pesticide users and technical assistance providers to identify and implement voluntary solutions to reduce pesticide drift, runoff, and waste.
- Use long-term water quality monitoring to measure success in reducing pesticides of concern and evaluate the effectiveness of strategies.
Sprayer calibration and smart sprayer technology dramatically reduces off-target pesticide loss.
Photo by Jason Faucera
Why Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships?
For Oregon
Healthy drinking water. Clean rivers. Native salmon. Abundant wildlife. Safe fish to eat.
For business
More efficient operations. Money saved through waste reduction. Reduced risk of regulation, environmental clean-ups, and negative health effects. Community-based knowledge, not “one-size-fits-all” fixes.
For best practice pest management
Integrated pest management principles ensure efficient, appropriate use of pesticides. Preventing pests, using pesticides only when necessary, and using the least pest control chemicals to be effective help prevent off-target movement of pesticides where they are not useful and can be harmful.
In the Hood River, the Dalles, and Walla Walla watersheds, collaborative partnerships reduced concentrations of pesticides and herbicides of concern in local streams by 90 %.
An Oregon-Grown Win-Win Strategy
Oregon’s Pesticide Stewardship Partnerships (PSPs) began in the Hood River basin and have expanded to seven watersheds in the Willamette and Columbia River Basins.
Partners have included local landowners, grower groups, watershed councils, soil and water conservation districts, water provides, Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon State University, tribes, Oregon Environmental Council, and several other nonprofit organizations.
Providing technical resources and water testing to local experts, these partnerships have resulted in locally led initiatives that improve pest management efficiency and create measurable environmental improvements.
Documents
ClackamasSummary_Corrected.pdf
Version: 2
Clackamas-2017-PSP-Monitoring-Presentation_March-2018.pdf
Version: 2018
Clackamas PSP Monitoring Fact Sheet_ Feb 2015 Revision_1-29-15.pdf
Clackamas PSP Monitoring Overview_Nursery Workshop Feb 2015.pdf
Questions
Lisa Kilders, Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District 503-210-6002
Kevin Masterson, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality 541-633-2005
Suzi Cloutier, Clackamas River Basin Council 503-303-4372
Kirk Cook, Oregon Department of Agriculture 541-841-0074
Links of Interest
Oregon Inter-agency Water Quality Pesticide Management Team
Oregon’s Pesticide Stewardship Program
Chemical Control for Insect Pests
Biological Control of Insect Pests
Proceedings of the North American Root Weevil Conference
Clackamas Pesticide Stewardship Partnership Members
We are all part of the solution – Join us!
Other program pages:
- Backyard Habitat Certification Program
- Residential Septic System Repair and Replacement Program
- Manure Exchange Program
- Pesticide Stewardship Partnership
- Partner assistance
- Estate/Farm Transition
- Equipment Rental Program
- Video Series for Erosion Control Practices
- Horse Keeping and Land Management
- Technical assistance
- Conservation planning
- Invasive weed control
Clackamas PSP Monitoring Fact Sheet_ Feb 2015 Revision_1-29-15(2).pdf
