MHCC to become ‘salmon safe’ – Mt. Hood plans improvements for Kelly and Beaver Creek

Mt. Hood plans improvements for Kelly and Beaver Creek

Mt. Hood plans to seek out a Salmon-Safe certification — a potential first for a community college.

MHCC will be working with the Salmon-Safe environmental group, the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, the City of Gresham, Intel Labs, Metro, the Sandy River Basin Watershed Council and other organizations to become one of the first institutions in Gresham to provide a safe habitat in which salmon can reproduce.

“This is huge,” said Steve Wise, executive director at Sandy River Basin Watershed Council, referring to the steps the college is taking. Gresham city leaders are all for backing this project because they are currently looking at ways to improve the general water supply, according to Wise.

“One of their (city) goals was to develop a demonstration campus-scale urban clean water initiative. Enter the college,” he said.

MHCC will have a couple of challenges to hurdle in order to earn the distinction.

Wise said the earthen dam (causeway) on campus provides a unique challenge for the council and MHCC. The dam blocks water from moving naturally in Kelly Creek. Original campus architects first had an idea of a long bridge, but the college instead went with the dam, quite possibly more cost-effective at the time in the mid-1960s.

Whatever the reason, the fact remains that water flowing along Kelly Creek is 4 to 5 degrees warmer than what is required for a salmon’s healthy habitat.

Another hurdle MHCC might run into is drainage outfalls. These outfalls are just pipes that spew out all of the water collected on the campus’s surface – runoff from buildings and pavement. Wise said these outfalls pump out more polluted water than the wildlife in these creeks are used to.

What Mt. Hood students should see within the next year is a completely re-vegetated upper Kelly Creek slope, on the piece of land behind the tennis courts and by the Aquatics Center. Wise said this is the first project the groups will be tackling in their five-year plan to become salmon-safe.

There is also a partially built bioswale – a piece of land designed to reduce pollutants from water runoff – that they plan to complete this year.

“That is an early action opportunity … (among) the things that are ecologically productive, not costly, (are) good and visible demonstrations that the community can see,” Wise said.

This is the first step towards Mt. Hood becoming an ecologically healthy institution, according to Wise. There are other certifications that the council and the institution are already considering so that MHCC can be an environmental “leader in its community,” he said. For instance, Tree Campus USA and Backyard Habitats are being looked at for potential next steps.

The Sandy River Basin Watershed Council has been active since 1995, and has had a presence on Mt. Hood’s campus since 2014. Its main goal is to increase awareness about and to prevent more harm to the ecological system.

The environmental partners are currently working to restore habitats for native salmon and steelhead in the Sandy River basin. Both Beaver and Kelly Creek enter the Sandy River and contain steelhead and salmon in their waters.

Salmon-Safe is a nonprofit group based in Portland for the past 21 years. It has been involved in many projects to reduce the environmental impacts on rivers containing salmon, primarily fighting pollution. Its stated goal is to extend its range of positive influence in key agricultural and urban watersheds throughout the West Coast range of Pacific salmon species.

Wise hopes to include MHCC classes and students in the campus-related process, especially considering the sciences behind producing a green infrastructure.

Salmon-Safe representatives are scheduled to visit the Gresham campus in April to analyze the grounds and see if the facility is up to standard, then follow up in the future, Wise said. “We will check back over the next few years to see if you have complied.

“It’s ambitious, it’s a little complicated, but it’s definitely worth addressing and finding a solution.”