The Pure Water Partners (PWP) Program is an initiative designed to reward landowners in the McKenzie Watershed for protecting their lands along the river and restoring riparian forests. Their good stewardship helps EWEB protect the source of our drinking water, avoiding future water treatment costs. Pure Water Partners also provide technical assistance for landowners who need restoration work on their properties, particularly following the Holiday Farm Fire.
Learn more about:
We invite McKenzie landowners to sign up for a free property assessment in which we evaluate properties for invasive vegetation, fuels accumulation, potential replanting needs, and erosion issues. You will need to sign an access agreement with EWEB in order to allow project partners to visit your property.
Once the access agreement is signed, the McKenzie Watershed Council or Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District will contact you to schedule a property assessment. Learn more about how to get started with a property assessment from PWP.
Sign UpNaturescaping is a method of landscaping that seeks to incorporate native plants, reduce water use, enhance habitat and protect water quality while producing a landscape that meets landowner needs, is easier to maintain, and can save both time and money.
EWEB works with local partners to put on naturescaping workshops, which cover a variety of topics, including developing a functional and water-wise landscaping plan; planting the "right plant" in the "right place;" addressing invasive species; the importance of riparian buffers to water quality; reducing pesticide and fertilizer use, and enriching soil quality through composting.
For anyone interested in getting started in Naturescaping, here are some downloadable resources:
Landowners who partner with the PWP Program can receive the following Naturescaping incentives:
Up to 2 hours for an initial consultation with the McKenzie Watershed Council or Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District around implementing naturescaping principles on their property.
Invasive Species threaten our watershed by degrading habitat, outcompeting native species, and increasing fire risk with dense and dry vegetation. Pure Water Partners has compiled the following fact sheets to assist landowners in managing common invasive species and limiting their impact in our watershed.
Please familiarize yourself with some common invasive species below, and learn how to mitigate them:
Keeping our watershed healthy relies on voluntary participation from community members like you. If you are not already part of the Pure Water Partners program, please see above to sign up for a free property assessment.
The McKenzie Firewood Program is a free firewood program for people affected by the Holiday Farm Fire and the local community. The Pure Water Partners (PWP) developed the program as an offshoot of our forest fuels reduction work with landowners.
For more information, link to: Firewood Program – McKenzie Watershed Council
PWP encourages stewardship of healthy riparian forest areas and provides incentives to landowners to protect and/or restore riparian forests as key systems for maintaining clean water, reducing erosion, providing shade along the adjacent waterbody, providing key habitat for fish and wildlife, and maintaining a healthy resilient watershed.
PWP also recommends the use of native plants as a way of reducing chemical and water use, as well as maintenance, while protecting water quality and increasing native wildlife habitat. In light of the Holiday Farm Fire, PWP is encouraging landowners to incorporate Firewise practices on their properties, which are aimed at creating defensible space and reducing invasive vegetation and ladder fuels that can threaten homes and structures.
Program partners include the Eugene Water & Electric Board, Cascade Pacific Resource Conservation & Development, McKenzie Watershed Council, McKenzie River Trust, Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission, Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District, University of Oregon, and the US Forest Service.
Landowners must sign up for a property assessment to give permission for PWP to schedule a time with you to visit your property. It is a nonbinding step to begin your involvement to work with PWP and receive program benefits.
1. Sign up for a property assessment
2. EWEB will send you a DocuSign access agreement to sign electronically. This allows our partners to visit your property.
3. A staff member from the McKenzie Watershed Council or Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District will contact you to schedule a property assessment.
4. PWP partners come out to assess your property.
5. Following the property assessment, you will receive a report with detailed recommendations for your property. You can decide whether you’d like to move forward with any or some of the recommendations (but there is no obligation at this point).
6. PWP partners will create a management plan for the work that you would like to have completed on your property.
7. You will then sign a Watershed Stewardship Agreement with EWEB that allows contractors to complete work on your property and PWP partners to monitor and perform maintenance work over the next several years.
8. You will work with your PWP project manager to schedule the work on your property at a convenient time for you.
Sign up today to start your journey with PWP!
Sign Up
PWP is partnering with the McKenzie Valley Long-Term Recovery Group to help landowners who need assistance post-fire. If you are interested in donating, please donate through our partner, the McKenzie Watershed Council: https://www.mckenziewc.org/pwpdonation/
If you would like to donate to help support the Pure Water Partners Program and the work that we do, please donate to the McKenzie Watershed Conservation Fund (through our financial manager Cascade Pacific). Our goal is for the Pure Water Partners Program to become a self-sustainable source of funding. Currently, our work is funded by a mix of sources, including:
These funding sources will vary over time in both the diversity of contributors as well as the amount of funding from each source.
For more information about the PWP Program, email info@purewaterpartners.org or call 541-685-7438.
Information about utility services, resources and support options for customers impacted by the Holiday Farm Fire.
Are you a landowner in the McKenzie Watershed? Check out our assistance programs and incentives.
EWEB is heavily involved in protecting drinking water in the aftermath of the Holiday Farm Fire.
Learn about our 10-year strategic plan for our Drinking Water Source Protection Program.
McKenzie Rebuilds is an online resource center for homeowners and landowners recovering from the Holiday Farm Fire. This site shares information about financial assistance, clean up, watershed protection, and other resources.
Para asistencia en español llame al 541-685-7000, presione 9
Mailing Address: 4200 Roosevelt Blvd., Eugene, OR 97402
Phone: 541-685-7000
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