What Do You Love About the Willamette River

February is here, and it's time to celebrate love! For Valentine's Day, we are starting the "I Heart the Willamette" campaign. The Willamette River flows right through Salem and provides beautiful views, fun activities, and homes for wildlife and salmon. We want to hear why you love the Willamette River!

Go to Facebook or Instagram and share a picture of the river and tell us why you love it. Use the hashtag #IHearttheWillamette so we can see your stories about our special river.

The Clean Streams Team at the City of Salem helps protect the streams that flow into the Willamette River. In Salem, storm drains send stormwater straight to the streams untreated, which can pollute them. By keeping stormwater clean, you can help protect both local streams and the Willamette River. "It is from small streams that big rivers rise." - Matshona Dhliwayo

What can you do to help protect stormwater, local streams, and the Willamette River? Follow these tips:

• Don't dump anything down a storm drain.
• Pick up trash and throw it away in the right bin.
• If you have a dog, always clean up after them and throw their waste in the trash.
• Keep your car in good shape and fix any leaks quickly.
• Wash your car at a car wash. Car washes in Salem send their dirty water to a treatment facility.
• Check out the Clean Streams website for more tips!

Here are some reasons that the Clean Streams Team loves the Willamette River:

"I love it for the lives (human and animal) it supports, the history it carries, and the reminder that protecting our water is one of the most meaningful ways we show love for our community." -Nenette, Water Educator, Clean Streams Initiative

"I love the Willamette River because of the amazing native plants and wildlife that call the river home." - Luke, Urban Streamside Program Coordinator, Clean Streams Initiative

"I Heart the Willamette because being in a river town is pretty amazing. The Willamette River offers beauty, recreation, fun, wildlife habitat, and more for the community. It really is a great place to come together and share our love of water." -Stacy, Outreach & Marketing, Clean Streams Initiative

"I love the Willamette River because the average fluctuation between summer and winter discharge rates is around 40,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). This volume of water is roughly equivalent to 40,000 basketballs going by a single point every second, and this amount of fluctuation allows for large areas of inundation between seasons creating lots of good habitat for all of our native plants and animals." - Austin, Stormwater Inspections, Clean Streams Initiative