State, university and local partners present watershed monitoring results and conservation planning options for North Depoe Bay Creek

City officials heard detailed findings and next steps on watershed monitoring and land-conservation planning for North Depoe Bay Creek during a guest presentation at the council meeting.

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Drinking Water Protection Program staffer Laura (last name not specified) said the work began in 2023 after conversations with council members and city public-works staff about future water-quantity risks and the city’s limited control over land-management decisions in the source watersheds. "I work with the Drinking Water Protection Program with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. I started working with City of Depoe Bay in 2023," Laura said.

Dr. Meghna (last name not specified), an Oregon State University researcher working on hydrologic modeling, described installation of a streamflow sensor on North Depoe Bay Creek, use of calibrated watershed models and drone surveys to refine land-cover data. Meghna said the monitoring showed roughly 790,000,000 gallons of streamflow into the reservoir from October through May of the reporting period and explained how a calibrated model changes estimates of infiltration, return flow and sediment delivery compared with an uncalibrated default model.

Why it matters: the city’s reservoir…