City of Salem Wants Public's View Regarding Watershed

Pringle Creek Photo courtesy: salemhistory.net

(SALEM) - The City of Salem Public Works Department will be conducting a phone survey of residents living within the Pringle Creek Watershed this summer. The purpose of the survey is to measure the public values about the watershed in which they live and survey the public's habits and how they affect watershed health.

The Pringle Creek Watershed covers an area 13.3 square miles in size and is located in southeast Salem. It contains a mixture of residential, commercial, and industrial uses. Like other communities, Pringle Creek has been highly impacted by urbanization.

The public opinion survey is part of a larger effort in developing the Pringle Creek Watershed Management Plan.

The plan is the first attempt by the City in developing a comprehensive, long-term plan for managing the watershed in a highly developed urban area.

Goals include defining 20-year restoration goals, developing a framework for partnering with state funding sources, and fostering community support for and ownership of watershed protection and restoration.

The methods and lessons learned from the development of this pilot plan will be applied to watershed plan development of the City's other urban watersheds.

Participants will be selected at random from within the watershed. The City plans to interview about 800 residents.