The Public Works Department provides staff support to the City’s recognized Watershed Councils including the Pringle Creek Watershed Council, the Claggett Creek Watershed Council, the Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council, and the Mill Creek Watershed Council. In addition to the staff support, the Public Works Department budgets $50,000 per year for watershed enhancement grants for watershed councils to undertake enhancement projects. The City of Salem is also a member of the North Santiam Watershed Council (NSWC), a citizen-based, stakeholder-created, nonprofit organization concerned about healthy rivers and streams and human communities in the North Santiam Basin. The river is the City’s drinking water source serving a population of more than 180,000 people. Programs within Salem are the Annual Stream Cleaning Program, the Free Streamside Tree Program, and the Watershed Enhancement Team (WET).
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