Abstract |
A semi-historical description of the Willamette River is provided for the period 1926 through 1971. Efforts to effect river improvement are described; Municipalities provided waste treatment facilities for both domestic and permissible industrial wastes. The pulp and paper industry effected reduction in waste discharges to the river. Standards of water quality were established, river flow regulation was adopted for the low flow periods, limitations on water usage beyond minimal quantities were designated at specific control points, and a permit program was developed. The total effort was sustained over a period of more than thirty years. By the most widely accepted standards, the water quality of the Willamette River for more than thirty years was, in the lower reaches and particularly in the Portland harbor, bad. Now, judged by the same standards, the Willamette is once more a river of reasonable quality. (Author) |