In 1996, extensive flooding caused damage across the City of Salem and the Willamette Valley. In 1998, the City added an annual Stream Cleaning Program into its existing stormwater management strategies to reduce the risk of flooding during high flows.

The annual Summer Stream Crew Interns play an essential role in the management of Salem’s local streams. Throughout the season, the Interns walk roughly 60 miles of Salem’s approximately 90 miles of streams inspecting, surveying, and cleaning them to inform how the streams are managed for habitat, flooding, and water quality.  The crew also helps identify a stream restoration project to replace invasive vegetation with native plants.

2023 Stream Cleaning results

• Miles of creeks inspected and cleaned: 59.7
• Pounds of trash removed:41,887
• Number of debris jams removed:54
• Amount of green debris removed: 119³ yards

Read more about the Stream Crew's work in the ESRI Blog.

To see a more in depth view of what the 2020 Stream Crew accomplished and learn more about the program, check out the Story Maps that the four Stream Technicians put together.

If you would like to review reports from past years, please email streamcrew@cityofsalem.net.

If you missed our Stream Symposium that includes the work of the Stream Crew, you can watch the Symposium online.

The City of Salem generally recruits for Stream Crew members in April each year. If you are interested, please see our available jobs positing page. Visit this page if you would like more information about joining the Stream Crew.