The City of Salem operates under a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan to address warm summer temperatures in local streams and to reduce mercury in local waterways. In 2021, the strategies to address temperature were updated. The tree-planting and bank-stabilization strategies that address stream temperatures also address the City’s mercury TMDL parameter by helping to reduce or prevent soil erosion. Mercury that enters a waterway can accumulate in fish tissue and present a human health risk when people eat the contaminated fish. Mercury-reduction strategies can also be found in the City’s Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) along with other water quality parameters that have an associated TMDL, such as E. coli bacteria.

Annual Reports

By November 1 of each year, the City is required to submit an annual report to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality outlining the achievements made during the previous fiscal year.