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as well as many of the surrounding residential streets, as the local piped drainage systems <br /> were unable to drain to the creek. The high water flooded out local sanitary sewers causing <br /> the system to backup and discharge raw sewage into a number of nearby residences. Post <br /> incident investigation pointed to the accumulation of brush, sucker growth, and woody debris <br /> in the channel as reason the creek was unable to adequately convey the heavy runoff. Until <br /> such time that the creek is widened, the City will continue to remove in-channel vegetation <br /> and woody debris to prevent a recurrence of such an incident. <br /> • <br /> To accomplish this, the City has periodically used mechanized equipment to scrape <br /> vegetation from the slopes and remove built up sediments from the creek channel. Recently, <br /> in order to reduce the impacts such practices may have on habitat and water quality, the City <br /> has attempted to avoid excavation activities by recruiting volunteers to manually remove <br /> obstructing vegetation. To this end, the City's Maintenance Division recently began <br /> developing an Environmental Volunteer Program. One element of the program is an "Adopt- <br /> a-Stream" program for the Amazon and other waterways within Eugene. A long range goal <br /> of the volunteer program is to develop a network of volunteers large enough to perform <br /> much of the vegetation maintenance along our creeks by use of low impact manual methods. <br /> The letter you received, date July 22nd, was mailed to almost 6000 residences listed within <br /> the Southeast Neighbors Neighborhood Association boundaries in order to recruit volunteers <br /> for a vegetation removal work effort. The City also invited the participation of the Friends <br /> of the Amazon Committee, The Native Plant Society, and Nearby Nature. Approximately <br /> forty adults and children turned out for this event. <br /> Those who participated worked hard and were supported by City staff to chip and remove the <br /> cut material. However, despite their dedication, the volunteers were unable to complete the <br /> stretch from Fox Hollow to Snell. In order for the City to, as you put it, allow <br /> neighborhood work parties to tackle the additional sections of the creek, we will need to <br /> develop a much larger core of interested volunteers. <br /> I wish to thank you again for your letter and your concern about the Amazon. I hope you <br /> can understand the need for, and can continue to be involved in helping find solutions to the <br /> • difficult challenges of a multi-objective stormwater management approach. Please contact me <br /> at 341-5803 or the Environmental Volunteer Coordinator, Ruth Koenig, at 465-2814 for <br /> further information on environmentally related volunteer programs. <br /> Sincerely, <br /> A-6-1/11 <br /> ickLon <br /> Environmental Programs Supervisor <br />