We have a dedicated group of volunteers who go out to various sites all along the Willamette River to test water samples and send the data to the Riverkeeper in Portland.  We test for pH, conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and, during the summer months, for eColi. In all, the Willamette has been returned to a clean and safe waterway for recreation and wildlife since the days it was used to transport forest products and carry the filthy waste of paper factories to the Columbia and on to the Pacific.  My job is to store and maintain the testing equipment, and check it out to the Salem team of volunteers who go to five locations in our area every month.  I then calibrate the equipment and log the data on a spread sheet and send it off.  I love the Willamette.  I have paddled every possible mile of it from the MacKenzie to the Columbia. It’s pretty much right out my back door.  It is my river.