Editing Willamette River (section)

===20th and 21st centuries===
[[File:Conveyor belt for Big Pipe project - Portland, Oregon.JPG|thumb|right|alt=The Big Pipe Project|Conveyor belt loading debris onto a barge as part of the Big Pipe Project]]
By the early 20th&nbsp;century, major river-control projects had begun to take place. Levees were constructed along the river in most urban areas, and Portland built concrete walls to protect its downtown sector.<ref name="Flooding"/> In the following decades, many large dams were built on Cascade Range tributaries of the Willamette. The Army Corps of Engineers operates 13 such dams, which affect flows from about 40&nbsp;percent of the basin.<ref name="Nature Conservancy">{{cite web |url=http://www.nature.org/cs/groups/webcontent/@web/@oregon/documents/document/prd_022483.pdf |title=Sustainable Rivers: Willamette Flow Management |publisher=The Nature Conservancy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111033206/http://www.nature.org/cs/groups/webcontent/@web/@oregon/documents/document/prd_022483.pdf |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Most of them do not have fish ladders.<ref name="NOAA NRO">{{cite web |title=Willamette River Basin |url=http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Hydropower/Willamette-Basin/ |publisher=NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Regional Office |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922022048/http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Hydropower/Willamette-Basin/ |archive-date=September 22, 2012 |date=June 28, 2012}}</ref>

With development in and near the river came increased pollution. By the late 1930s, efforts to stem the pollution led to formation of a state sanitary board to oversee modest cleanup efforts.<ref name="Oregon Encyclopedia"/> In the 1960s, Oregon Governor [[Tom McCall]] led a push for stronger pollution controls on the Willamette.<ref name="Williams, p. 131"/> In this, he was encouraged by [[Robert W. Straub|Robert (Bob) Straub]]—the state treasurer and future Oregon governor (1975)—who first proposed a [[Willamette Greenway]] program during his 1966 gubernatorial campaign against McCall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Charles K. |title=Standing at the Water's Edge: Bob Straub's Battle for the Soul of Oregon |publisher=Oregon State University Press |year=2012 |location=Corvallis |page=125 |isbn=978-0-87071-669-0}}</ref> The Oregon State Legislature established the program in 1967. Through it, state and local governments cooperated in creating or improving a system of parks, trails, and wildlife refuges along the river.<ref name= "Brochure"/> In 1998, the Willamette became one of 14 rivers designated an [[American Heritage River]] by U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web |title=American Heritage Rivers News |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |url=http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/named/heritage/10-5upda.cfm |date=November 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722002603/http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/named/heritage/10-5upda.cfm |archive-date=July 22, 2011}}</ref> By 2007 the Greenway had grown to include more than 170 separate land parcels, including 10 state parks.<ref name= "Brochure"/> Public uses of the river and land along its shores include camping, swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, bicycling, and wildlife viewing.<ref name= "Brochure"/>

In 2008, government agencies and the non-profit [[Willamette Riverkeeper]] organization designated the full length of the river as the Willamette River Water Trail.<ref name="Karas">{{cite news |last=Karas |first=Chisti |title=Peaceful Paddle with Beer Stops on Oregon's Willamette Water Trail |work=The Seattle Times |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/peaceful-paddles-with-beer-stops-on-oregons-willamette-water-trail/ |date=July 24, 2015 |access-date=January 22, 2017}}</ref> Four years later, the [[National Park Service]] added the Willamette water trail—expanded to {{convert|217|mi|km}} to include some of the major tributaries—to its list of [[National Water Trail]]s. The water trail system is meant to protect and restore waterways in the United States and enhance recreation on and near them.<ref name=willamettewatertrail>{{cite web |title=Willamette River Water Trail |publisher=American Trails |url=http://www.nrtdatabase.org/trailDetail.php?recordID=3816 |access-date=March 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Water Trails System |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationaltrailssystem/national-water-trails-system.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=March 31, 2020}}</ref>

A 1991 agreement between the City of Portland and the State of Oregon to dramatically reduce [[combined sewer]] overflows (CSOs)<ref name="nwconstruction">{{cite web |url=http://northwest.construction.com/features/archive/0311_Cover.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927191417/http://northwest.construction.com/features/archive/0311_Cover.asp |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |title=West Side Big Pipe |publisher=Northwest Construction |last=Bacon |first=Sheila |date=November 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref> led to Portland's [[West Side CSO Tunnel|Big Pipe Project]]. The project, part of a related series of Portland CSO projects completed in late 2011 at a cost of $1.44&nbsp;billion,<ref>{{cite news |last=Slovic |first=Beth |title=Going Down the Tube, At Last |work=The Oregonian |edition=Sunrise |date=November 26, 2011}}</ref> separates the city's sanitary sewer lines from storm-water inputs that sometimes overwhelmed the combined system during heavy rains. When that occurred, some of the raw sewage in the system flowed into the river instead of into the city's wastewater treatment plant. The Big Pipe project and related work reduces CSO volume on the lower river by about 94&nbsp;percent.<ref name="portlandonlinecso2">{{cite web |title=Combined Sewer Overflow Control |publisher=City of Portland |url=http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/31030 |access-date=November 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117144756/http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/31030 |archive-date=November 17, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="oregonianpipe">{{cite news |title=A Big Pipe |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=December 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008111019/http://www.portlandonline.com/cso/index.cfm?a=180894&c=43918 |archive-date=October 8, 2012 |url=http://www.portlandonline.com/cso/index.cfm?a=180894&c=43918}}</ref>

In June 2014, Dean Hall became the first person to swim the entire length of the Willamette River.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hachmann |first=Cari |title=Dean Hall to Finish Willamette River Swim |url=http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/225521-87105-dean-hall-to-finish-willamette-river-swim |work=Portland Tribune |publisher=Pamplin Media Group |date=June 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729120305/http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/225521-87105-dean-hall-to-finish-willamette-river-swim |archive-date=July 29, 2014}}</ref><ref name=KPTV>{{cite news |last=Padula |first=Andrew |title=Man Battling Cancer Swims Entire Length of Willamette River |url=http://www.kptv.com/story/25892320/man-battling-cancer-si |work=KPTV Fox 12 |date=July 25, 2014 |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701165433/http://www.kptv.com/story/25892320/man-battling-cancer-si |archive-date=July 1, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He swam {{convert|184|mi|km}} from Eugene to the river mouth in 25 days.<ref name=KPTV/>

In 2017, [[Human Access Project]] partnered with [[Portland Parks & Recreation]] to open the city's first officially recognized public swimming beach, [[Poet's Beach]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Labrecque |first=Jackie |date=July 6, 2017 |title=Poet's Beach will have life guards, swim rope along Willamette River's west banks |url=https://katu.com/news/local/beach-will-have-life-guards-swim-rope-along-willamette-rivers-west-banks |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=KATU |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=July 15, 2017 |title=Portland touts revived Willamette River |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/portland-touts-revived-willamette-river/ |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Law |first=Steve |date=June 7, 2017 |title=Welcome to Portland's first pop-up beach |url=https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/welcome-to-portlands-first-pop-up-beach/article_17736473-41ad-5e4d-915d-be8f36458399.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014045332/https://www.portlandtribune.com/news/welcome-to-portlands-first-pop-up-beach/article_17736473-41ad-5e4d-915d-be8f36458399.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 14, 2023 |access-date=September 20, 2023 |website=PortlandTribune.com |language=en}}</ref>