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Working together
for water quality,
wildlife habitat,
education and
passive recreation.
At the south edge of Hillsboro,
Oregon, lies the damp, tranquil
sanctuary of the Jackson Bottom
Wetlands Preserve. Nearly 650 acres of
low-lying floodplain on the edge of the
Tualatin River, about 80 percent of the
area is classified as wetlands.
Early mapmakers dismissed the
damp bottomlands as a "mirey swamp"
suitable only for dredging, draining, and
farming. Over the years, agricultural
and sewage disposal practices created
a highly degraded landscape of limited
value for wildlife use, dominated by
introduced grasses.
Since 1979, the Jackson Bottom
Steering Committee has been working
together on an innovative project aimed
at changing those conditions and
transforming this "mirey swamp" into a
wildlife and water quality "living labora-
tory." The Steering Committee, made
up of a unique alliance of economic
The Jackson Bottom Steering Committee
City of Hillsboro
Unified Sewerage Agency (USA)
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Greater Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce
Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District
Portland Audubon Society
Friends of Jackson Bottom
Oregon Graduate Institute
Washington County Education Service District
The Wetlands Conservancy
Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
Pacific University
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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interests, environmental groups and
public agencies, spent the first 10 years
on efforts directed primarily toward
improving the area's wildlife habitat
and passive recreation values.
In 1989, the coalition broadened
its efforts and began investigating
the use of natural and constructed
wetland systems for water quality
management as part of the Unified
Sewerage Agency's effort to improve
water quality in the Tualatin River.
At the Jackson Bottom Wetlands,
the Steering Committee has a unique
opportunity to manage the wetland's
multiple goals. Jackson Bottom provides
a chance to increase the diversity of
resident and transient wildlife, improve
water quality, provide rich research and
educational experiences, offer passive
and non-consumptive forms of recrea-
tion, and attract tourists in an area of
rapidly expanding urban population.
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The 1989 Jackson Bottom Concept
Master Plan clearly outlined the
main goals of the Jackson
Bottom Wetlands Preserve.
Enhancement for Wildlife: Attract a
more diverse wildlife population by
expanding and restoring the preserve
to provide food and shelter to a variety
of birds and animals.
Water Quality Management: Develop
the Jackson Bottom Experimental
Wetland to investigate the feasibility of
using wetlands to "polish" effluent from
a secondary wastewater treatment
plant for the removal of phosphorus
and nitrogen before discharging to the
water quality-limited Tualatin River.
Passive Recreation: Provide access to
areas of the wetland and the Tualatin
River for hiking, bird watching, angling
and other passive natural resource-
associated activities.
Education and Research: Encourage
educational use through interpretive
signs and displays, development of
educational materials for schools and
groups, providing site tours and assist-
ing researchers with research projects.
Wetlands Water Source
Historically, the damp landscape
of Jackson Bottom owes its source of
water to the regular flooding of the
Tualatin River. The flooding creates the
bottomland wetlands which make up
the majority of Jackson Bottom.
Today, water from regular winter
flood is supplemented in the summer
by secondarily treated effluent from a
nearby Unified Sewerage Agency treat-
ment plant. This cleaned wastewater
helps to maintain the restored wildlife
habitat. In return, the wetlands ,
filter the effluent before it's
returned to the river.
Since 1979, enhancement
projects have created and
restored several types of
wetlands once typical
in the basin. The
additional wetland
types include deep
and shallow ponds,
wet meadows,
riparian wetlands and
fresh-water marshes.
Edging the east side are
also forested wetlands and
upland habitat.
Where the Water Goes
Outflow
21.6
Total: 57.1 Million Gallons
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Putting the Polish on
Wetlands for Water
Quality Management
Wetlands, ponds and lagoons have
long played a role in wastewater treat-
ment. In many areas, partially treated
wastewater is filtered through wetlands
for suspended solids (SS) and biochemi-
cal oxygen demand (BOD) removal.
The Jackson Bottom Experimental
Wetland (JBEW) is taking this process
one step further. Using secondarily
treated effluent from the Unified
Sewerage Agency's (USA) Hillsboro
Wastewater Treatment Plant, USA's
researchers are investigating the use of
wetlands to "polish" the wastewater for
removal of phosphorus and nitrogen.
These nutrients are abundant in the
effluent of conventional secondary
treatment plants. This experimental
program is part of USA"s comprehen-
sive effort to reduce loads of phospho-
rus and nitrogen entering the water
quality-limited Tualatin River.
BuUt in the summer of 1988 with
operation beginning in 1989, the JBEW
occupies about 15 acres on the eastern
edge of the Jackson Bottom Wetlands
Preserve. The Experimental Wetland is
actually a series of 17 parallel cells, each
built to contain effluent for varying
amounts of time, with different soil
types and different vegetation patterns.
Since July 1989, testing has been
conducted to measure the success rates
of the soils and vegetation to "polish"
the effluent.
Jackson Bottom Experimental Welland
Design and Operational Criteria
Celf Design Criteria; 15.6 Acre Wetland (17 Parallel Cells)
Cell Size, Capacity Total
Width 18.3 to 22.4 ft.
Length 1250 to 1280 ft.
Depth 46 percent at 1 ft.
54 percent at 3 ft.
Surface Area. 22,000 to 30,600 sq. ft 430,600 sq. ft
0.5 to 0.7 acres .. 9.9 acres
Water Level 0.5 to 2.75 ft.
Volume 254,000 to 427,000 gal 4.8 mil gal.
Introduced Cattail (Typha latifolia)
Vegetation Sago pondweed
(Potamogeton pectinatus)
Soil
Cove Series 5.4 acres
Wapato silty loam 6.2 acres
;: IabJsh;mucky clay .....,. 3.4 acres
JBEW Operational Parameters
1989 1990
1991
Days
Operational Period . . .
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Hydraulic
Loading Rate
Average Flow/cell —
Detention Time
Mass Loading Rates
Phosphorus. .......
Nitrogen
. . cm/d
in/d
.-gpm
, . days
, . kg/ha/da
ib/ac/da
. . kg/ha/da
Ib/ac/da
..,,77
. . July 25
- Oct17
7.0
2.8
30
5-10
5.2
4.6
14.9
13.2
108
June 25-
OctlO
4.0
1.6
19
5-27
3.4
3.0
7.7
6.9
118
June 19-
OctlO
5.5
2.6
24
4-12
2.4
2.1
11.0
9.8
JBEW Outflow Data, Three Year Average
Influent Effluent
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (mg/L) 5.1 3.0
Chemical Oxygen Demand (mg/L) 42 47
Alkalinity (mg/L) 86 126
Total Solids (mg/L) 312 326
Total Dissolved Solids (mg/L) 304 316
Total Suspended Solids (mg/L) 7.7 9.6
Ammonia-N (mg/L) 8.4 3.0
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen-N (mg/L) 11.9 4.8
Nitrate/Nitrite-N (mg/L) 7.3 0.5
Total Phosphorus-P (mg/L) 6.3 3.8
Soluble Ortho Phosphorus-N (mg/L) 5.0 3.0
Chloride (mg/L) : 59 66
Enterococcus (#/100 ml) 3 75
Chlorophyll a (ug/L) 0.9 28.7
Groundwater Monitoring Data
Shallow Wells Within JBEW
Drinking Water Std
1989
1990
1991
Nitrite/Nitrate (mg/L) 10 .0.39 0.04 0.02
•Chloride (mg/L)... 250 102 63 49
pH ..6.0-9.0 7.2 6.4 6.6
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JBEW Phosphorus Concentration
Influent/Effluent
JBEW Phosphorus Load
Influent/Effluent
8.0 r
7.0
6.0
5.0
13>4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
1989
1990
1991
After three years of testing and
extended research on JBEW, interesting
results have surfaced. The Experimental
Wetland is improving the quality of the
effluent—it is lower in both phosphorus
and nitrogen when it leaves the cells.
Research has shown, although plants
serve important functions in the
filtering, the soils have proved to be
the main elements in binding up the
phosphorus, thereby preventing it from
reaching the nearby Tualatin River.
Water quality is the focus of the
JBEW, but education and wildlife have
also benefited from this innovative
4000 r
3500
3000
2500
§2000
o
Q.
1500
1000
500
0
1989
1990
1991
project. The construction of the
wetlands has provided food, nesting
and rich habitat for many wetland
species. The Experimental Wetland
has also provided valuable educational
opportunities for teachers, students
and researchers from schools and
universities throughout the region.
As research continues to determine
how to best meet the state's water
quality standards, the Jackson Bottom
Wetlands Preserve serves as a model
for improving water quality and
managing multiple goals.
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The Dynamics of a
Real-World Experiment
Gathering data from a dynamic, real-
world experiment presents challenges.
Variables that can easily be controlled
in a lab, may be unpredictable in a
dynamic process.
JBEW researchers have worked to
carefully control the variables within
their reach, yet remain flexible enough
to adjust for changes in a dynamic
system. Among the impacts that have
affected the JBEW are:
• Non-native vegetation. Planted
vegetation (cattails, sago pondweed)
struggled to compete with the non-
native plants (reed canary grass,
Lemna, Azola) that dominate much
of Jackson Bottom.
• Phosphate detergent ban.
In 1991, a region-wide phosphate
detergent ban dramatically
reduced the concentration of
phosphorus in USA's effluent. As
a result, the amount of phosphorus
entering JBEW dropped as did
the percent removal.
• Plant operations. In 1991, the
Hillsboro Treatment Plant was no
longer able to operate in nitrification
mode due to a 25 percent increase
in service area. This resulted in
higher ammonia and lower nitrate
effluent entering JBEW.
Enhancement for Wildlife
Jackson Bottom is part of a larger
Tualatin River wildlife/wetland corri-
dor. This rich corridor provides essen-
tial stop-over feeding and resting spots
for migrating waterfowl traveling the
Pacific Flyway. It is also an important
habitat for other species of wildlife.
Much of this habitat has been lost
to agriculture and development. But
with projects like the Jackson Bottom
Wetlands Preserve, crucial links in
this increasingly fragmented ecosystem
are being reconnected, enhanced
and protected.
Though degraded by past human
practices, Jackson Bottom is coming
alive with a newly developed diversity
thanks to the dedicated efforts of
Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife, the Friends of Jackson
Bottom, Ducks Unlimited and other
groups. What was once a flat meadow
of exotic reed canary grass, with little
feeding or nesting opportunities for
native species of wildlife, is now being
transformed into a complex patchwork
of wetlands and upland habitat. The
wildlife ponds and marshes created
using recycled wastewater are bordered
by cattails, reeds and rushes, native
willows, dogwood, ash and elderberry.
This increased diversity of plants
provides food and shelter for migratory
waterfowl, shorebirds and other
wetland wildlife. Resident populations
now include Canada geese, many
species of ducks, rails, herons, osprey,
bald eagles, nesting red tailed hawks,
harriers, and several owl species. Larger
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mammals include rare sightings of deer,
elk, mink, beaver, coyote and fox.
Until the habitat has sufficiently
recovered, nesting sites are supple-
mented with floating goose platforms
and boxes for swallows, bats, wood
ducks and kestrels. The enhancement
projects offer the opportunity to
become involved with wildlife agencies
and provide rich habitat for wildlife.
Education, Research and
Passive Recreation
From early morning walks in the thick
morning fog to sophisticated research by
soil scientists, there are many opportuni-
ties to enjoy and learn from this natural
resource without harming it.
Research, education and passive
recreation activities are a major compo-
nent of the 1989 Jackson Bottom
Concept Master Plan. Research efforts
conducted by the Unified Sewerage
Agency, the Oregon Graduate Institute
and other regional colleges and univer-
sities are providing answers and posing
new questions about ecosystems and
their role in water quality management.
Education is a top priority, too.
Spearheaded by the Wetland Coordina-
tor and Friends of Jackson Bottom,
students and teachers are learning
about this astonishing natural system
through tours and field work. The
Friends group has developed wetlands
curriculum and sponsors a variety of
events year-round. In 1992, a state grant
enabled Jackson Bottom to hire a part-
time Wetlands Educator to coordinate a
pilot educational program.
Trails, viewsites and viewing
shelters offer visitors a glimpse
into the workings of this rich
ecosystem. The Kingfisher Marsh
Interpretive Trail, designed and
built by the Friends group, offers
visitors a mile long walk through
wetland and upland habitat along
the rarely seen Tualatin River. Future
plans call for more trails and improved
river access.
For information on the
Jackson Bottom Wetlands
Preserve and the Jackson
Bottom Experimental
Wetlands, please contact:
Jackson Bottom
Wetlands Coordinator
CityofHillsboro
123West Main Street
Hillsboro, OR 97123
(503) 681-6206
Unified Sewerage Agency
155 North First Street
Hillsboro, OR 97124
(503) 648-8621 ~
Acknowledgments
This publication was funded by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Special thanks to the Unified Sewerage
Agency of Washington County, City
of Hillsboro and Linda Newberry for
their contributions.
Nest photo on page 156 and family
photo on page 161 courtesy of Friends
of Jackson Bottom. The salamander
photo on page 157 courtesy of Audubon
Society of Portland, Oregon.
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