The Willamette Watershed Project
A Resilient Communications, Monitoring, and Alerting Network for the Willamette ValleyThe Oregon Hazards Lab is planning a multi-hazards monitoring and alerting network for the Willamette watershed. This project will develop a resilient communications infrastructure for the Santiam, Sisters, and McKenzie River corridors that will:
Mitigate the Risks of Natural Disasters to Communities and Natural Resources
Support Emergency Communications Through Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure
Enhance Economic Recovery in Areas Impacted By the September 2020 Wildfires
This project will lay new communications infrastructure, including include a new backbone network of fiber cables and a network of fixed wireless sensors. These monitoring and alerting sensors will include:
High-Resolution Wildfire Detection Cameras and Meteorological Sensors
Landslide Warning and Detection Systems In Key Transportation Corridors
Discharge and Rain Gauges to Predict Hazardous Flood Conditions
Seismic Monitoring Sites for Earthquake and Debris Flow Detection
The communications backbone that supports this sensor network will also support the needs of local schools, utilities, businesses, and emergency communications. This will help to eliminate the digital divide in rural Oregon and enhance the economic recovery of communities impacted by the September 2020 wildfires.
Learning More About the Willamette Watershed Project
How will the Willamette Watershed Project improve local communications infrastructure?
Willamette Watershed Project will improve the speed and resilience of local communications infrastructure in three ways. First, it will construct approximately 100 miles of new fiber cables along routes where commercial providers have not previously had a business case to build. This will enable cell providers to increase the speed and bandwidth of 4G LTE data services, eliminating chokepoints that slow wireless data in rural areas. Second, it will underground existing and new communications infrastructure where feasible to reduce risk of damage from natural disasters. Finally, it will protect networks against failures that could result from the loss of a telecommunications tower by automatically rerouting communications through a chain of linked sites.
How will the Willamette Watershed Project support local communities?
Willamette watershed communities face increased likelihood of flooding, erosion, and debris flows due to the September 2020 wildfires. This elevates risks to public health, property, and drinking water in the years to come.
This new fiber network will enable a multi-hazard detection and alerting system in the McKenzie, Santiam, and Sisters corridors that will make these communities more resilient to future disasters. The multi-hazard networks will include meteorological sensors, wildfire detection cameras, discharge and rain gauges to predict hazardous floods, seismic monitoring sites for earthquake and lahar detection, and landslide detection and warning systems including laser arrays and groundwater sensors.
This network can save lives and inform responses to future disasters that minimizes damage to property and infrastructure. Potential uses of this network include preparing communities for landslide evacuation, notifying downstream communities during flood conditions, alerting citizens ahead of earthquake shaking, and informing firefighters when a wildfire is detected.
Additionally, the project aims to provide the McKenzie and Santiam schools with high-speed fiber connectivity, which will help ensure that upriver schools have equal or better connectivity as in-city schools.
How will this project benefit local critical infrastructure operators?
By connecting local utilities with reliable fiber optic connectivity, the Willamette Watershed Project improves their ability to monitor and control critical infrastructure. This includes remotely monitoring dams, switching transmission systems, and rerouting or shutting off electricity to reduce the risk of igniting a wildfire.
Additionally, by providing the Oregon Department of Transportation with high-speed fiber connectivity, the project will enable greater use of Intelligent Transportation Technologies on critical transportation paths like Santiam Pass. Fiber connectivity will be available in local ODOT maintenance yards, as well as for the TripCheck message signs and camera and sensor networks. Adding fiber connectivity to the telecommunications towers used by ODOT mobile radio systems will also protect radio operation in natural disasters.
Who is the Oregon Hazards Lab collaborating with on the Willamette Watershed Project?
The project team thus far includes support from Eugene Water & Electric Board, Oregon Internet Response, Link Oregon, Elevate Technology, Emerald Broadband, Lane County, Lane County Technical Services, Lane Electric Cooperative, Lane County Sherriff Office, McKenzie Schools, Oregon Department of Education, Oregon State University, State Interoperability Executive Council, State Broadband Office, the Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Forest Service, WIX and Onward Eugene. As this project progresses, we will continue to reach out to all interested stakeholders in the region of impact.
When will implementation of the Willamette Watershed Project begin?
As of July 2022, this project is in the early stages of development. Currently, the Oregon Hazards Lab is researching and planning for the construction of new fiber cables and integrated multi-hazards sensors. It is also developing a cost-benefit analysis for future projects and identifying and applying for grants. It has also begun coordinated stakeholder engagement in the project area.