The City of Corvallis Public Works and the City of Philomath Public Works both draw water from the Marys River in order to service both municipal areas.

About 1/3 of Corvallis’s drinking water and all of Philomath’s water supply comes from the Marys River and its tributaries.

Learn more about where your drinking water comes from:

• City of Corvallis Water Quality Reports
• City of Philomath Annual Water Quality Reports.

Learn more about the Oregon State University nitrate well water testing program.

Interested in getting your drinking water tested? At the following link, the Oregon Health Authority lists  ORELAP accredited labs that test drinking water and accept public samples. Lab fees will be associated with this testing.

See something fishy (not in a good way!)? Report a problem:

Philomath Public Works – Report a Problem 

City of Corvallis Public Works – Report a Problem

Our restoration projects are located throughout the Marys River watershed. All of our restoration occurs voluntarily with landowners that want to work with us, and we focus restoration on the areas of greatest opportunity for recovering, protecting, and preserving the Marys River watershed. For our restoration, we work with private landowners, timber companies, agricultural producers, and state, federal, and local government lands. 

Because we do not receive tax income and our restoration is funded by state, federal, and local grants, with limited restoration funding and grantor priorities limiting where we can work, we may not be able to work with all landowners that reach out to us. However, we encourage you to Contact us if you would like to talk about the possibility of working with Marys River Watershed Council on lands that you own and/or manage. 

Here are some interactive youth education activities and resources that we’ve compiled.

Birds

1. Use the  Bird Cams from Cornell Lab 
2. Have students pick a bird cam (live or recorded) and use the  Cornell BirdSleuth Explorer’s Guidebook  to describe the bird 
3. Use pages 8 and 9 of the guidebook to identify and describe the bird
4. Then have students pick another bird cam and identity and describe that bird
5. Compare and contrast the two bird species: How are they similar (size, color, beak shape, habitat) and how are they different? 
6. Online Bird Games from Cornell Lab 
7. Explore a range of online games about birds designed for students of different ages 

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

1. Coloring and activity book on aquatic macroinvertebrates from Utah State University:  Bugs Don’t Bug Me 
2. Video on identifying aquatic macroinvertebrates and how macros are used as indicators for water quality from Ohio University 

Beavers

1. PBS video on beavers 
2. Reflection questions to ask students before watching video: 
3. What do you already know about beavers? 
4. What do they eat? 
5. Where do they live? 
6. What do they build? 
7. Reflection questions to ask after watching the video: 
8. How do beavers eat sugar? 
9. Why are beaver teeth orange? 
10. What materials do beavers use to build their dams? 
11. What are some benefits of beaver dams?
12. BBC video on beavers
13. National Geographic Fact Sheet on Beavers
14. Spanish and English Beaver video with activities from PBS

Plants

1. Native plants  coloring sheets from the US Forest Service 
2. Parts of a flower worksheet:  answer guide and  fill in the blank
3. Parts of a flower video

General

1. Explore National Parks with a virtual guided tour  

To check out all of our educational videos, please visit our YouTube Channel here.

• Water Quality Monitoring Report, Phase 1 (PDF) Published 2002.
• Turbidity Study. A 2000 report authored by Reed Glassman regarding stream turbidity and suspended sediment mineralogy.
• Preliminary Watershed Assessment, April 1999. PDF. This is the most comprehensive document about Marys River watershed natural history
• Temperature Study. A 1999 report on stream temperatures sampled around the watershed
• Fish Trapping. A description and data from fish trapping conducted in partnership with ODFW and volunteers on Woods Creek in 2007.
• Woods Creek Rapid Bio-Assessment (2008)
• Woods Creek Map
• Tum Tum River Rapid Bio-Assessment, part 1, version 4, completed 2009, published 2010
• Shotpouch & Bark Creek Cutthroat Density (from 2009 snorkel survey)
• Beaver Creek Rapid Bio-Assessment, completed 2009, published 2010
• Beaver Creek: Snorkel Survey (2009)
• Marys River Channel Migration — a report from 1998 documenting the history of channel migrations in the Marys River.
• Greasy Creek: Rapid Bio-Assessment and snorkel survey (2010)
• Rock Creek: Snorkel survey (2008)
• Rock Creek: Snorkel survey (2011)
• Woods Creek: Snorkel survey (2008)
• Woods Creek: Snorkel survey (2011)

Marys River Watershed Council Strategic Plan 2024 – 2028

Marys River Watershed Council Strategic Plan 2019 – 2023

Marys River Watershed Council Strategic Plan 2017 – 2021

Marys River Model Watershed Proposal and Action Plan, 2010-2019

In 2003, Marys River Watershed Council developed an Action Plan to prioritize conservation action across the watershed. Although it was superceded by the Marys River Model Watershed Proposal and Action Plan (2010) and an organizational Strategic Plan (2011), the 2003 document still contains relevant information.The Cutthroat Trout Habitat Suitability Index (Map 1) was especially important; it has determined the priority order in which we have addressed sub-basin rapid bio-assessments and restoration action.

• Watershed Council Action Plan
• Map 1 (Cutthroat Trout Habitat Suitability Index, 1990)
• Map 2 (Cutthroat Trout Habitat Suitability Index, 1850 estimate)
• Map 3 (% Closed Forest Cover within 30 meter riparian area, 1990)
• Map 4 (% Natural Vegetation within 30 meter riparian area, 1990)
• Map 5 (Wetlands larger than 0.5, ha1990)
• Map 6 (Wetlands larger than 0.5, 1850 estimate)
• Map 7 (Migratory Waterfowl Habitat — ducks & geese, 1990)
• Map 8 (Migratory Waterfowl Habitat — ducks & geese, 1850 estimate)
• Map 9 (Songbirds, 1990)
• Map 10 (Songbirds, 1850 estimate)
• Map 11 (Wildlife Species of Concern, 1990)
• Map 12 (Wildlife Species of Concern, 1850 estimate)
• Map 13 (% Consumption of Natural Streamflow, 1990)
• Maps 14 – 17 (Agriculture, Natural Vegetation, Built, Prime Farm Land, 1990)
• Map 18 (Restoration Screening Map, 2003)

• Marys River Watershed Council History
• Board Job Description (general)
• ***Letter of Interest Form

Marys River Watershed Council IRS Form 990s are available on ProPublica.org here. If you have trouble accessing these documents, please Contact us.