North Santiam Canyon Regional Wastewater Analysis and Land Inventory

Business Oregon focuses on creating, retaining, expanding, and attracting businesses to the state. They aim to pinpoint opportunities and constraints impacting employment in the various regions they serve. They intended to create a regional inventory of properties and existing conditions in the North Santiam Canyon to aid regional and local wastewater system planning and short- and long-term economic planning. Oregon’s North Santiam Canyon region includes Mill City, Lyons, Mehama, Gates, Detroit, and Idanha, with around 4,500 residents. Additionally, the watershed is the primary water source for the state's capital, Salem.

The FLO team was selected to develop a land inventory using GIS to identify buildable lands. Building the land inventory involved compiling various source GIS data, digitizing data where necessary (including creating the first GIS dataset representing water and sewer in the Region), and conducting a field inventory of developable land. FLO utilized efficient, multi-user GIS-based field tools to assist in recording and attributing over 300 properties in a single day. Following the data capture and compilation, we developed various analytic methodologies and tools, including scripts for running complex calculations and modifiable ranking matrices, to assign weightings for various property considerations that affected developability. 

FLO also assisted in identifying opportunities and constraints affecting the region as a component in the wastewater analysis and system planning project. This project aimed to protect the North Santiam Watershed's health and support the area's ability to grow. 

Throughout the process, the data were made available through an interactive web application containing tools enabling stakeholders to access, query, evaluate, and understand the findings. The study and data collection informed the decision-making processes of Business Oregon management, Marion County, the North Santiam communities, the Oregon Governor’s Regional Solutions Team, the Oregon Legislature, and other State and Federal funding bodies. Overall, the data informed a vital component in the region's short- and long-term economic planning and served as a baseline for future projects.