Annual Bull Run Tours with Murraysmith

Water from the Bull Run serves almost one million residents in the Portland metropolitan area. The Bull Run Watershed is referred to by Mike Carr as Portland’s “Engineering Marvel”, and is located just 26 miles away from our downtown office.

For over 10 years, Murraysmith has helped facilitate tours of the watershed, organized by the City of Portland Water Bureau (PWB) and the Water Resource committee of APWA’s Oregon Chapter.

Murraysmith’s Justin Ford and Justin Luce attended this year’s tour, along with many other area-professionals and non-industry folks.

Hear about the tour straight from Justin Ford:

“The tour was on a gorgeous Friday, and after arriving at the locked access gate, we were ready to explore. The first stop was a short hike to one of the Bull Run River spring sources. There is a USGS monitoring station there, which PWB uses to keep track of flow. The tour proceeded to the picturesque Bull Run Lake, with breathtaking Mt. Hood views and early 20^th Century log cabins that were recently restored. The tour peaks at the Dam at Reservoir 1, which was built in the late 1920s and designed by the same engineer as the Hoover Dam. A walk down the steep steps and through the tunnel gave us a sense of the achievement. The tour then passes by Reservoir 2, to Headworks, then follows some of the route that the large pipelines follow on their way into the City. 

The watershed tour is not only informative and interesting from an engineering standpoint; the natural beauty and pristine nature of the area is magnificent. The City takes great lengths to protect the forest to keep the water supply in impeccable shape. Anyone who lives in the Portland Metro area should attend the tour to fully appreciate how well-preserved the watershed is.”

Read more about Portland’s engineering marvel, the Bull Run Watershed here.