OUR STORY
Embracing our river
Human Access Project (HAP) was founded on the simple belief that Portlanders should be able to swim in their river. Since 2010, we have worked to make this belief a reality, expanding public access to the Willamette, advocating for improved water quality, and facilitating positive experiences at the river’s edge. We are guided by the words of Jacques Cousteau who said “we only protect what we love.” By forging a connection between the people of Portland and the river that runs through our community, we endeavor to create long-term stewards of the Willamette River.
The story of human access however, began long before HAP’s founding. Portland once had a rich river-swimming culture: in the late 1800s and early 1900s, swimmers packed the banks of the Willamette, frequenting places like Bundy’s Baths and gathering by the hundreds to cool off in the river. But as Portland grew, so too did the industrial pollution and untreated sewage flowing into the Willamette. By 1924, following record-breaking levels of bacteria, the city’s Health Officer banned swimming altogether. In the decades that followed, Portlanders abandoned the river as a recreational space due to unsafe water quality.
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The tides changed in 2011 with the completion of the Big Pipe Project, which reduced combined sewage overflows by more than 90%, dramatically improving Willamette River water quality. However, while the river was once again safe for swimming, its reputation as a polluted water body remained.
HAP began as an effort to ensure the improved water quality from The Big Pipe did not go unnoticed. In 2010, that effort took shape in the form of a party — The Big Float (TBF). Designed to transform public perception of the Willamette, TBF created a movement disguised as a party that drew thousands back to the river. Our clarion call was (and still is) Join the Riverlution!
From Duckworth Wednesdays and Tuesday Splashdowns at Audrey McCall Beach to the Mayoral Swim and River Hugger Swim Team, HAP has continued to develop creative and fun ways to help people “get into their river.” Outside of creative activism, our work has grown to include improving and developing riverside spaces for recreation as well as advocacy for improved water quality, including identifying a solution to the Ross Island HAB.
For generations, Portlanders have been leery at best about swimming in the Willamette River. Supported by thousands of volunteers, HAP’s riverside improvements, community events, and awareness-building campaigns have helped shift long-held perceptions. Today, public attitudes toward the Willamette are shifting and a vibrant river culture is emerging. We are proud to be at the forefront of this change.
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