A $10 million wetland restoration along Johnson Creek in southeast Portland has won first place in a national flood management competition.

The National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA) gave the Springwater Wetland Restoration Project its top honor in the large-population category of the 2026 Innovative Water Projects Award, the City of Portland announced Tuesday, Sept. 22. NAFSMA presented the award at its annual meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, in July.

The project restored roughly 18 acres of urban wetland in the Lents and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods. Crews planted more than 44,000 native trees, shrubs and other plants, and reused historic Works Progress Administration (WPA) stone from other restoration sites along the creek.

For residents in flood-prone southeast Portland, the payoff could be significant. Improved hydraulic modeling indicates roughly 360 structures may be removed from the federally regulated 100-year floodplain, according to NAFSMA's award citation. That projection has not yet been confirmed through updated federal flood maps.

Johnson Creek has flooded more than 40 times in the past 60 years. In the 1930s, the WPA straightened sections of the creek and lined its banks with rock to reduce flooding. Those changes instead worsened downstream flooding by cutting the creek off from its natural floodplain, according to the city's West Lents project documentation.

The Springwater project reverses that approach. By reconnecting the creek to its floodplain, the restored wetlands hold water in public green space when the creek rises, keeping it out of homes and businesses.

"By reconnecting Johnson Creek to its floodplain in this area, we're building on years of work to create a healthier, more resilient watershed that protects both people and the environment," Public Utilities Director Ting Lu, who oversees the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), said in the city's announcement.

Construction ran from spring 2024 through summer 2025. BES partnered with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and Portland Parks & Recreation to add a new bike-and-pedestrian connection to the Springwater Corridor Trail, linking it to nearby neighborhoods.

The restored site also provides habitat for frogs, salamanders, birds and bats.

The award is part of a broader pattern of Johnson Creek restoration work stretching back to 1998. A companion effort, the West Lents Floodplain Restoration Project, finished construction in October 2025 along the creek between SE 82nd and SE 92nd avenues. That project team is now updating federal flood insurance rate maps to reflect how much additional water the restored areas can absorb.