Pudding River Watershed Council
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Pudding River WC collaborates with local partners, community members, and landowners to restore, enhance, and protect the Pudding River watershed. The watershed comprises over 500 square miles of land in Marion and Clackamas counties in Oregon, and includes cities like Silverton, Woodburn, Mt. Angel, Aurora, Scotts Mills, and creeks like Abiqua, Butte, Silver, Drift, Rock, and Davis.
- Income
- $243,003
- Spending
- $224,961
- Spent on programs
- 72%
- Reserves
- 3.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 78%
- Employees
- 5
- Volunteers
- 30
- Highest pay
- $70,917, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 80 out of 100. Higher than 55% of charities in its peer group (environment, under $250k).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 3.8 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 7% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 3% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1572% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 13 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 86 out of 100. Higher than 78% of charities in its peer group (environment, under $250k).
Independent board
25 of 259 of 9 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
0 of 5Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $89,384 spent. River, Stream and Upland Restoration Projects- Worked toward the removal of two large fish passage barriers, Aamodt Dam and the Scotts Mills Dam. Finished Year 2 of a rapid bio assessment of all important salmonid watershed streams. Worked on Year 2 of riparian restoration at two small publicly accessible sites, one in Silverton and another in Aurora. Did meadow restoration work at Silver Falls State Park. Began work on a native plant cutting block in Aurora.
- $31,451 spent. Fire recovery and resilience near waterways - Did a third year of maintenance (about four work days for each site) and a small amount of interplanting on three sites burned in the 2020 Beachie Creek Wildlife. As the climate changes we plan to continue wildlife response and mitigation work so that we can help community members prepare for and respond to fire on the landscape.
- $41,227 spent. Community outreach, landowner engagement, and ecological stewardship - An important part of a watershed council's job is engaging and educating the community around ecological issues in the watershed. In 2024 that engagement took a number of forms, including work w/ the City of Aurora and volunteers to maintain the Aurora Mills Green Space, connecting landowners who need trees or plants with resource on where to find those plants and sometimes delivering plants to them, attending community meetings to talk about the watershed, visiting landowners on their farm or place of residence to talk about potential restoration projects, tabling at community events to help people learn more about the watershed, inviting community members to our bi-monthly board meetings to share their concerns or ideas, and many other small projects.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since August 2017.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.