Efforts to repair and reopen the Willamette Falls navigational locks in Clackamas County took a step back when the Legislature ended the 2025 lawmaking session without passing a bill that would have sent $11.4 million to finish the job.
The Willamette Falls Locks Authority, a public corporation made up of local, state and regional officials as well as tribal leaders, was established by the Legislature in 2021 to oversee restoration of the locks and run their operation once reopened.
Water flows through the Willamette River Locks in West Linn, Ore., July 18, 2025. A recent funding request was denied by legislation, halting efforts to continue fixing the river locks.
Morgan Barnaby / OPB
The locks sit alongside the 40-foot-tall Willamette Falls between West Linn and Oregon City. They first opened in 1873 as a way for boats to travel between the upper and lower portions of the river. In 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined corrosion of the lock gates and seismic instability presented safety concerns.
The locks have been closed ever since, severing river connectivity between the Portland area and the rest of the Willamette Valley.
As part of the movement to reopen the locks, state Rep. Jules Walters, D-West Linn, and Sen. Mark Meek, D-Oregon City, introduced legislation in Salem to grant the authority $11.4 million in lottery bond funds. Walters and Meek are also non-voting members of the authority.
Their bill passed an initial vote of the Legislature’s transportation committee in April but ultimately died in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.
Before their closure, the locks functioned as a hydraulic staircase with five gates that raise and lower water levels to take vessels from one stair step to the next.
The Willamette River in West Linn, Ore., July 18, 2025. A recent funding request was denied by legislation, halting efforts to continue fixing the river locks.
Morgan Barnaby / OPB
So far, the state, federal and local governments have invested $19 million in repairing and reopening the locks. While that funding has gone a long way toward repairs, it’s not nearly enough to get them open and operating, according to Oregon Metro Councilor and Locks Authority Chair Christine Lewis.
Without the additional $11.4 million requested of the Legislature, Lewis explained the Authority is taking a phased approach. The first phase, for which the Authority will use about $6 million allocated by the Legislature in 2021, will focus on seismic improvements and gate stability.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the entity that ran the locks for a century prior to their closure, completed initial seismic stability of the upper lock chambers.
The Authority plans to continue the seismic stability work and improve the system’s hydraulic gate hinges, Lewis said.
Without additional funding, the Authority will have to wait before pursuing additional phases like establishing operational access, lighting, fire suppression, all of which are needed before the locks can actually operate.
Water flows through the Willamette River Locks in West Linn, Ore., July 18, 2025. A recent funding request was denied by legislation, halting efforts to continue fixing the river locks.
Morgan Barnaby / OPB
In light of the Legislature’s failure to pass a transportation funding package during the session, Lewis said it’s even more important for the state to start thinking differently about transportation and transportation funding.
“We are addicted to the gas tax. And the gas tax is failing us both in the amount of money it brings in, but also the fact that we are driving more electric and fuel efficient cars,” she said. “So, if and when the legislature gets to the point that they can be that visionary, I hope they will start to think about river transportation.”
The locks, Lewis said, are at a perfect intersection of intermodal transportation, which allows for a more robust and resilient transportation system.
“We have the perfect alignment with 205, the rail across the river, and then the river itself. We just need to actually unlock the river by opening the locks,” the Metro councilor stated.
Danger signs warn against turbulent waters nearby the Willamette River Locks in West Linn, Ore., July 18, 2025. A recent funding request was denied by legislation, halting efforts to continue fixing the river locks.
Morgan Barnaby / OPB
A 2018 analysis by ECONorthwest for the Willamette Falls Locks Commission (a precursor to the Authority) found that reopening the locks would remove an estimated 80,000-220,200 truck trips from Portland area roadways and result in an additional $12-49 billion in transportation benefits for the state.
With the tourism industry and its river cruisers as another proponent of reopening the locks, the same report estimated doing so would bring $12 million to $50 million in economic benefits to the state.
As the largest north-south river in the state, allowing travel along the entire Willamette River is essential for economic and disaster resilience, according to Lewis.
“We have large population areas, Salem and Portland, that are separated from each other,” Lewis said. “If we do have a major Cascadia style event, my hope is that we will be able to use our rivers even if I-5 is closed, because overpasses collapse. And I think that resiliency to move things from Salem to Portland or vice versa is a statewide issue.”
Lewis said that even if bridges fall into the Willamette during an earthquake, the river could likely be cleared quicker than rebuilding a highway or overpass. She added redundancy is always a benefit in terms of disaster management.
The authority plans to come back to the Legislature with its request during the 2026 session.
