PORTLAND, Ore. — This Valentine's Day, dozens of people shed their clothes along the Willamette River and splashed into the water.
About 60 people took the plunge in the second annual Valentine's Day Dip.
The event was organized by the river advocacy group Human Access Project, also the group behind the annual Big Float.
It marked 110 consecutive days of no sewage overflows.
Even after all the rain and runoff, there was in the days leading up to the event, Portland's combined sewage pipes did not overflow into the river. Something that would have likely happened prior to the $1.4 billion Big Pipe Project.
According to the city, before the project was completed in 2011, sewage overflowed into the Willamette River about 50 times a year.
These days, it happens only about four times a year and those are the days when we get an inch of rain in about 12 hours.
The Valentine's Day Dip was a celebration of that.
"In terms of the state of our river and how far we've come, there's every reason to feel hopeful about it," said Human Access Project founder Willie Levenson. "It's a chance to celebrate our river, we love it all year 'round."
Levenson points out, the Valentine's Day event was a controlled event in shallow water with an ambulance on hand.
At a frigid 40 degrees, the river is cold enough to take your breath away.
He advises against anyone actual swimming in the Willamette right now.
Instead, he encourages people to get ready for a summer of river fun.