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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016
King tides: Next king tide event expected Jan. 10 to Jan 12
Continued from Page 1A
The city also sends staff
to watch for debris block-
ages during high flows under
the city’s bridges and for ero-
sion around its sewage plant,
located next to the mouth of the
Necanicum River. McDow-
ell said the river’s flow comes
right up to the edge of the
plant, where a couple of years
ago the city installed a barri-
cade to protect against erosion.
No storms, no problem
Werst and other local pub-
lic works officials said king
tides in themselves don’t pose
an immediate threat, unless
combined with high winds and
rain during storms. The effects
of this week’s king tides, unac-
companied by foul weather,
were benign.
“On the Oregon Coast in
the wintertime, we have sea
level rise of 18 inches in the
winter, because of various rea-
sons,” said Patrick Corcoran, a
coastal hazards specialist with
Oregon State University’s
Extension Service in Astoria.
“When you combine that with
king tides, that’s when things
start flooding.”
In Warrenton, the king tide
peaked at more than 10.7 feet
in the Skipanon River Tues-
day. Collin Stelzig, Warren-
ton’s city engineer, said the
city can experience tides of 11
feet amid storm surges mul-
tiple times of year, without
issues.
“We’re protected by levees,
so we don’t necessarily have
an impact from these tides,”
he said.
Stelzig said the city has
been part of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agen-
cy’s National Flood Insurance
Program since 1978 and faced
tides as high as nearly 12.6 feet
in 1983, but has never had a
claim for flooding.
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Tuesday’s king tide, which reached more than 10.7 feet in the Skipanon River around noon, rises up the levees surrounding
the Astoria Regional Airport in Warrenton. City Engineer Collin Stelzig said the levees adequately protect Warrenton from
much higher water levels than this week’s king tides brought.
Tracking change
Rising land, seas
The situation in the Pacific
Northwest isn’t as bad as Flor-
ida, where one-eighth of the
homes could be underwater by
2100 if sea levels rise as pre-
dicted, according to real estate
company Zillow.
“Our geography is differ-
ent,” said Meg Reed, a coastal
shores specialist with the Ore-
gon Coastal Management Pro-
gram. “We don’t have a lot of
low-lying developed beaches
like Florida.”
Sea level rise is mitigated
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Rising tidal surges, like the 10-plus-foot king tides that hit the Astoria-Warrenton area Monday through Thursday, can
help hydrate restored wetlands like Daggett Point in the foreground, but can put pressure on diked land.
on much of the West Coast by
the Juan de Fuca plate slid-
ing under the North American
plate, causing a tectonic uplift
of between 1.5 and 3 milli-
Lead testing: Database allows
public to look up lead test results
Continued from Page 1A
It doesn’t account for any
expenses associated with mit-
igation of lead contamination.
The widespread testing fol-
lowed widespread media cov-
erage of a scandal in Port-
land Public Schools over lead
in drinking water that went
unreported.
In August, the state Board
of Education — at the behest of
Gov. Kate Brown – approved a
rule that requires school dis-
tricts to submit a plan for test-
ing for lead in water and other
toxins in school environments
and to report any results to
the public. The rule doesn’t
century to 3.1 millimeters per
year since 1993.
“We know that we have a
very dynamic winter climate,
so even a little bit of sea level
rise means those storms will get
more intense,” Reed said, add-
ing chronic issues like erosion
and landslides could worsen.
Add to the list of prob-
lems a Cascadia Subduction
Zone earthquake, which the
state Department of Geology
and Mineral Industries esti-
mates could sink the land 3 to
7 feet, immediately reversing
hundreds of years of tectonic
uplift.
Reed said improving resil-
iency to tsunamis will also
help with issues of rising sea
levels and erosion. She previ-
ously worked as a coastal fel-
low with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administra-
tion for the Coastal Manage-
ment Program, researching
areas of the coast that could
benefit from shore armoring.
Her successor in the position,
Julie Sepanik, is looking at the
threats facing coastal and estu-
arine infrastructure from king
tides.
require actual testing.
Education and health
authorities unveiled a data-
base (http://arcg.is/2h8WgK5)
earlier this month that allows
the public to look up lead test
results.
Lawmakers have said they
might consider legislation in
2017 that would require dis-
tricts to test for lead in water.
New York recently enacted
a law requiring schools to test
for lead, report results to the
public and develop a plan for
reducing exposure to the toxin.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
meters per year. But at some
point, Reed said, sea level rise
will likely outpace the tectonic
uplift, because of exponen-
tially increasing warming.
According to a 2012 report
from the National Research
Council, sea levels on the West
Coast could rise 3 to 9 inches
by 2030, and 7 to 19 inches
by 2050, relative to 2000 lev-
els. According to the report,
the rate of global sea level rise
increased from about 1.7 milli-
meters per year during the 20th
Reed’s department, the
local
Surfrider
Founda-
tion chapter and the Oregon
Coastal Shores Conservation
Coalition’s CoastWatch group
oversee the Oregon King Tides
Photo Initiative, a citizen sci-
ence effort to document the
reach of tides over time.
“Because our impacts of
sea level rise are not immedi-
ate, we have a little more time
to rethink how we’re doing
development,” she said.
Reed said photos from the
project have been used by state
transportation officials looking
at areas of erosion like Beverly
Beach, where U.S. Highway
101 runs close to a quickly
eroding beachfront cliff.
The project asks people in
coastal and estuarine areas to
take pictures of areas facing
erosion and flooding, create
contrasting shots at king and
regular high tides and submit
the photos online.
The next king tide event
hits Jan. 10 to Jan. 12. After-
ward, Reed said, organizers
are planning end-of-season
parties, including one in Sea-
side, to review all the photos.
For more information on
the program and a schedule of
tides, visit www.oregonking-
tides.net
Lee: ‘I just feel like it’s a big world, and life is short’
Continued from Page 1A
“I’ve worked really hard
over the last eight years,” Lee
said. “It’s a very demand-
ing job. It’s time for me
to consider some other
opportunities.”
Lee said he is hopeful
someone will want to take
over Astoria’s only bike shop,
which he prides on surviving
the Great Recession, compe-
tition from bigger stores and
the internet because of cus-
tomer service, unique prod-
ucts and repairs.
“I still think this is a via-
ble business for someone,” he
said. “It’s a rewarding small
business. We’ve shown major
growth since the (downturn)
in ’08.
“There’s always going to
be a need for people who fix
things.”
Part of selling Bikes and
Beyond, he said, is to focus
on his remaining time with
the county commission.
Among his other appoint-
ments, Lee is chairman of
the board for the Columbia
River Estuary Study Task-
force, Oregon Coastal Zone
Management Association and
Northwest Oregon Housing
Authority.
“I like to think I run
a good, fair meeting,”
Lee said as to why he’s
become the head of so many
governing bodies.
Lee said eight years is a
long time for public service.
“There’s a lot of really great
people who can step up to the
plate and be county commis-
sioners here,” he said.
Dirk Rohne, who served in
his last meeting Wednesday
after eight years as a county
commissioner, echoed Lee’s
views. “Sometime it’s time
to step aside to allow others
the opportunity to serve,” he
said.
After leaving the commis-
sion, Lee said, he would like
to travel with his father, Wil-
liam, whom he credits for his
work ethic.
Born in Ellensburg, Wash-
ington, and raised in the
south Puget Sound region,
Lee attended Evergreen State
College. He has worked as a
technician for the Washington
Department of Fish and Wild-
life, a fisherman, on farms
and as a mechanic in boat-
yards, motorcycle and bicy-
cle shops.
“I’ve got about a seven- to
10-year range on most of the
things in my life,” Lee said of
his endeavors, including the
county commission and man-
aging Bikes and Beyond.
“I just feel like it’s a big
world, and life is short,” he
said. “There’s always new
opportunities, and I’ve always
had a sense of adventure.”
Congratulations Stephanie Sievers!
Celebrating
20 Years
at Wauna
Credit Union!
Thank you
for all
you do!
Wauna
Credit Union
waunafcu.org
800-773-3236
Stephanie Sievers-
SVP Operations