The Columbia press., October 30, 2020, Page 4, Image 4

The Columbia Press
4
October 30, 2020
Wildland: Property now part of conservancy Dam:Flood potential mixed
Continued from Page 1
lumbia coho and other salm-
on.”
The property contains hem-
lock and alder trees as well
as a spruce forest and swamp
habitat, which is considered
globally rare, the group said.
“By the 1980s, about
three-quarters of the forested
and scrub/shrub tidal wet-
lands that existed in the low-
er Columbia River estuary in
the 1800s were gone. Wet-
lands such as those found in
this complex act as nature’s
kidneys, filtering out sedi-
ments, excess nutrients and
pollutants.”
The group will limit pub-
lic access to the property to
guided use.
Courtesy NCLC
A 42-acre parcel near Warrenton Grade School is now part of
the North Coast Land Conservancy’s holdings.
KMUN reaches funding goal
KMUN, the area’s non- station, raised $58,000
profit community radio through its fall fundraiser.
More than 400 people
donated, including 84 new
members.
At least a third of KMUN’s
operating budget comes
from community dona-
tions.
Most donations came
through the website.
“A couple of exciting sur-
prises happened during
this drive,” said Janet Fry-
berger, membership direc-
tor.
“We were approaching
the final day, just a little
short of the goal, when a
large gift of several thou-
sand dollars came in from
one member and propelled
us up and over the goal
line.”
Another donation came
in the form of stock.
The station had a goal of
raising $50,000.
Continued from Page 1
picked up the task of manag-
ing the dam and, eventually,
two other flood structures.
In 2002, the district began
operating the dam with the
tide gates open in an attempt
to improve water quality and
fish passage. The gates were
kept permanently open in
2012 and removed three years
later.
City officials, residents and
the water district have been at
odds ever since over the tide
gates’ contribution to flood
control.
A stalemate caused the
district to lose a grant to re-
place the dam with a bridge,
then there was a legal bat-
tle on which the city spent
$100,000.
In September 2017, Sher-
iff Tom Bergin facilitated a
meeting between the conten-
tious parties – control district
board members and city com-
missioners – and the board
refused to participate in May-
or Henry Balensifer’s sugges-
tion of a flood-control study to
settle the matter.
Last fall, Skipanon Water
Control District announced
it was disbanding and its two
remaining structures – the
Eighth Street Dam in War-
renton and the Cullaby Lake
Outlet Structure in an area
controlled by Clatsop County
– likely would be turned over
to those municipalities.
In the meantime, the city
won a federal grant to study
how tide gates -- or a lack of
them -- affect upstream prop-
erty during normal high tides
and storms, storms with tidal
surges, and during major 100-
year events.
The results: They matter a
bit during normal storms, but
are nearly useless during ma-
jor events. It’s good to know,
because replacing the tide
gates under current Oregon
law could cost $2 million or
more.
“We ran the hydraulics, … a
total of 45 different scenari-
os,” the Army Corps’ hydrau-
lics engineer Paul Sclafani
told city commissioners Tues-
day night.
The protection of property
diminished substantially the
further upstream it is from
the dam and the larger the
storm event, Sclafani told
them. “If you’re near Perkins
Road, there’s less of a differ-
ence as opposed to being up
by the Eighth Street Dam.”
There is no gauge on the Ski-
panon, so engineers looked at
gauges on nearby watershed
rivers with similar traits and
were able to make compari-
sons; one on nearby Youngs
River was most similar to Ski-
panon’s 14.5 square miles of
watershed.
Sclafani’s advice: “Keep
monitoring those sites (prone
to flooding) and address the
system as things come up.
You all know the system bet-
ter than what a model can tell
you.”
Balensifer was concerned
that the study didn’t take into
consideration the amount of
impervious surface that has
been added in the watershed
due to development.
Tide gates may be a less ef-
ficient way to deal with storm
water than pumps, Balensifer
said.
City Engineer Collin Stelzig
agreed. The city’s current re-
sponse to major storms is to
pump water out of the system
as quickly as possible.
Commissioner Rick Newton
said his concern is helping
property owners who have
seen a difference since the
tide gates were removed.
“Ted Ames (who lives near
the dam) said the water qual-
ity is better,” Newton said.
“The Colliers (a few houses
away) have lost 50 feet out of
their back yard. Water quali-
ty is good, but losing part of
your ground is not good.”