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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2020)
The Columbia Press November 13, 2020 5 King Tides Project aims to track impacts of highest tides Every year in early winter, high tides on the Oregon coast are higher than usual. These extreme high tides, commonly called “king tides,” occur when the moon’s orbit comes closest to the earth, the earth’s orbit is closest to the sun, and the sun, moon and earth are in alignment. The gravitational pull has a big influence on the tides. For the past decade, a net- work of volunteer photog- By Steve Morey for the King Tides Project A tide comes high up the beach on the Nehalem Spit during last year’s King Tides Project. Astoria garners Main Street awards Astoria’s business commu- nity won two awards in this year’s Oregon Main Street Excellence in Downtown Re- vitalization program. Blaylock’s Whiskey Bar, 433 13th St., was named best new business of the year. Founders Michael Angiletta and Seth Howard signed the lease on a vacant 1920s art deco building in 2019. Cory Teubner and Ben Thompson joined the team a short time later. The men deserve credit for their response to statewide closure of bars due to the pandemic, Main Street offi- cials said. The whiskey bar partnered with six local food carts and chefs to provide a unique curbside takeout ex- perience: pre-mixed servings of Blaylock’s cocktail mixes combined with local cuisine. Astoria Downtown Historic District Association’s glass tile program received the award for best historic pres- ervation project. The Association wants to restore and preserve the side- walk prisms installed a cen- tury ago to let sunlight into below-grade spaces. raphers across the globe has documented the highest point reached by these high- est of tides. The hundreds of photos capture a moment in the interaction between land and sea that, up until now, has been rare, but is likely to become more typical. The images reveal cur- rent vulnerabilities to flood- ing. Even more important, they help scientists and en- gineers visualize and under- stand the impacts of sea lev- el rise (such as flooding and erosion) to coastal communi- ties. These tides are especially important to document when storm surges and high winds and waves create even higher water levels. This year’s King Tides Proj- ect takes place during three king tide sequences, Nov. 15- 17, Dec. 13-15, and Jan. 11-13. In Oregon, the King Tides Project is coordinated by the CoastWatch Program of the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, and the Oregon Coastal Management Pro- gram, a branch of the Depart- ment of Land Conservation and Development. From modest beginnings, the project has grown to more than 100 volunteer photogra- phers who contributed more than 400 photos to the proj- ect’s archives last winter. The goal is to encourage Oregonians and visitors to submit photos they take of the king tides to help track sea level rise over time and reveal its impacts on the Or- egon Coast. The value of the project thus increases over time, as the record of chang- es caused by higher tides lengthens. Photographers also are en- couraged to take photos at average high tides from the identical vantage points of their “king tides” shots. King Tides can impact the Oregon coast in several ways. High water levels can cause beach erosion, which leads to decreased beach access (smaller beaches), vulnera- ble structures and infrastruc- ture, and dangerous beach conditions. The city of Nehalem, for in- stance, experiences frequent flooding along its downtown corridor, which impacts trav- el and access to Highway 101. Agricultural lands along the Coquille River or Tillamook Bay also experience frequent flooding. To get involved or learn more, contact Meg Reed, coastal shores specialist, at 541-514-0091 or meg.reed@ state.or.us.
