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.