The Columbia press., February 11, 2022, Page 4, Image 4

The Columbia Press
4
February 11, 2022
Airport: Study expected to get to bottom of flooding
Continued from Page 1
water tables at the airport.
But it’s not functioning in
a way that’s very friend-
ly to the airport. It’s keep-
ing more water back than
it should, and not allowing
wetlands to drain from the
airport.”
Tide gates are devices used
to control river water tidal
fluctuations. Water flows
through the gate when the
tide moves in one direction,
and the gate closes automat-
ically when the tide moves
in the opposite direction.
The port strongly suspects
that the existing gate has
contributed to chronically
high water levels, causing
the flooding and groundwa-
ter intrusion, and creating
a significant obstacle to fu-
ture industrial development
necessary for a financially
Vera Slough tide gate
Tide gates
study project
area
Courtesy Port of Astoria
Adair Slough
Vera Slough
independent airport.
Replacing tide gates is
expensive, with state-ap-
proved
environmentally
friendly gates costing $1
million or more.
“You’ve heard the No. 1
cause of problems is solu-
tions,” McGrath said. “It
does not seem like (state
rules) need to be that oner-
ous. It’s gotten more and
more Draconian.”
There are five tide gates
Airport boundaries
that affect port property and
none of them are owned by
the port.
The Port of Astoria won
a $100,000 grant from the
Oregon Business Develop-
ment Department to study
the Vera Slough tide gate.
The objective is to complete
Water flows over the pavement on Airport Way near the site of
the new Scoular fish-processing plant.
the background research,
permit requirements, and
study the feasibility of var-
ious tide gate designs.
Concurrent with – and
complementary to – the
port’s study, the city of
Warrenton will work on a
hydrology study of the city’s
entire levee system, which
includes the airport. The
city’s study will provide
further data to assist in the
port’s study.
Once both studies are
complete, the port will seek
financing to replace or mod-
ify the Vera Slough tide gate.
Conservancy to take on marine reserve
The area’s large land con-
servancy has agreed to take
over the Cape Falcon Marine
Reserve, formerly run by a
friends group.
North Coast Land Conser-
vancy hopes the move will ex-
pand the land-to-sea connec-
tions along the north coast.
“There is no fence between
the Oregon Coast’s magnifi-
cent mountains, forests, riv-
ers and streams, beaches and
ocean,” said Nadia Gardner,
volunteer chair of Friends of
Cape Falcon Marine Reserve.
“They are all inextricably in-
terconnected.”
The land exchange took place
Feb. 1.
“Bringing on Cape Falcon
Marine Reserve as a new pro-
gram is a natural next step for
our work in the coastal edge
and in cultivating a land-to-
sea conservation corridor,”
said Katie Voelke, director of
the North Coast Land Con-
servancy.
The marine reserve is near
Oswald West State Park and
adjacent to the conservancy’s
Rainforest Reserve, between
the towns of Cannon Beach
Photo by ODFW
Cape Falcon Marine Reserve is comprised of 20 square miles
dedicated to conservation and scientific research.
and Manzanita.
The 20-square-mile site
encompasses the marine re-
serve, as well as two marine
protected areas.
Cape Falcon is the northern-
most site within the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life’s Marine Reserve Program.
The program was established
in 2016 for conservation and
scientific research.
Friends of Cape Falcon Ma-
rine Reserve — a coalition of
statewide and coastal nonprofit
organizations and volunteers
— supported the state by do-
ing public outreach, commu-
nity science and stewardship.
That work will continue un-
der the land conservancy.
North Coast Land Conser-
vancy is based in Seaside and
is one of Oregon’s leading
land trusts. The group cur-
rently protects more than 60
habitat reserves and conser-
vation easements between
the Columbia River and Siletz
Bay.