Flood Safe Columbia River: Opportunities for Conservation through Flood Safety
Start Date
4-4-2023 4:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2023 6:00 PM
Abstract
For more than a century, the Portland Metro Levee System has been hiding in plain sight. Now, the whole system is getting a makeover and may just pop up into the public eye. This talk will showcase the effort to develop the new Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District and the opportunities it creates to advance environmental, climate, and justice goals.
The Columbia Corridor drainage districts have managed flood safety in the Columbia Slough and Columbia River Floodplain since 1917. The system includes 27 miles of levees, 45 miles of conveyance ways, and 12 pump stations. In 2019, the Oregon legislature created the Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District (aka New District), which will take over managing the levees and moving water across the levees out to the Columbia River. The New District is designed to take a holistic approach to flood safety, integrating green infrastructure, landscape resilience, climate change, equity, social justice, and cultural history. Right now, the New District board of directors is setting up funding for operations and capital improvements.
This presentation will provide a) an overview of the New District and many partners working to modernize flood safety along the Columbia; b) a summary of strategies staff expect to see in the New District’s work; c) opportunities to advance water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, environmental justice, and climate resiliency through new district investments; and d) opportunities to get involved.
Subjects
Habitat restoration, Land/watershed management, Water quality
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/40474
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Flood Safe Columbia River: Opportunities for Conservation through Flood Safety
For more than a century, the Portland Metro Levee System has been hiding in plain sight. Now, the whole system is getting a makeover and may just pop up into the public eye. This talk will showcase the effort to develop the new Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District and the opportunities it creates to advance environmental, climate, and justice goals.
The Columbia Corridor drainage districts have managed flood safety in the Columbia Slough and Columbia River Floodplain since 1917. The system includes 27 miles of levees, 45 miles of conveyance ways, and 12 pump stations. In 2019, the Oregon legislature created the Urban Flood Safety and Water Quality District (aka New District), which will take over managing the levees and moving water across the levees out to the Columbia River. The New District is designed to take a holistic approach to flood safety, integrating green infrastructure, landscape resilience, climate change, equity, social justice, and cultural history. Right now, the New District board of directors is setting up funding for operations and capital improvements.
This presentation will provide a) an overview of the New District and many partners working to modernize flood safety along the Columbia; b) a summary of strategies staff expect to see in the New District’s work; c) opportunities to advance water quality, fish and wildlife habitat, environmental justice, and climate resiliency through new district investments; and d) opportunities to get involved.