Westenders, fish recovery board seek understanding

Members of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board and residents of western Wahkiakum County discussed issues and their differing points of view on plans for rehabilitating the Grays River.

The fish recovery board is a regional board that reviews and awards state funding for projects designed to restore and rehabilitate salmon and steelhead habitat in Skamania, Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties.

The meeting followed a charged meeting October 28 in Grays River. Recovery board staff planned to gather input on projects that had been identified along the Grays River, but members of the Grays River Habitat Enhancement District, which is a flood control district, presented a petition and public input rejecting the projects and urging projects designed to reduce flood threats.

The recovery board held its monthly meeting in Cathlamet on Friday, and about 55 people gathered to discuss Grays River issues during the public comment period.

Jeff Breckel, executive director, recapped the public reaction at the Grays River meeting and recommended the recovery board table action on the Grays River plan for more study and possible action at the board's December meeting. After 30 minutes of discussion with the public, board members adopted Breckel's recommendation.

Breckel noted that the fish recovery board has no authority to undertake projects itself or to order other entities to do projects.

"Nothing happens on these lands if we don't have willing land owners," he said. "To succeed, all parties have to believe they have something to gain.

"If we don't believe we can find common ground, we'll end it. If the community is willing to work with us, we'll do it.

"I would like to see if there is a way to work with the community."

Community members repeated concerns expressed at the previous meeting and added other comments.

Longtime Valley resident Walt Berkshire showed photos of his house in flooding last winter and commented that recent floods have been higher than ever before.

Derek Heitsch commented he is concerned that bypass channels proposed to ease the force of freshets would instead exacerbate flooding.

Enhancement district Commissioner Delvin Fredrickson said the projects were all designed for fish enhancement and wouldn't address flood threats. They also don't address the sediment that comes down the river from the logged off Willapa Hills each freshet.

Others agreed and added that they believe the shoaling of Grays Bay is a cause of flooding and habitat degradation. The sediments plug the river channel, and the freshets can't drain into the Columbia, causing flooding.

Steve Puddicomb, a 20-year valley resident, urged the community and the fish enhancement board to seek middle ground to address the challenges which the river presents.

"I think many of the projects are doable, but they won't hurt or help with flooding," he said. "Sediment removal is a key part of it."

Political action by state and federal officials will be needed to address the sediment loads coming from the hills and to dredge the mouth, he said.

Raven Webb, who has blamed projects on land adjacent to her's for unprecedented flood damage she has experienced the past few years, said the plans will increase flooding. "I don't want the agencies in the valley," she said.

Neighbors Ed Blain and Poul Toftemark said projects apparently have increased currents in Seal River and it is now eroding the dike that protects their property.

Carol Larson said she feared proposed projects would inundate property that has been in her family for over 100 years.

"Our feeling is that the science has ignored the people who know the river," she said. "Scientists need to talk to the people and see how they kept the water under control."

Fish enhancement board commissioners said they appreciated the community's concerns.

Betty Sue Morris, a Clark County commissioner, suggested the enhancement board drop any plans that might cause flooding from consideration for funding.

"We've done this with other stakeholders in the past," said Axel Swanson, a Cowlitz County commissioner.

"The perception, valid or not, is that our projects cause flooding," he said, "so we need to answer if we can change the perception some how."

He and Morris suggested the work group which developed the plans go back over them in a public process and ensure the plans are practical, not just ideologically desirable.

"We'll work with the work group if flood issues and community issues are part of the plan," Fredrickson said.

"I would suggest that we proceed with discussions and make sure the citizens feel like they are at the table, and eliminate projects that would cause flooding," Morris said.