Dike road may move to avoid erosion

Federal agencies may have found a way to deal with erosion that threatens the dike protecting the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge for the White-tailed Deer.

The Columbia River has been eroding the bank and Steamboat Slough dike downstream from Hornstra's Beach. Wahkiakum County has closed one lane of traffic on the road on the dike above the eroding shoreline.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service may have funds to build another dike further away from the eroding shoreline, county Commissioner Lisa Marsyla announced Tuesday.

Marsyla has been facilitating meetings of the USFWS, US Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies which could be concerned if the dike breached and the refuge was flooded.

Marsyla said the work would be a short-term fix because it wouldn't stop the erosion; it would only prevent flooding.

"It doesn't solve the long-term problem," she said. "That will be a multi-year project--to place rock along the river bank."

The refuge is part of a diking district that includes one private property owner. The district hasn't maintained a dike protection agreement with the Corps of Engineers.