Letter: Activist

Published 12:15 am Tuesday, November 26, 2024

In response to “Open Letter,” in The Astorian on Nov. 21: Tessa Scheller is the former lead board member of the Skipanon Water Control District. Scheller led her board to decide to cease to exist as an organization.

About 10 years ago, these people voted to remove the tide gates from the Eighth Street Dam because they could not compel the Warrenton City Commission to agree to remove the dam.

The Eighth Street Dam in Warrenton was built to prevent flooding within city limits for the homes that are located along the river, on the same level as the riverbank between the Eighth Street Dam and Alternate Highway 104.

Several years ago, there was a year of unusually heavy rainfall, where the river water level came close to going into many of these homes, and it did damage to one home in that area.

Scheller would like the dam removed, leaving any possibility of protecting these homes based on projected ocean levels rising in the foreseeable future.

Paying for the dam removal is not the issue. How do we protect the homes bordering the river inside city limits if ocean water levels rise high enough to overflow the banks of the Skipanon River?

Scheller is an activist favoring removing any dam hindering fish going up the Skipanon River.

SCOTT WIDDICOMBE

Warrenton