Small Eastern Oregon town rushes to shore up riverbanks after heavy rains

The Umatilla River floods might have ended two years in the past, however the Jap Oregon communities that line the river are nonetheless feeling the consequences.

A bed room neighborhood of about 600 folks just a few miles south of Hermiston, Echo took the brunt of heavy rain runoff from the close by Blue Mountains over the previous a number of days, inflicting the banks of the Umatilla River to swell to twice their regular measurement.

Echo metropolis administrator David Slaght described it Tuesday as a excessive water occasion slightly than a flood, however houses are nonetheless threatened by the rising waters.

On Monday, Echo secured $400,000 from the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners for emergency work to guard houses. Since then, contractors have hauled rocks to the riverbank to halt the encroaching river water.

Slaght stated the worst is probably going over, however the metropolis nonetheless wants a long-term resolution in a area that’s discovered itself extra vulnerable to flooding in recent times.

“We need to relieve the stress on this rock or this rock gained’t final perpetually,” he stated as he stood in entrance of the sediment-stained river. “If we don’t pull the present off, it’s a short lived repair. And we wish it to be a everlasting repair. And the one method to do this is to educate the river again and extra into the middle channel.”

Slaght stated the turning level for Echo was the 2020 floods.

In February 2020, heavy rainfall mixed with a quickly melting snowpack led to important flooding throughout Umatilla County, together with Echo.

Even after the water receded, Slaght stated the trail of the river modified. The brand new form of the river means a flooded Umatilla doesn’t simply have an effect on alfalfa fields or cattle pasture, however a number of houses.

Dennis Sather and his spouse Gina have lived at their Echo house close to the Umatilla for 26 years. After 2020, Sather watched as his house immediately grew to become riverfront property.

“Now I can throw a rock from my yard into the river simply,” he stated.

The Sathers began contemplating their plans ought to the river attain their home, however have been grateful that town and county have been in a position to shore up the river earlier than it acquired to that time.

In a small city with a small finances, Slaght stated his metropolis wants money to fund a everlasting flood mitigation undertaking alongside the river. He stated he’s persevering with talks with the federal authorities to get the undertaking funded.