A recent informal opinion poll I conducted of west Wahkiakum residents/landowners reveals an overwhelming number are opposed to the breaching of dikes. The poll yielded 253 responses of whom 242 (95.6%) indicated opposition, seven (2.8%) indicated support and four (1.6%) indicated they could go either way depending on the particular project.

Those voicing opposition were responding to the statement “Breaching dikes could cause damage to adjoining properties and/or by moving the shoreline, cause neighboring properties to fall under the jurisdiction and restrictions of the Shoreline Master Program.” Those expressing support were saying yes to the statement “Breaching dikes could provide a nutrient rich, environment for young salmonid species to become resilient to the effects of global warming. The opportunity to breach a dike could make a property more attractive to potential buyers such as Columbia Land Trust.”

The Grays River Flood Control District was established to ensure existing dikes along the Grays River are maintained. Owners of properties within the district’s jurisdiction pay a dike fee as a part of their property taxes. This money goes to the Grays River Flood Control District fund and is used to co-fund dike repair and maintenance costs with property owners.

The Columbia Land Trust (CLT), based in Vancouver, is a non-governmental organization designated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that acquires land through land donations, direct purchase or conservation easements. Its goal as established in its mission statement is to “Conserve and care for the vital lands, waters, and wildlife of the Columbia River region through sound science and strong relationships.” CLT strives to achieve its goal through a number of approaches, one of which includes the acquisition of Grays River shoreline lands with the intent to breach their dikes to create wetland fish habitat.

One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the potential for conflict between the purpose of the Grays River Flood Control District and the intent of CLT to breach dikes along the Grays River.

Prompted by the acquisition of the Hallam property by the CLT and their ongoing preparatory design work for breaching its dike, the Grays River Flood Control District adopted a resolution that requests the Wahkiakum Board of County Commissioners to adopt a moratorium on dike breaching within the Flood Control District’s jurisdiction. Formal consideration of the moratorium request would require the county commissioners to conduct a public hearing on the matter.

As I began to put together information for an article on the issue of dike breaching and a potential moratorium, it became apparent that while the positions of the Flood Control District and the Columbia Land Trust are known, an important unknown was the opinion of the residents in the west end of Wahkiakum County where dike breaching has occurred and more is being planned.

To that end, preparatory work on developing an opinion poll form began in November 2024. The objective was to create a form that contained unbiased instructions, outlined the main arguments both for and against the breaching of dikes, and allowed individuals to indicate whether they approved or opposed dike breaching.

Door-to-door deliveries of the form began sometime in December. Due to flooding, rain, snow, an outbreak of influenza and the distances between residences, it was March 22, 2025, before I felt I had received all the completed forms I was likely to receive. While an effort was made to deliver the form to every residence in the west end of the county, not every residence was occupied when visited. Some couldn’t be accessed due to gates or had posted signs of “no trespassing” or “beware of dogs.” The opinion poll form stated participation in the poll was optional and some chose the option of not participating. I estimate I gave out a 100 more poll forms than were completed and returned.

CLT receives favorable views on the east end of Wahkiakum County for their non-dike related projects. While west-enders also hold more favorable views for CLT’s non-dike related projects, many see their efforts to breach dikes through the negative lens of CLT’s previous Kandoll Road project. It doesn’t help that the Raistakka Road project also has the potential for damage to adjoining properties.

In 2010, an article in the Chinook Observer noted comments made by the then-CLT executive director, Glenn Lamb, in which he said, “The Land Trust has run into conflicts with landowners in the Grays River area of Wahkiakum County because of unexpected flooding tied to a dike breach restoration project. I think we need to have community stability [as a] component of our projects. As we’re proposing breaching dikes, opening up flood plains, we need to make sure we put enough emphasis on the human impacts. … We need to have public support to do this.”

CLT believes they can engineer the Raistakka Road project to avoid damage to adjacent properties once the dike is breached. The adjacent landowners feel that could be true in the short term but worry about unanticipated damage in the future. For that reason, they have requested CLT to provide a form of financial surety (escrow, bonding, etc.) sufficient to cover in perpetuity property damage related to the breach.

It should be emphasized again that the opinion poll was specific to dike breaching. On that issue, the poll indicates an overwhelming majority of west Wahkiakum residents and landowners are opposed to the breaching of dikes. If the non-governmental organization wishes to continue with its efforts toward breaching, it clearly has a long ways to go to move from Columbia Land Distrust to Columbia Land Trust in the eyes of the west Wahkiakum public.