After a series of high-water events in 2019 and 2020, Echo City Manager David Slaght has been taking action to mitigate future flooding threats while also seeking to preserve the integrity of the Umatilla River.
Slaght said it had been a huge undertaking to reach this point on the process.
Slaght said the process covers multiple points along the river through the city, including a project on the south end of Echo that was undertaken in the fall of 2022.
Other points included the northern tip, where the Main Street bridge crosses the Umatilla River.
The city manager said anchoring work through tree-planting and rock placement would hold the shoreline in place. Along the western flank, near Fort Henrietta, Slaght said the city awaits permits and a cultural review to move forward with similar mitigation strategies.
He projected the work would be finished in August or September.
Slaght said the cultural review was done during the winter to search for artifacts of cultural significance to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Moving forward from flood mitigation, Slaght said he hopes to pursue flood prevention through the facilitation of a levy survey.
“We’re looking at the potential of setting up a levy in the city side of the river on the east flank — stretching from the railroad tracks and then up north — to keep the river out of town, or to make it much harder to get into town in a future flooding event,” he said. “Our hope is that we can get to the point where we have a levy where we can protect the town, protect the citizens of Echo and their homes, and to also protect the fish and integrity of the river. They’re all important.”
Along the Umatilla River, the spring season can pose a threat to nearby communities through flooding.
“We had pretty good high water this spring and we had to do some rockwork to keep the museum from getting damaged from by the river,” Slaght said.
He said he’s learned to watch where the water moves and debris collects to gauge potential flooding threats — although he warned he was not a hydrologist.
“I watch for where debris builds up and where there’s heavy erosion,” he said. “If we get up to 4,000 or 5,000 cubic feet per second of water, things will begin to erode like crazy.”
Slaght said the city is hopeful and positive it can keep its momentum forward and protect its citizens.
“Protecting human life and property is our No. 1 priority,” he said, “and everything else will start to fall into place.”
