Smith and Bybee Wetlands - Portland, OR
Posted by: 
dkestrel
N 45° 37.057 W 122° 43.292
10T E 521709 N 5051601
This sluice gate is part of a system designed to control water levels in the area. Much attention was given to this issue after the great Vanport Flood of 1946.
Waymark Code: WMKC34
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 03/17/2014
Views: 6
This natural area is the largest protected wetland within an American city even though it is surrounded by port terminals, warehouses, and other commercial developments. In 1990, the Portland Planning Commission approved a management plan for the lakes. They determined that Smith Lake would be maintained at a fairly constant water level and developed for low-intensity water recreation, such as fishing and canoeing. Bybee Lake, on the other hand, would be allowed to rise and fall with the tides and seasons and would be kept as an environmental preserve.
Since a large, new water control structure was installed in late 2003, Metro has turned back the clock more than 200 years for the natural area around Smith and Bybee lakes. The area is returning to the extensive network of sloughs, wetlands and forests that formerly existed at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers.
Name of Waterway.: Smith and Bybee Wetlands
Roughly when was the Waterway created?: 1940
Is this waterway working?: Working
What is the condition of the sluice gate?: Reasonable
What is/was the water used for?: Other
|
Visit Instructions:
Please take photo of your visit.