Sauvie Island Flooding—2011

Well, the weather this year has been exceedingly cold and wet, and just downright screwy, a lot like the rest of the US. Fortunately for us, the weather hasn’t been bouncing from one extreme to another unlike a lot of the mid-west.

But, we’ve had our own dilemmas, namely in the form of heavy rain and heavy snow. Throw the two together and you get river flooding.

Now, this years flooding is a drop in the bucket at ~18 feet compared to what happened back in 1996 when the river crested at 27.7’ and a 6” tall wave of water was pouring over the levy next to Island Cove Park, inundating the campground.

But, outside of the protected areas, a lot of my regular fishing haunts have been closed, as the roads leading to them are currently underwater.

Road to Gilbert Boat Launch is closed due to high water.

That lake is actually a field, one that normally would be used for grazing, but is currently under a couple feet of water. The road leading out to this area is actually more like a peninsula with the overflowing McNary and Sturgeon lakes on one side and the flood stage Columbia River on the other.

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Now, I don’t really visit this beach much, usually during the winter months when its cold and the nudists are gone to photograph the big container ships and barges as they come down the river, but it is an ideal demonstrator of how high the Columbia River is.

The local wildlife, at least the flying variety, are not bothered by the extra water on the island.

To my surprise, the next beach closest to me, (Walton Beach?), was not as flooded as I expected it would be.

Mind you, that’s not much beach, compared to regular water levels, but that’s still greater than zero.

Well, that’s all for now, I leave you with this sunset on the “lake” view till next time .