Construction recommendations for the 27-mile-long Columbia River levee system in the Portland-metro area have approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The work would include making the levee system more resilient and reliable for years to come.

“It’s important to realize we have this massive levee system along the Columbia River in the Portland area that reduces the risk of flooding,” stated Ken Anderton, senior real estate and development manager for the Port of Portland, and board president of Multnomah County Drainage District. “This system was originally built before the area became the economic engine and major transportation hub that it is today. The completion and approval of this study puts us in a great position to compete for significant federal investment to make sure our flood safety system is more resilient and reliable for the future.”

The plan calls for a series of projects that would:

• address points of weakness that could result in levee breaches or overtopping by widening and fixing the slope along the eastern side of the Peninsula Drainage Canal that’s located just to the west of the Portland International Airport, the Columbia River Correctional Institution, and Dignity Village, as well as by extending and elevating an incomplete floodwall under the I-5 bridge;
• add plumbing capacity and create redundant power supplies at seven of the 12 pump stations within the system to reduce the risk of internal flooding; and
• add a levee next to the railroad embankment on the system’s western side to eliminate the risk of another breach like the one in 1948 that destroyed the city of Vanport and displaced 18,500 people.

The recommendations derived from a federally funded flood risk reduction study conducted by the Corps’ Portland District. Next, the study will be routed to Assistant Secretary of the Army (civil works) Jaime Pinkham and President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget to determine if it should go to Congress for authorization and appropriations.

If the plan advances without delays, construction could begin by mid-2025, according to the Multnomah County Drainage District.

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