Or use the links below. Send us your Feedback For our privacy policy, click here . For our user agree- ment, click here . By Jeffry Gottfried T he governor misses the mark when he suggests that public education regarding individual behaviors such as car washing is what is needed to improve fish habitat in urban areas. If tomorrow everyone in the Portland metro area refrained from putting any toxic materials in their storm water runoff, our urban waterways would still be unsuitable for fish, due to our system of directly draining our streets, roofs, driveways and parking lots directly into the nearest creek.
Every rain causes urban creeks to fill rapidly to the tops of their banks.
This causes one type of erosion. When the rain stops, creeks drop quickly and stream banks dry and cave in, creating another type of erosion. This unnatural hydrology muddies our creeks, making them uninhabitable for fish and their eggs. What's needed is a system of capturing street runoff in engineered wetlands, sumps and underground vaults, allowing fine particles to drop out of the water and then releasing the water to seep back into ground water and creeks. Without this, all the tree plantings, stream cleanups and other media events held on stream banks are a waste of money and effort.