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Save Our Lake!
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CLIPA White Paper
Executive Summary - Recommendations
- Immediate investment: CLIPA estimates a minimum initial
expenditure of about $4.5 million will address the accumulated sediment build-up
and begin to reverse the damage to the surrounding environment caused by almost
25 years of neglect. We advocate for a plan in the first biennium that will
initiate a positive and environmentally sensitive management program that considers
both the urban and the ecosystem benefits.
- Joint coordination: CLIPA also recommends an interest-based
“coordinating board” be formed and authorized to develop a long-term maintenance
and public/private financing plan to maintain Capitol Lake as it was envisioned
by the Wilder and White Plan of 1911, and coordinate a proactive management
approach for the Deschutes Watershed as a whole.
- Broaden focus to watershed for improved water quality:
The CLIPA findings support more effective management of the upper Deschutes
Watershed to address water quality issues including: dissolved oxygen, temperature,
nutrient loading, sediment control, and removal of point discharges of other
contaminants. Invasive species, such as the New Zealand mud snail (prominent
in many west coast bays and estuaries) will continue to be a challenge throughout
the life of the watershed, regardless of the alternative chosen for the Deschutes
Watershed, and must be dealt with as a current management issue and not a short-term
cause to modify the long-term plan as suggested by the CLAMP study.1
- Proactive lake management: We recommend the State move
forward with a revisioning plan for Capitol Lake, one that takes into account
the aesthetic value of the lake for the Capitol Campus as well as the explicit
management of this urban lake for water quality, sediment management, recreation,
and other valued uses. The immediate maintenance dredging of Capitol Lake and
continued use of the lake as a “sediment trap” for the estimated 35,000 cubic
yards of annually transported runoff sediment from the upper Deschutes Watershed
is the most cost-effective and environmentally sensitive management program
for this urban landscape.
- Long-term sustainable approach: CLIPA has developed and
is recommending a two, ten and fifty-year management program for consideration
by the General Administration, the State Capitol Committee, the State Legislature,
and affected local governments to consider as an immediate approach to address
the need to manage our shared Capitol Lake and marine waterfront. The actions
we take now will impact many future generations.
1 Sources find that the New Zealand mud snail is in many west coast bays and
estuaries such as Alberni, Longbeach, Columbia, Tillamook, Rogue, and Alsea.
Complete White Paper PDF
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