Herald and News Editorial: Inspections vital element in dike fitness

Inspections vital element in dike fitness

Klamath Falls Herald and News Editorial

November 21, 2006

At the very least, the steps taken last week by local, state and federal officials will alert those responsible for local dikes that they have to fulfill their obligations.

The importance of that goes beyond just protecting the land immediately behind the dikes. That was shown in June by the break in the Geary Dike northwest of Klamath Falls. It flooded 2,000 acres and cut Highway 140, the main link between Klamath Falls and Medford.

Inspections are the heart of the effort to keep local dikes in good repair.

Nobody got hurt in the June break, but the potential was there.

There is also immediate help from the U.S. Corps of Engineers available for at least some of the people in charge of dikes.

When officials tried to sort out who was responsible for what after the June break, the answers weren't clear - an odd circumstance considering that Upper Klamath Lake has 45 miles of dikes and is the primary reservoir for the Klamath Reclamation Project. There are also dikes elsewhere in the county.

The reason for confusion is that major dike failures are rare. Decades go by between them and the subject drifts away from the attention of the public and the dike owners.

At last week's meeting, Klamath County Emergency Manager Bill Thompson said that levee failures weren't even on the list of potential hazards. Obviously, they are there now.

Who's responsible?

At the meeting, the group established committees to address various questions, such as finding out who owns the dikes and what kind of shape dikes are in.

Once the dike owners are determined, they ought to be quick to take advantage from the Corps of Engineers. But there's a hole that needs plugging in that process, too.

The Corps said it has sent letters each year to the Klamath County's Public Works Department asking if anyone involved in the dikes wanted to take advantage of the inspection program, but never got an answer.

Public Works officials said last week the department isn't in charge of dikes.

Perhaps someone in the county should have let the Corps know the letters were going to the wrong place, and the Corps certainly should have been curious as to why it never got an answer.

Regardless, that process is going to change, the Corps said.

Good.

This isn't something that can run on automatic. People have to be alerted, make sure they know who's responsible for what and what's supposed to happen when there is a dike break - or, far better, prevent breaks from happening through regular inspections and maintenance.