Lake is better than mud

Want to experience the smell of estuary mud? Go to West Bay’s Rotary Park at low tide and sniff the incoming breeze. The odor is partly that of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas created by bacteria just beneath the mud surface.

The odor is also strong at the Fifth Avenue bridge, but is mostly not noticeable at Marathon Park. If the dam were removed and the lake basin became an intertidal mudflat, the Budd Inlet aroma would probably reach the Capitol grounds and the County Courthouse — and would probably be stronger than it is now.

Aside from this daily summer reminder of the folly of dam removal, most other problems created by destroying Capitol Lake would be less noticeable but more serious. Biodiversity, now high in the lake, would be lower in the “restored” estuary. The number of invasive species in the estuary basin would be higher than in the Lake basin. The deluge of nitrogen fertilizer carried by the Deschutes River would no longer have a shallow weed-filled lake to intercept it; lower dissolved oxygen levels in Budd Inlet would result. Populations of imperiled freshwater species would be destroyed; no comparable saltwater species would be enhanced. Access for water recreation would be limited and difficult if an estuary replaced the lake. And the quarter billion dollars spent to “restore” the estuary would not be available for more important community needs.

Don’t be misled by talk of a “Restored, Healthy Deschutes Estuary.” Capitol Lake is the way better alternative.

This story was originally published September 8, 2017 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Lake is better than mud."