The City Canal: Modern Sewer Service

This is an economical disposal of the peninsula sewage, for instead of constructing a large intercepting sewer, smaller sewers can now directly enter into Columbia Slough, which will act as the intercepting sewer and result in a saving of several million dollars. Portland City Engineer, Laurgaard, circa 1921


U.S Army Corps of Engineers recorded flood levels, 1876-1920. Click on image to view in more detail. Courtesy of Multnomah Drainage District

As Ellen Stroud points out, by 1918 "The debate had become one among those who wanted to use the Slough as a sewer, those who wanted to use it as a ship canal, and those who wanted to dam it in order to reclaim the land underneath it for development. The question had become how best to use the Slough for the benefit of business." One thing was clear - the Slough would be altered.

The first landscape alterations on the Slough included levee construction in the teens. In 1920, local landowners and the City of Portland began diking and dredging under the auspices of the Multnomah Drainage District. By 1921, the drainage district carved a channel from the Columbia River to the slough, dividing the slough at 13th Street. The drainage district built a pumping station and miles of levees to protect the many businesses and homes sprouting along the Columbia and Willamette Rivers and the Slough. In addition to sewage disposal, the city channel would provide a means to manage the slough for navigation, flood control and land reclamation.

Dikes and levees have been used to shape the landscape of the Columbia Slough for human use. According to the definitions of the Army Corps of Engineers:


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