Now that streams in Oregon are rising with runoff from autumn storms, I'm reminded that when it rains, it pours. Oregon's last major flood was in 1997. We're due for a deluge because high water inevitably returns — over and over again.
More important, the floods are going to get worse. Ironically, both droughts and floods will become more extreme according to all models of climate change for the Northwest.
Even after a century of aggressive efforts to "control" floods with dams and levees costing taxpayers dearly, America suffers increasing flood damages averaging $8 billion per year, according to the National Weather Service.
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