Letter: Dams critical for flood control

Re: Decision On Dam Removal Has Murray And Newhouse At Odds (Feb. 23):

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”, George Santayana.

I suggest both Dan Newhouse and Patty Murray consider looking up Vanport on their smart phones, and then ask Portland if it would like to comment.

Once Oregon’s second largest city, Vanport literally vanished in the Memorial Day flood of 1948 before our “flood control” dams tamed the Columbia and Snake rivers. They might also like to ask the ghosts of those whose homes once lined the Columbia River along the old US-12, now called Columbia Park Trail; or they might even consider reading about the folks who sat on top of the hill east of Richland High School to watch their homes and barns wash away by floods long ago.

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Letter: Dams critical for flood control."