The Great Flood of 1997: An Examination of Landowner Perceptions in the Applegate Valley

Abstract

This study was aimed at understanding landowners' responses and experiences during the extreme flood of 1997. Specifically, it focused on perceptions and considerations of how landowners' views might have affected their behavior and responses both during and after the flood. The Applegate Valley provided an excellent opportunity to examine the interactions between land use and humans as the exposure to the threat of this flood event caused area residents to search for ways to buffer its harmful effects by building such structures as levees and retention walls. An unusually heavy mountain snow pack pounded by days of warm, torrential rain caused the Applegate and Rogue Rivers to overflow their banks and wrought devastation on both Jackson and Josephine counties. While floods are, of course, essentially natural events, this study showed that floods tend to be exacerbated by human environmental management and social structures. Research methods included document analysis, newspaper accounts, participant observation, field trip, and non-representative qualitative face-to-face interviews with three landowners. Results showed that landowners were skeptical of flood preventing structures. They believed that flooding was an unavoidable, natural phenomenon that will always occur on a regular basis, as it is part of the cycle of a river. Considering that humans have been a part of the Applegate Watershed for thousands of years, the increased understanding of landowner perceptions in the Applegate Valley will provide important information in understanding the Applegate River's current state, as well as its potential future.