Various folks have offered previews of what we can expect Mirror Pond to look like, absent the dam that creates the pond. I would like to add to the picture of Mud’n’Bugs the inevitable Styrofoam trash, etc., that would accumulate and not be reachable by anyone to clean up. And we can expect not just comely cattails to appear but a dense screen of brush and trees over time.

I grew up by Sawyer Park where, in the 1950s-’60s, we had lovely views up, down and across the river. The same could be enjoyed from the footbridge. Those views are now occluded by brushy trees (dead and alive) that sprang up when muddy bogs replaced the clear shallows. At Sawyer, this was due to reduced flow, as more water went into the upstream canals. At Drake Park and the properties across from it, one fast channel flanked by impenetrable brushy bogs is what we’d be left with. Of course we should dredge Mirror Pond!

Patricia O’Day

Bend