Mirror Pond is the trademark of Bend. All the promotional pictures of Bend feature Mirror Pond. See Mirror Pond? Think Bend. There are fewer images that speak as eloquently for Bend as Mirror Pond and Drake Park.

We are now creating Mirror wetland or Mirror river or Mirror swamp — not a better image. Everyone in the area sees this icon regularly. There is only one solution that preserves this icon — dredging it. Remove the dam, then we lose the power generated there, and the silt goes down the river to the dam at Pioneer Park. The next dam below that feeds the irrigation canals. These canals need water, not silt. The McKays’ possible title to the river bottom has not been an issue since the pond was developed and was not an issue in previous dredgings. The city and the park district need the pond. Everyone who lives in Bend or drives through city or shops here sees the pond — and benefits from it. We don’t need more studies; we need to dredge the pond. The cost is high, but the monetary, recreational, scenic and social loss would be greater. The fertile dirt we can see now could be placed in several sinks at westside sites.

Craig MacCloskey

Bend