The Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority convened via teleconference on Thursday and continued its work on a number of projects intended to keep locals safe and dry the next time the river and its wily tributaries decide to run wild.
Among the good news is a $4.2 million surplus of funds for the current biennium.
Those funds became available when previous construction plans along the Aberdeen waterfront and Wishkah River, among others, were delayed in order to reimagine the scope of the projects.
Ideas proposed for spending the surplus cash during the meeting included funding the second phase of the China Creek renovations in Centralia, installing a backup flood pump at the Chehalis-Centralia Airport and undertaking preliminary work on a possible rerouting of Dillenbaugh Creek, which sometimes crosses Interstate 5 and Jackson Highway during flood events.
Those proposals are by no means the end of the possibilities for the leftover funds, and the Flood Authority is currently seeking input from the public for ideas on where to spend the cash.
“We’d like to reach back out to the community and see if they have any other projects for us,” said Scott Boettcher, a staff member for the Flood Authority.
The flood group also discussed and approved the reworking of several projects in Grays Harbor, including the extension of a levee on Aberdeen’s north shore that would now extend all the way into Hoquiam.
The levee would follow along the riverfront and through the port area before tieing into high ground marks on either end of the harbor cities.
The plan must now be approved by FEMA.
If approved, and once completed, all of the homes and businesses behind the new levee would be removed from FEMA’s official flood plain, “Which is a tremendous financial relief,” noted Boettcher.
The original levee would have covered only parts of Aberdeen, and even then it would have zigzagged through the town, putting some properties out of harm's way while leaving their neighbors in the flood path.
“That solution was not very palatable politically,” said Boettcher. “The end result we wound up with is a much better solution.”
Another set of lower basin projects that were approved by the Flood Authority pertained to the Wishkah Road, which becomes impassable from mileposts 2.2 to 2.7 during high water events.
Those flooding troubles are often exacerbated by high tides pushing into the harbor. One plan that was approved by the Flood Authority would place a flood wall along the river bank in order to protect that half-mile stretch of homes.
Currently, the county has been unable to procure the properties at both ends of the project that would be required to build the wall. The use of eminent domain has thus far been avoided in favor of searching for alternate options.
The other Wishkah project approved by the Flood Authority is a comprehensive flood study on the Wishkah River and its namesake road in order to determine the best flood mitigation techniques and the feasibility of extending the flood control project as far as milepost 7.6.
“There are no more community clusters beyond that and the flooding is nearly as bad,” explained Boettcher, who is happy with the new direction of the lower basin projects. “All of the projects in the lower basin have kind of broadened their scope. In a good way, including more community involvement.”
Elsewhere, the pre-sedimentation pond for the Boistfort Valley water supply has been delayed temporarily due to the loss of two employees at the county Public Works department. That project is confined to a “fish window” when anadromous fish are not present in the waterway either to migrate or to spawn.
The Flood Authority noted that the project will hopefully be completed this summer.
The next meeting will be held March 17 in Montesano. For more information, visit the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority website at, www.ezview.wa.gov/site/alias__home/home/34166/home.aspx
