Letter to the Editor: Reader Disappointed in Chehalis Basin Funding

I am disappointed to see local elected leaders happy about HB-1154. I would encourage residents of the Chehalis Basin to pay closer attention to what is happening. DeBolt’s bill gives $700,000,000 to flood damage prevention and wildlife preservation efforts. Read those words again. 

Do just a little internet searching and ask the following questions. Where is the money going?  Read the short letter sent in support of the Chehalis Basin strategy by our senators and representative.  Who is the Chehalis Basin Strategy led by? What are those groups’ interests if any in protecting Lewis County residents from flooding? What are their monetary interests?  What is the Aquatic Species Restoration Plan (ASRP)? Who benefits from it? Follow the money. It is all easy to find on their own web pages.

As currently proposed, billions of dollars of taxpayer money are at stake.  It appears the taxpayers will be fleeced not once, but twice in the current proposal of the ASRP. The current version of the flood retention facility is not a dam like those that protect Seattle and Portland from flooding. Nor does it have any other benefits.Their own projections don’t put many more fish in the river, and the freeway may be protected.  

But some groups of people will walk away with a lot of money and more of the political power that it buys.  

Katherine Humphrey

Curtis