Erik Martin, the administrator of the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District, provides an update to the audience on a proposed dam near Pe Ell on Wednesday in the Lewis County Courthouse. Martin is also the county’s public works director.
The project sponsors of a proposed dam near Pe Ell approved the creation of a special purpose district fund for the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District in a meeting Wednesday, which will allow any funding for the district to be distinctly separate from Lewis County’s other funds.
Erik Martin, the administrator of the district, said since the district is legally and financially separate from the county, all the money allocated to the project will be held separately.
The district is expecting to receive about $132,000 in operating capital from the state Recreation and Conservation Office next week.
“That should fund us through at least the end of February, and probably longer,” Martin said.
By that time, Martin said he hopes the Legislature approves the capital budget, which will provide more money for the district to continue its work.
The money will be funneled from the newly established Office of the Chehalis Basin, through RCO, and to the flood control zone district. It will fund operations of the district, a contract with Jim Waldo for governmental affairs and will also pay for dedicated staff at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who would work on the project if the corresponding agreement is approved.
A special notice on the agreement with the corps to dedicate staff did result in several comments from the public, including from the Quinault and Chehalis tribes, Martin said. Both tribes have requested a government-to-government meeting with the Corps to address their comments.
“Hopefully they can talk to the tribes and let them know this process certainly has nothing to do with shortcutting or not taking all the necessary steps needed for an environmental review of these projects,” Martin said. “It really has to do with dedicating staff to make sure it gets done in a timely fashion.”
Edna Fund, a supervisor for the district and Lewis County commissioner, said the Office of the Chehalis Basin Board sent a letter to the Corps that reiterated the agreement only aims to keep the project on track and does not ask for any special treatment or shortcuts.
The district will hold two hearings at its next meeting on Dec. 13 to adopt the budgets for this year and 2018.
“We will have some expenditures in 2017 once we get the money and we will need a budget to make sure those funds are appropriated,” Martin said.
The district, which consists of supervisors and commissioners Fund, Gary Stamper and Bobby Jackson, earlier this year selected an expandable version of the dam as their preference. The expandable dam will begin as a flood retention only dam that has a reservoir during flood events, allowing the river to flow through the structure most of the time. The dam would feature a larger foundation that could support future expansions into a flood retention and flow augmentation dam that would create a permanent reservoir.
According to information presented in October, the dam would have 65,000 acre-feet of storage. The estimated cost of the first phase of construction is between $339 million and $484 million, while the second phase has an estimated cost between $179 million and $266 million.
Advisory Member Selected for Cowlitz River Basin Flood Control Zone District
Ron Nilson, of Mineral, was selected to be an advisory committee member on the Cowlitz River Basin Flood Control Zone District during a meeting on Wednesday. The advisory board will have five members in all, but is currently still recruiting other candidates.
The district is looking to come up with a list of problem areas in the Cowlitz River Basin that can be addressed to help mitigate flooding.
A public meeting about bank erosion near the end of Coal Creek Drive off of U.S. Highway 12 east of Packwood will be scheduled in December. According to Erik Martin, the supervisor of the district, there is a house with a deck that is “dangerously close” to being washed out. Since the house is on private property, the district might be able to provide more assistance than the county’s public works department, Martin said.
Prior to being appointed to the advisory committee, Nilson also mentioned land he owns on the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 12 and 131 as a good candidate for some kind of flood reduction project.
