The Chehalis Basin Flood Control Zone District holds public meeting to vote on their budget Wednesday afternoon at the Lewis County Historical Courthouse in Chehalis.
The Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District approved its budget for 2019 Wednesday, with the ongoing environmental review for the proposed dam near Pe Ell.
Of the $713,000 the district has budgeted to spend next year, $370,000 will go toward intergovernmental professional services. That’s largely to fund a Water Resources Development Act agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of two agencies reviewing the project.
In essence, the agreement allows the district to fund staff time at the Corps that’s solely focused on reviewing the dam, which might otherwise slip to the back burner among the many projects in the agency’s purview.
“We have staff members at the Army Corps of Engineers who are working only on our project,” said Erik Martin, the district’s administrator. “They have no other duties at this time. That’s what that money goes toward.”
The Corps and the Washington State Department of Ecology are conducting separate environmental reviews of the project, which are expected to be completed sometime in 2020. The dam, which most officials refer to as a flood retention facility, would be installed on the Chehalis River near Pe Ell. The project, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars if it one day is approved, would allow the river to flow normally most of the time, but closes its gates and creates a temporary reservoir during flood conditions, hopefully averting the catastrophes that have ensued downstream.
Edna Fund, a supervisor for the district, said the $713,000 in funding — all provided by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office — is a good step toward the district’s goals.
“It’s nice to have these dollars coming in,” she said. “It just takes time to get a lot of things done, and if you don’t have the money to do it, it really stymies that progress.”
Two other expenditures make up the bulk of the district’s budget. One is payment for Jim Waldo, a government affairs consultant who is helping the district navigate the long environmental review process.
“He will be assisting us all the way along the environmental review,” Martin said. “He knows a lot of people at these agencies, and he works very well as a negotiator, as a facilitator. He’s an expert on water issues in both the state and the nation.”
The other expense is about $75,000 for the district to draft a Comprehensive Flood Hazard Management Plan. In order for the district to move the dam project forward, it needs to be a part of a Capital Improvement Plan project list, Martin said. In putting together that list, the district will look at what other projects may fall within its scope, including work that could improve its Community Rating System score — which could help with flood insurance rates for those in the basin.
“We’re in a pretty good place right now with that level of funding,” Martin said. “We can accomplish what we need to.”
