Flood Control Zone District to Decide on Dam Sponsorship at Next Meeting

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During a workshop on Wednesday, the board of supervisors of the Chehalis Basin Flood Control Zone District reviewed a draft resolution that would allow the district to become the project sponsor of a proposed dam near Pe Ell.

The resolution, which will be voted on at the district’s next meeting July 6, would also allow the district to apply for permits to construct the water retention facility, the associated facilities on the upper Chehalis River and raise the Centralia-Chehalis Airport Levee.

The board of supervisors of the Chehalis River Basin consists of Lewis County Commissioners Gary Stamper, Bobby Jackson and Edna Fund, but is its own separate governing entity.

If approved, the resolution would allow the district engineer to send a letter to the United States Army Corps of Engineers to request an agreement that would designate a staff position at the Corps. That individual would work on the project by entering into a Water Resources Reform and Development Act agreement.

The money for the staff position at the Corps would come from state funding, according to Glenn Carter, of the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, which represents the Flood Control Zone District. 



The resolution would not require the board of supervisors to become owners or operators of the dam. It allows the board of supervisors to select one of three dam options being considered at a later date. 

The Flood Control Zone District meeting will take place at 1 p.m. on July 6 in the commissioners’ hearing room on the second floor of the Lewis County Courthouse in Chehalis.