The Chronicle Editorial Board has a primary concern: A continued push for the most effective way to protect this area from the devastating and chronic flooding that has washed over the Chehalis River Basin in recent years.

    We don’t know when the heavy rains will return. We do know it is only a matter of time before the Twin Cities are threatened with flooding, before the people living in the farms and small towns along the Chehalis River have to pack up and flee.

    That’s why we have pushed for a basinwide approach using the best available knowledge to create the most effective structures and programs to mitigate the flooding. Had this Editorial Board and other local leaders, including the grass roots group “One Voice,” not pushed for a comprehensive solution, we would be looking at a project that might protect Interstate 5 from closure, but couldn’t promise much more.

    Our fear all along is once I-5 flooding is solved, there won’t be much leverage on the state and national level to offer wider protection from the flood waters. That’s why we have pushed for a linked, basinwide solution. And in that process, we’ve discovered that water retention could prove to be an essential part of the solution.

    Already on the table is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ proposed 11 miles of levees to protect parts of Chehalis and Centralia, and to keep I-5 open. Just days after the flood of December 2007, we said this is not enough. We need comprehensive protection. Out of this was born the idea to study water retention in the upper reaches of the Chehalis River.

    What if we combined some levees with water storage? The dams would hold water back during the winter rains, and then allow for needed water flow during the dry months of summer.

    Today that idea is very much alive. In our opinion it received a major boost when Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, offered encouraging words during a meeting earlier this month in Lewis County with the Lewis County PUD, the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority and the Army Corps.

    The Army Corps has said it is prohibited from joining the two projects together, that the levee project is too far along.

    Rep. Baird opened the door, however, when he said congressional members can change policy and guidelines within federally approved projects. Rep. Baird further said he saw potential benefits for water retention in the hills above Pe Ell.

    Rep. Baird has our attention, and we thank him for taking the time to investigate the possibility of water retention. We will be watching closely to see if his words expand into specific action, if he can bolster support beyond his office and into the other Congress members from Washington state.