The Chehalis City Council unanimously approved $208,834 in increased funding for the joint Flood Strategy Investment Plan (FSIP) with the Port of Chehalis during the council’s Monday night business meeting.
The city and the port have been working jointly on an investment plan to increase flood storage, decrease flood-related damage and develop capital projects to assist in mitigating risks along the Chehalis and Newaukum rivers and Dilly Twig, Dillenbaugh and Berwick creeks.
Modeling efforts performed by the city’s consulting team uncovered the need for more intense modeling, according to the city’s agenda report. The study area was extended east to encompass Berwick and Dillenbaugh creeks upstream of port property. It was also expressed by project team members that development projects in process in the port and a post-construction scenario of the proposed upper Chehalis River flow-through dam should be incorporated, as well.
The need for this additional work was well outside the scope of the original contract agreement and would exceed the original grant funding allotment. A request was made to the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority for an additional $208,834 in funding to accommodate this expanded scope. The request was subsequently approved by the Chehalis Basin Board in April and Office of Chehalis Basin sent the money to the city.
According to city Community Development Director Celest Wilder, the cumulative effort has been underway for over a year after the city and the port individually tried to accomplish similar projects.
Mayor Tony Ketchum said the city’s project was attempted three or four years ago and was stopped due to it potentially breaking what he called a “gentleman’s agreement” between jurisdictions and organizations along the Chehalis Basin.
“Basically, we all have a gentleman’s agreement with everybody that’s in the basin that if you do a project and it hurts somebody else, you don’t do the project,” Ketchum said. “The City of Chehalis had a project we were going to do three or four years ago where, no matter how we got it, it was going to hurt somebody, so we stopped that project.”
For the FSIP to be successful, it must outline strategically implemented solutions across multiple jurisdictions over a significant period of time, according to the agenda report. The additional funding is described as an “absolute necessity” to ensure the plan encapsulates all necessary elements. This will extend the time for completion of the FSIP up to eight months, with completion anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2026 rather than the first quarter. There is no fiscal impact to the city, and no match requirement for the grant funding is needed.
