Residents are invited to learn the latest details about flood safety and efforts to protect people, property and businesses in the Green River Valley at a Sept. 9 public meeting in Auburn.
The meeting will take place from 6-8:30 p.m. in the Cascade Room of the Lindbloom Student Center on the Green River Community College main campus, 12401 SE 320th St. The meeting, open to the public, is sponsored by the King County and the King County Flood Control District in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The forum will discuss:
• Dam operations, interim repairs and potential impacts to you and your property
• King County’s efforts in response to possible impacts
• Resources available to you, plus ways you can help protect yourself and your property against flood risks.
The meeting will include an open house from 6-6:30 p.m., followed by presentations from 6:30-8 p.m., then close with a question-and-answer session from 8-8:30 p.m. Staff from the Corps, King County Emergency Coordination Center and King County Flood Warning Center will make presentations.
Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and local emergency response agencies also will be on hand.
Directions to GRCC are available at http://www.greenriver.edu/about/campus/directions/.
Repairs being made
Storage capacity at the Corps’ Howard Hanson Dam in the upper Green River watershed is temporarily restricted until repairs can be made to the right abutment of the dam following heavy rainfall in January, when the dam held back a record amount of water.
While the Corps points out there is no immediate danger to people and property below the dam, an increased risk of flooding to the Green River Valley is possible in the event of a major rainstorm or significant snowmelt because of the limited storage capacity, which could result in water releases from the dam that overtop levees along the Green River and cause flooding to surrounding homes and businesses.
The Corps is making safety repairs to the dam, including constructing an interim seepage barrier wall and improving the drainage tunnel to control seepage through a critical portion of the dam’s right abutment.
“It is critical that Green River Valley residents have up-to-date information about the increased flood risk and ways they can protect themselves and their families,” said King County Flood Control District Board Supervisor and Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, whose council district represents Auburn. “The Flood Control District, King County, local jurisdictions and the Corps are coordinating to protect people, property and our regional economy, but we also need our citizens to join us in our preparations,” he said.
“Flooding in the Green River Valley is not a question of ‘if.’ It is a question of ‘when,’ ” said King County Executive Kurt Triplett. “King County has already taken several proactive steps to help increase public safety in the event Green River Valley flooding, including an extensive public-information campaign to get the word out about this heightened risk of flooding, enhancing our Flood Warning Center operations and flood patrol crews in response to possible flooding, and stepping up coordination with the state and federal agencies, plus the cities that stand in harm’s way.”
More details and history about the Howard Hanson Dam issue, including aerial photos of the dam, can be found at http://www.nws.usace.army.mil.
For more information about how King County and the King County Flood Control District are preparing for and responding to this heightened flood risk and for flood planning links to affected cities visit www.kingcounty.gov/floodplans, or www.kingcountyfloodcontrol.org.
