January’s costly flooding in the city of Pacific has led to changes and a call for improvements.

Such efforts, whether immediate or delayed, hopefully will bring more peace of mind to residents.

“Personally, I don’t think we will be seeing the heavy flooding (next rainy season),” said Mayor Richard Hildreth. “The (White River) will be full, but I don’t expect to see the flooding.”

To make sure it doesn’t happen, Hildreth is working with officials to address concerns – from improving downstream monitoring and communication to structural considerations.

Such mitigation would target the need to build levy setbacks and improve the river’s capacity, especially along a mile-long stretch through the heart of the city, Hildreth said.

The reduced capacity of the river channel greatly contributed to the flooding, coupled with a breakdown in communications between King County and the Mud Mountain Dam operator upstream, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) recently released summary of the January events.

What the Corps projected to be only “nuisance flooding” turned into a bigger problem as floodwater unexpectedly spilled over the banks and into the streets, parks, and basements of homes and apartments.

According to the summary by the Corps, which operates the dam, the flood caused $15 million in damages to 112 homes and 10 commercial properties in the city of 6,000.

“The apparent cause of the increased flooding is a substantial change in channel capacity,” the Corps concluded.

The river had lost about 30 percent of its capacity at one location below the dam, the summary said. Debris accumulation might have led to this determination, the Corps reported.

As a result, the Corps miscalculated the amount of water it could release from the dam without causing serious flooding downstream.

“The flood was to be a nuisance. They didn’t expect it to go higher than it did,” Hildreth said.

While Hildreth is satisfied with the Corps’ findings, he remains adamant about making improvements along the river. Such mitigations, however, will take considerable time.

“And I am not happy with how long it will take,” Hildreth admitted.

U.S. Congressman Adam Smith and State Rep. Skip Priest have been working with Hildreth to formulate a written timeline for such improvements.

Through Corps and county cooperation, the city hopes to witness:

• Levy setbacks established along the east and west sides of the river.

• Scalping the river channel to increase capacity. Gravel mining has not been done in the White River for 20 years, according to the Corps. Hildreth hopes this exercise happens sooner rather than later.

• Restoration of wetlands.

Hildreth said such mitigation probably won’t begin until next year at the earliest.

In the meantime, the Corps and county intend to train staff and volunteers to monitor the river level more effectively. The Corps said it would explore adding gauges and other technology that would allow it to better determine river levels.

In addition, a call-down checklist among officials will be updated and practiced.

“USACE will work with the counties and the City of Pacific as well as other cities on the White River to improve the flood notification and communication procedures,” the summary said.

The City was notified of the flooding, according to the summary, but the notification consisted of a phone message that “the water in the White River at Pacific is a little higher than normal.”

According to the summary, “No sense of urgency was communicated at any level and thus no immediate action was thought necessary.”

The Corps’ report said the “feedback loop from the local communities back to USACE is considered broken. Although improved communication

and feedback may not have prevented flooding in Pacific … it likely would have reduced the duration by facilitating the management of the flood event differently at Pacific.”

City officials, meanwhile, plan to be better equipped and ready. Pre-staged and pre-placed sandbags will be available along at-risk properties this fall, Hildreth added.

Hildreth said there is plenty of blame to go around for the messy flood of ’09. But he maintains all sides will learn from the mistakes and prevent another episode from happening.