King County and the King County Flood Control District will work this summer with the City of Auburn to fix a broken valve that leaves the River Mobile Estates in north Auburn vulnerable to flooding.

Next year the county and the flood control district expect to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild the Reddington Levee along the Green River, north of Brannon Park.

In July, Gov. Christine Gregoire asked the Corps to perform emergency work on the Dykstra Levee south of Brannon Park this summer. A Corps spokesman said the county’s first inspection appeared to show no need at this time.

“There has been a preliminary investigation, and the findings were that they didn’t find any urgent sites needing repair,” said Dave Harris, a public affairs specialist for the Seattle District of the USACE.

Harris emphasized that was only the first inspection, and the county will follow up with a second assessment of the levee along the water’s edge.

Here is what’s on the flood control district’s to-do list:

• Phase 1, summer 2009: Reduce the flooding at the River Mobile Estates caused by a malfunctioning flapgate-culvert system by installing a backup closure device. The trailer park is at risk of flooding when the system fails to properly close during high-water events and allows river water to back up.

• Phase 2: Remove and reconstruct the Reddington Levee in a setback location next to the River Mobile Estates park along the landward edge of the old side channel area. The work calls for reconnecting the old channel to the river by removing vegetation and flattening the earth down to the river area, stabilizing the channel edge, installing large woody debris and replanting both the new levee slopes and the former levee footprint area with native trees and shrubs.

Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis said the City is concerned about this existing edge of the Reddington Levee, which is at and above the River Mobile Estates, and hopes that it can persuade the powers that be to do some work this summer.

“In conversations with the Auburn School District, we might have found an answer there, because the district owns that property,” Lewis said.

• Phase 3: Construct a new levee from the north end of the Reddington levee to 277th Street.

In her letter of July 20, Gregoire asked Col. Anthony Wright, Commander of the Seattle District of the USACE, to provide “advance measures” to the Dykstra levee, work the Corps is authorized to do under federal law to protect against loss of life or damage to improved property. Gregoire asked for help raising low areas along the Dykstra levee to protect Auburn and the Green River Valley from the heightened threat of flooding in light of the situation at Howard Hanson Dam.

The floods of last January opened up two depressions in the dam’s right abutment, compromising the reservoir’s holding capacity and presenting the possibility of flooding in the Green River Valley with the onset of the rainy season.

“Given the magnitude of the flood threat to lives and property in the Green River Valley,” Gregoire wrote, “state and local jurisdictions do not have sufficient resources to complete this urgent work before the coming flood season. The approval of USACE Advance Measure Assistance to raise the area of the Dykstra levee this summer will complement state and local efforts to improve levees along the Green River and will help prevent flooding in the Green River Valley.”

Gregoire also asked for one million sandbags to supplement state and county resources throughout the county. She said that the present stockpile of sandbags would not meet the need.

Gregoire noted that a flood-caused shutdown of the King County flood plains would also result in lost economic output of more than $46 million a day, most of it centered in the valley.

Harris said the cost of performing the advance measures in this case is uncertain and depends on what if anything is found on the second inspection and on what program it falls under. He said local authorities would pick up 35 percent of the cost and the federal government would cover the remaining 65 percent.

According to the USACE Web site, it will consider advance measures when:

• There is an immediate threat of unusual flooding – as predicted, for example by the National Weather Service – and a threat that substantial damage will occur if action is not taken immediately.

• The governor requests the emergency work.

• The request details state and local efforts that have been undertaken and verifies that all of the state’s available resources have been committed.

• Any projects under review are designed to meet a specific threat and will only be temporary in nature.

• The project is economically feasible.