The Metropolitan King County Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee will begin its deliberations Oct. 7 regarding funding to increase protection in the communities that will be impacted if water is released from behind the storm-damaged, federally owned and operated Howard Hanson Dam into the Green River Valley.
The meeting is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. in Council Chambers, 10th floor, King County Courthouse, Third and James, Seattle.
Acting King County Executive Kurt Triplett has declared a pre-emptive emergency in preparation for potential Green River flooding and sent to the Council legislation to increase protection of people and businesses, property, and county facilities and services in the event of a flood in the Valley. The proposed legislation calls for a supplemental appropriation to prepare high priority county services to ensure they’re not interrupted if there is flooding. Additional legislation would also authorize the sale of bonds to fund county flood mitigation efforts.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered a problem with the earthen abutment next to the dam after last January’s record rain. According to the Army Corps, a temporary fix to inject grout into the earthen material to control seepage is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 1, but dam storage capacity will be limited until the repair can be tested next spring. A long-term fix could take the federal government three to five years and hundreds of millions of dollars. All Council meetings held in chambers are carried live on King County TV on Comcast and Broadstripe Cable Channel 22.
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