There’s a whole lot of time, work and money going into a plan to improve the Green River levees that protect the cities of Kent, Auburn, Tukwila and Renton from flooding.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
King County Flood Control District<\/a> officials expect to complete this summer the formation of the Green River System-Wide Improvement Framework <\/a>(SWIF) designed to improve flood protection as well as save salmon and enhance open space, recreation and public access.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “It’s an important conversation,” said Kent City Council President Dana Ralph after hearing a SWIF presentation on Feb. 3 at a council workshop. “We are very fortunate to have that asset in the middle of the city and we need to make sure we are doing everything to protect it and protect the businesses that are along the river at the same time.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Jennifer Knauer, SWIF project manager for the county, told the council that the plan focuses on the lower Green River from Auburn (near Highway 18) to Tukwila, a stretch of about 21 miles that includes about a dozen levees that protect more than 100,000 jobs and $7.3 billion worth of structures and contents.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently approved the SWIF approach for levees across the nation. County officials will submit the Green River plan this summer to the Corps for approval. It is one of about three dozen SWIF projects nationwide. County staff began work on the plan more than two years ago.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The SWIF is scheduled to go before the King County Flood Control District executive committee on Feb. 17 for approval and then to the full flood district board in March. The plan is expected to be a 200-page document and the Corps could send it back to the county if it doesn’t meet Corps requirements.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “We have been told by the Corps that the Green River SWIF is the most ambitious in the nation and it’s ambitious because of its complexity,” Knauer said. “There are no other SWIFs that are trying to tackle the complexity of land use, ecological, socio-economic sensitive issues within a major river and its floodplain through the SWIF process. So all eyes are on this project and its outcome.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The formation of the Green River plan is funded by the King County Flood Control District and a $300,000 grant from the state of Washington through Puget Sound Partnership.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The flood district provides about $10 million per year for Green River projects through a countywide property tax of 10 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation that brings in about $50 million per year for river projects across King County, including the Snoqualmie, Cedar and White rivers.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “We know our capital program for SWIF will likely exceed $300 million,” Knauer said about projects to rebuild Green River levees, install flood walls or build levee setbacks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Several levee projects are already completed or underway in Kent, Auburn and Tukwila. State and federal funds have helped pay for those projects. But more work is needed to bring levees up to the SWIF goal of a 500-year flood protection. Levees at that standard could handle a river flow of 18,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) and include 3 feet of freeboard or height above the water.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n