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Budget may limit dam options

Chehalis River: Flood authority wary of Senate proposal

MARQISE ALLEN; The Chronicle (Centralia) | • Published March 11, 2010

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OLYMPIA - The Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority's ability to study the potential of building dams along the Chehalis River would be hampered by the Senate's capital budget released Tuesday.

“The Senate version is a total disaster,” said Ron Averill, Lewis County commissioner and the vice chairman on the flood authority.

“It eliminates the ability to study water retention, and we won’t be able to continue on with the projects we have going.”

The budget would set aside more than $1.6 million to cover the state’s costs associated with the Army Corps of Engineers’ Twin Cities levee project. It also would give the flood authority about $1.9 million to operate, but with conditions attached.

The budget emphasizes the Army Corps’ levee project, which would add 11 miles of levees in and around Centralia and Chehalis. The rest of the money would provide funding to the flood authority. The leftovers could be used to cover up to 25 percent of the total costs to investigate and study the Lewis County PUD’s project that would place two earthen dams in the upper Chehalis River.

What remains of the $47.5 million state match for the Twin Cities levee project would be set aside in a future biennium to free up the money now.

“The language is too prescriptive and too tight,” Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, said. “But I’m pretty sure we’re going to get this all worked out.”

GREGOIRE OPPOSES LIMITS

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office also was dissatisfied with the Senate’s decision about funding and the limitations placed on the money.

“The governor’s position is pretty firm. She opposes both the language in the Senate’s capital budget and the House’s budget,” Antonio Ginatta, executive policy adviser for the governor’s office, said. Gregoire initially set aside $2.3 million in her budget this session to pave the way for the creation of a flood-control district or flood-control zone and to continue studying the viability of dams.

“The House and Senate have deviated from that completely, and we are very clear with the Legislature that we’re not happy and are trying to work with them to propose some changes,” Ginatta said.

FORTHCOMING AMENDMENT

Terry Willis, a Grays Harbor County commissioner and the chairwoman of the flood authority, wrote a letter last week to the House Capital Budget Committee to make changes to the current draft of the capital budget.

“I am concerned about the dollar amount,” she said. “But I’m even more concerned about the order of when to do things.”

The House’s budget required that $1 million be spent to form the authority’s successor in a year, before an additional $800,000 could be used to continue studying potential flood solutions. However, an amendment is in the works that would provide the flood authority what it needs to move forward this year, with little else.

SPENDING CONCERNS

Democratic Rep. Hans Dunshee of Snohomish has been skeptical about some of the flood authority’s spending habits.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what they’ve been spending their money on,” said the chairman of the Capital Budget Committee, noting some studies seemed to be outside the scope of finding a flood solution. He also noted seemingly outlandish travel expenses, including $1,900 and $1,700 listed as line items on a report of the flood authority’s expenses.

“It seems like a lot of doughnuts and driving around without much progress,” Dunshee said.

“We’ve got to get stuff done,” he said. “A lot of people’s houses are at risk.”

Willis said some representatives waited an entire year to turn in their travel reports, which might have caused the bloated numbers.

Dunshee said he is crafting an amendment to the budget with Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, and House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, to give the authority about $1.2 million for the year, and “park” the rest of $47.5 million designed for the levee project in another biennium to create capacity for projects that are ready to go.

“It sounds like it’s not going to be enough,” Willis said, noting that the authority would need almost $1 million alone to develop a successful flood-control zone or flood-control district. “We can live with restraints, because everyone has to cut back. What we don’t want is to stop things completely.”

The idea will be to give the 11-jurisdiction group from Thurston, Lewis and Grays Harbor counties $100,000 to cover flood-authority expenses and $200,000 to continue improving an early warning system, while $900,000 would be used to continue studying water retention.

Dunshee isn’t sure dams are the answer.

“I’m skeptical of where $300 million is going to appear to build a dam,” he said. “It isn’t coming out of here. We’re cutting and reducing the size of government, and to blow up the size of government $300 million isn’t going to happen.”

The flood authority might be running out of time to find a solution as lawmakers are concerned about how long it’s taking to wrap things up.

“They may have to get low-fat doughnuts for their meeting. I haven’t seen a real clear path,” Dunshee said.

“If you can’t figure it out by now, you may never make it. I want to protect communities, and I want to protect (Interstate 5). If they can’t get their stuff together, just raise the freeway.”