Lewis County's past strategy: Build and hope for flood control

By John Dodge | The Olympian • Published December 12, 2007

Chehalis and Centralia are geographically challenged, a fact brought home by record flooding last week in the Chehalis River Valley.

The twin cities are nestled against a hillside and stretch into the valley west of Interstate 5. The flood plain is where most new development has occurred — such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot. It also is where most flooding occurs — think 1990, 1996 and last week. "The valley is where most of our development takes place," Lewis County Commissioner Ron Averill said Tuesday. "Our options are limited, unless we move up onto the hill."

Rather than head for high ground, community leaders have allowed developers to place fill in the valley in a bid to keep new businesses, parking lots and shopping malls above the inevitable floodwaters, while, at the same time, hoping a $100 million-plus flood control plan for the communities and Interstate 5 receives final approval and funding after languishing for years.

In contrast, Thurston County banned new development in its flood plains in 1993. "The bottom line is: Mother Nature bats last," said Steve Morrison, a senior planner with the Thurston Regional Planning Council.

The Lewis County strategy befuddles some members of the community and scientists who can point to dozens, if not hundreds, of cases nationwide where building in flood plains leads to damage during heavy storms.

"They are just in total denial," said Janet Strong, a member of the Chehalis River Council, a nonprofit natural resource group based in Centralia.

"You can't keep filling the flood plain and expect it to absorb all that water. Instead of developing in the river valley, they should be infilling the areas of the cities that sit on higher ground."

Bill Lotto, executive director of the Lewis County Economic Development Council, concedes that a deadly flood such as last week's makes it tougher to attract new industry to the twin cities.

But he bristles at the notion that civic leaders are their own worst enemy, blindly pushing development into flood-prone areas.