Nisqually River area on notice to evacuate as Tacoma Power raises flow through dam
Some residents along the Nisqually River were told to be prepared to evacuate as Tacoma Power increased water flow from the LaGrande Dam Wednesday afternoon, Thurston County Emergency Management says.
In an alert sent at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, the department specifically called on people living on or near Hayko Lane, Sixth Avenue near the public fishing area, low-lying areas of Riverbend Campground, and Riverside Manor Apartments to keep an eye on the river and prepare to evacuate on short notice.
Tacoma Power planned to increase the water flow from the LaGrande Dam on the Nisqually River to 12,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) by 2 p.m., according to the alert, with more increases possible. About 2-1/2 hours prior, Tacoma Power had announced it would increase water flow to 9,600 cfs.
Thurston County Emergency Services was assessing the situation and consulting with Tacoma Power and the U.S. Geological Survey to determine what this means on the ground, according to Director Kurt Hardin. If it’s determined there’s very little possibility of homes flooding, the department was going to put out a clarification for residents.
Flooding is expected in farmland and pasture land along the river and could impact livestock, according to Hardin. River bank erosion is also possible.
“We are cautiously optimistic that this will not have to go to an evacuation/sheltering status,” Hardin told The Olympian. “But I’m also confirming information and we are standing ready to start the evacuation process as a precaution.”
The department has alerted the American Red Cross and law enforcement, in case an evacuation is needed, Hardin said.
The Nisqually Indian Tribe isn’t expecting any flooding on its reservation, according to George Walter, Environmental Program Manager for Nisqually Natural Resources. If they had a fishery going on at the moment, they’d tell fishermen to be off the river, he said, but they don’t.
“It’s what we’d call ‘high water,’ not flood,” he told The Olympian in a phone interview. He said the tribe is making emergency preparations for the possibility that the releases and flows go significantly higher, but that anything under 20,000 cfs is “probably not going to cause Nisqually Indians a big problem.”
Where the river flows through McKenna, in unincorporated Pierce County, should be on higher alert at this point, he said.
Larry Jones, a bartender at Walt’s Place, a tavern that sits just off the Nisqually River in McKenna, told The Olympian he was watching out for an evacuation call.
Jones said his boss told him Monday the bar could get the call and, if it does, “turn off the power on the main fuses and lock up and get out.”
He said the bar’s seen flooding 3 feet deep before.
“If they have to release a really large amount, we’ll get that call,” Jones said in a phone interview.
Although Jones expressed concern, residents Al Attwood and Teresa Ferrell, both of whom have lived near the river for years, said Wednesday they were not worried about the release of water from the dam. At least not yet.
Attwood has lived near the river for 50 years and remembers when the dam released 22,000 cfs. That flooded his residence and the Nisqually Valley in 1996. The Riverside Manor Apartments, which are next to his property, filled with about six feet of water that year.
“The river has a long way to go before it crests the bank,” he said. “If it gets up to 20,000 cfs, then I’ll start to get worried.”
Ferrell said she has lived at the Riverside apartments for 16 years. She also isn’t worried, but she knows the river can get higher. She has been keeping her eye on it, she said. Although she didn’t experience the 1996 flood, sandbags have been used in the past to protect the apartments. Some of those sandbags were left in place and became overgrown, creating what appears to be a natural barrier.
Normally, according to Tacoma Power, the average flow from the dam is 1,200 cfs but it oscillates from season to season, Hardin wrote in an email to The Olympian.
Monika Sundbaum, community relations specialist with Tacoma Public Utilities, told The Olympian Wednesday that the utility is receiving and reacting to multiple weather forecasts each day. The reservoir behind the dam already is “quite full,” she said, and Tacoma Power is increasing releases to prevent overtopping the dam.
The weather forecast showed a rainstorm rolling into the area Wednesday evening and sticking around through Thursday. Rain is the forecast every day until Sunday.
“This particular storm has been increasing with each new forecast, and they’re having to react to those ongoing changes,” Sundbaum said.
If it plans to increase the discharge beyond 12,000 cfs, Sundbaum said, it would send another notification and Thurston County Emergency Management would issue alerts through its Thurston Community Alert system and on social media.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 10:54 AM with the headline "Nisqually River area on notice to evacuate as Tacoma Power raises flow through dam."
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