By Ronald Hoss, The Chronicle, 1/28/99

BUCODA - Assuring more than 70 people who came the Bucoda Odd Fellows Hall Wednesday night that they were seeing a conception, not current reality, officials of the Chehalis River Flood Hazard Reduction Project presented a program about revitalization of that part of the Chehalis Basin dealing with the Skookumchuck River.

The overall flood reduction project has been proposed as an alternative to the Washington Department of Transportation's proposal to raise the roadbed of Interstate 5.

The Skookumchuck is the stream with the greatest effect on the Bucoda area. Other public meetings are dealing with problems in other parts of the basin.

Harry Hosey of Pacific International Engineering, Edmonds, likened the two-year research project to a long game of ''what if.'' A computer simulation has included flood conditions from more than 100 years of flooding history, he said.

The end result is a computer model that would modify the Skookumchuck Dam, tailor the river channel itself, and modify Centralia's Mellen Street Bridge to allow for better management of flood water.

The dam, he said, would be reconfigured to allow for two sluice gates and an inflatable weir across the top. The gates would allow for drawdown of water ahead of heavy rainfall. The weir would increase storage levels behind the dam by up to 12 feet.

The bridge would be redesigned to allow for a wider span section, in order to broaden water flow.

In addition, various berms would be constructed throughout the current flood plain.

In illustrating the proposal, Hosey pointed to the 1996 flood. On Feb. 8 of that year, the Skookumchuck was sending 12,000 cubic feet of water per second over the dam. Hosey believes his plan would cut that to about 5,000 CFS in similar conditions.

Crucial to the program's success, said Hosey, would be transferring dam management from private to public control.

Judith Shulman of the Pharos Corp. cautioned the group to keep the presentation in perspective. She said Hosey's proposal is just one idea under consideration.

''The earliest history of people studying this project is 1927,'' she said. ''Almost nothing was accomplished until two years ago. But there is still a long way to go.''

Information is available from the Chehalis River Flood Hazard Management Project, Chehalis, 1-800-519-1124.

Ronald Hoss is The Chronicle's South Thurston County correspondent. He can be reached by e-mail at RHoss@compuserve.com or by calling 866-4063.

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