By John Henderer, The Chronicle, 3/31/1999
A Lewis County flood-control study, now wandering the Sahara Desert of government funding, may reach a money oasis soon.
The state Department of Transportation should provide the bulk of $1.1 million to continue the Chehalis River Basin flood-control study, officials say.
A five-government partnership led by Lewis County ran out of money about a month ago, spending $1.1 million to produce two alternatives that show promise.
A committee made up mostly of state and federal agency officials hopes to produce its own alternatives sometime this spring.
Struggling to advance the study, each of the five local governments was to contribute $11,000 to lobby for state funding.
Lobbying and meetings with transportation officials appear to have paid off, and officials expect the Legislature to appropriate the money through the DOT's budget.
About $800,000 may come from the DOT for the ''short run,'' Project Manager Richard Graham, Lewis County Commission chairman, said Tuesday. Another $300,000 may come from the House transportation budget.
Graham said he spoke Monday with DOT Secretary Sid Morrison, who said the money is in the budget.
''They will work toward getting us as much of that $1.1 million as they can,'' Graham said.
PIE's studies claim a combination of riverbank excavation, floodwater diversion onto fields and raising a dam's height will reduce flooding by about 4 feet in the Twin Cities. This would have kept Centralia dry in the 1996 flood, county consultant Harry Hosey, Pacific International Engineering manager, has said.
The group studying alternative measures may endorse some of PIE's work, but it will study ways to slow down flood waters rather than speeding them downstream, said Mike Maginnis,
Chehalis Indian Tribe biologist.
Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers appears committed to conduct a feasibility study based on reconnaissance work by PIE.
Officials hope the Corps of Engineers can win at least $1 million in funding from Congress this year.
The Corps will likely serve as the lead agency on any flood-control project, estimated as high as $80 million.
Pursuing both study projects at the same time is crucial, Hosey said.
Hosey said he meets regularly with Corps officials to coordinate work, and to ensure their studies don't duplicate and waste taxpayer money.
''It's not two studies,'' Hosey said. ''We meet with the Corps so we segment the work; there's going to be no overlap.''
Moreover, any money spent now will count as local money toward a potential cost-sharing deal with the Corps of Engineers.
If the county were to discontinue PIE's work, the project would take three times as long to get done, Hosey said.
If it arrives, Graham said, the next funding shipment could cover the following:
Administration: $50,000 to $60,000,
Resurveying the basin flood plain in the Twin Cities area with twice the accuracy in existing maps: $400,000 to $500,000,
Updating Federal Emergency Management Agency flood plain maps and retooling PIE's computer model of the basin: $400,000,
Studying feasibility of ideas produced by the subcommittee of a technical oversight group: $100,000 to $300,000.
Officials stressed these figures are written in erasable ink, not at all certain at this time.
Hosey said the Corps of Engineers may provide an additional $600,000 to $700,000 toward flood plain mapping.
Reconfiguring the highly touted PIE computer model should provide great benefit, Hosey claimed. The model now predicts effects from rainfall levels (as well as filling in the flood plain) to an accuracy of 1 foot. With twice the surveying detail, the predictions of flooding levels could be to within 2 to 3 inches, Hosey said.
''That kind of accuracy can make millions of dollars of difference,'' Hosey said.
Meanwhile, a summit called to iron out disagreements between state agencies and local governments involved in the study should take place sometime during the week of April 17, Graham said.
John Henderer covers county government and environmental issues for The Chronicle. He can be reached by e-mail at jhenderer@chronline.com
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