With river work complete, Snoqualmie community, agencies to celebrate expected flood relief

2004 Archived News

1986 flood in the town of Snoqualmie

Flood season is almost here and yet the Snoqualmie community can rest a little easier this fall now that work is essentially complete on a multi-million dollar river-widening project to reduce the threat of devastating floodwaters.

The project team -- the City of Snoqualmie, King County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- is inviting community members to join in celebrating completion of the Snoqualmie 205 Flood Reduction Project on September 29, 2 p.m., at the Salish Lodge.

"We are delighted we were able to accomplish this for the people of the Upper Snoqualmie Valley," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "This is how it is supposed to work -- federal, county and city governments working together with private industry to protect peoples' lives and property."

Some work still remains, but the widening of the river above Snoqualmie Falls to open up a pair of bottlenecks in the river channel is complete. During high river flows, the bottlenecks held up water and contributed to the flooding of hundreds of homes and businesses in and around the City of Snoqualmie, historically one of the most flood-prone communities in the state.

"We are elated," said Snoqualmie Mayor Fuzzy Fletcher. "The citizens who have suffered from chronic flood losses are the biggest winners of this project. This represents the first structural flood relief in the history of our city. It's no coincidence that the National Flood Insurance Program has paid more claims in the City of Snoqualmie than in any other Washington city."

1990 Flood in the town of Snoqualmie

Fletcher pointed out that flood damages in the Snoqualmie area occur whenever river flows exceed 30,000 cubic feet per second, which in the last 43 years has happened 25 times. Roughly two-thirds of the homes and businesses in and around Snoqualmie were flooded in November 1990.

"It has been a privilege to work with so many talented and caring partners on such an important regional project," said Col. Debra Lewis, Commander of the Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "We expect that these flood-control measures will provide immediate public health and safety benefits. By reducing the frequency, duration and depth of flood water, the project will prevent damages of an estimated $837,000 per year."

The Corps has identified more than 650 flood-prone structures in the Snoqualmie area, including three public schools, eight churches, 39 commercial structures, 25 mobile homes and 577 houses.

The channel excavation work has been completed under a $3.3 million dollar contract that the Corps of Engineers awarded to Goodfellow Brothers, Inc., of Wenatchee, WA. The contractor finished the in-river excavation on September 14, and their remaining work should be complete in October.

Although the channel excavation work is nearly finished, other portions of the Snoqualmie project will continue into next year and beyond. The project will remove an abandoned railroad bridge, part of which fell into the river in 1990. It will also establish native vegetation on several riverbank areas. Finally, the project includes a Downstream Assistance Program that will provide a cost share to downstream property owners who will raise their homes, barns, or other structures above 100-year flood levels. Total cost of the entire project is estimated at $7.65 million, of which the Corps is funding $4.4 million.

For more information, please contact Rivers Section Senior Engineer Tom Bean at 206-296-8377. Project information is also available for review on the King County Web site.