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The Chehalis Basin Strategy: Reducing flood damage and restoring aquatic species

Chehalis Basin Board Update

The July 1 Chehalis Basin Board meeting brought continued robust discussion surrounding next steps with the Chehalis Basin Strategy and the 2021-23 spending plan.

Developing Basin-wide Flood Damage Reduction Actions
The board supported an approach for developing comprehensive, Basin-wide flood damage reduction strategies. A new team could be created and tasked with developing a roadmap of prioritized projects (that may or may not include the proposed flood protection dam) to reduce flood damage, and could oversee the implementation of these strategies as part of the long-term Chehalis Basin Strategy.

A second team could develop a Local Actions Alternative — a proposed portfolio of actions that will not include a dam — and would evaluate its potential to reduce flood damage, as well as its socioeconomic and environmental impacts. This builds off of the great work of the Local Actions Advisory groups last biennium. The Office of Chehalis Basin (OCB) will bring additional details to the board at a future meeting to get these teams off the ground as soon as possible after a new budget is approved.

Deliberations Continue for the 2021-23 Spending Plan
Amid many thoughtful questions, listening, and deliberation — particularly around elements required for completing the final SEPA and NEPA EIS’ for the proposed flood protection dam and airport levee — the board was unable to approve a spending plan for 2021-23 that allocates the $70 million appropriated by the state legislature to the Office of Chehalis Basin (OCB) for the Chehalis Basin Strategy.

Discussions will continue in the upcoming weeks, and the board Chair will reconvene the board when new budget proposals are ready for deliberations.

The board and OCB know the urgency of what’s at stake for Basin communities and aquatic species. Record heat waves and severe droughts are stark reminders of why this work is so important. We remain committed to this important process.

Impacts on Work Planned for 2021-23
Given that the board could not reach agreement by the start of the 2021-23 biennium (July 1), the Chehalis Basin Strategy will pause all new projects, actions, and analyses planned for the new legislative appropriation until an agreement is reached.

What does this mean?

Partner agencies are working to determine which field monitoring, and other studies and analysis, can take place as planned this summer, and which must wait.
Projects that are currently underway will continue until their already-allocated funding expires. At that point, these projects will be paused until a spending plan is approved.
OCB will continue to operate, but at a scaled-down level focused primarily on continuing in its role supporting the board.

In the News

Recent news coverage and information about the Chehalis Basin Strategy and its ongoing work and processes:

Washington drought turning exceptionally bad (July 15, 2021)
Forterra Conserves 23 Acres on the Satsop River (June 30, 2021)
Second Phase of China Creek Flood Mitigation and Fish Habitat Improvement Work Underway in Centralia (June 28, 2021)
Chehalis River Basin Sees Water Curtailment Orders After ‘Unseasonably Dry’ April and May (June 25, 2021)
Construction Begins This Month to Restore Aquatic Habitat in Satsop and Wynoochee Rivers (June 23, 2021)
Untrapping Trout: WY Giving Boost to Migratory Fish on West Fork of Washington’s Chehalis River (June 16, 2021)
Washington’s Drought Increasingly Extreme (June 11, 2021)

The Chehalis Basin Strategy is overseen by the Office of the Chehalis Basin and Chehalis Basin Board, a diverse group of state agency, local, and tribal leaders committed to restoring aquatic species and protecting Basin communities from flood damage.