The U.S. Senate on Friday approved a $44 million emergency
appropriation for interim repairs to the damaged Howard Hanson Dam that
protects Kent, Renton and Auburn from flooding.
The bill, which must be passed by the House of Representatives, would
allow the Army Corps of Engineers to make further interim improvements
to reduce the likelihood of flooding on the Green River before permanent
repairs to the dam’s right embankment can be made.
“This is an investment in the safety of homes and businesses in one
of the most economically vital regions of our state — the Green River
Valley,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a statement. “I’ve worked
hard to secure the funding for the Corps to conduct critical repairs
because a flood in the valley would have devastating impacts that would
ripple throughout Washington state.”
Murray, who is running for re-election this year, hosted a meeting in
May in Washington, D.C., in which Gov. Chris Gregoire and
representatives of King County, businesses and cities along the Green
River discussed the situation with federal officials.
The Corps, which owns and operates the earthen dam, has restricted
the amount of water it will hold since engineers discovered after severe
storms in January 2009 that water was seeping through an embankment in
ways that suggested it had been weakened.
Emergency repairs were made to the embankment last year, and levees
along the river were temporarily raised to reduce the chance of flooding
in the event that heavy rains required the Corps to release more water
from the dam.
There were no severe storms and no major flooding on the river last winter.
– The Seattle Times
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