County creates regional flood district

Published 9:42 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

If voters approve taxes next fall to fix the county’s aging levee system, they now will have a comprehensive system with which to collect and spend the money.

On April 16, the Metropolitan King County Council created the first countywide body with the responsibility to fix the county’s failing flood protection facilities in order to reduce the likelihood of future flood disasters. It is the next step toward developing a funding plan for a backlog of maintenance and repairs to King County’s aging system of 500 levees and hardened embankments.

“Snoqualmie Valley residents are intimately familiar with the challenges and costs of annual flooding,” said Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who represents Northeast King County communities that were hardest hit by heavy November rains. “These projects will help protect homes and businesses and the natural area in King County. Coordinating our approach to flood control will help reduce the cost of flood insurance for low-lying properties from the current 30 percent to a 40 percent discount beginning in October.”

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