King County flood hazard management plan update continues; July 9 public meeting set

For the Reporter

With stakeholder guidance gathered from a series of public meetings, King County and the King County Flood Control District are moving forward with the update of its floodplain management plan.

The King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks’ Water and Land Resources Division, on behalf of the Flood Control District, is updating the management plan, which guides management of regionally significant river and stream flooding to:

• Reduce risks from flood and channel migration hazards.
• Avoid or minimize the environmental impacts of flood hazard management.
• Reduce the long-term costs of flood hazard management.

A public review and comment period will be held from June 14 to July 12, and includes one public meeting where interested citizens can ask questions and make comments about the proposed update. The public meeting will be held on July 9 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center, 8236 SE 24th St., Mercer Island.

Draft update documents, including meeting information, can be found at www.kingcounty.gov/floodservices. Comments can be sent by email to wlr-rivers@kingcounty.gov or to Attn: Flood Plan Update, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, 201 S. Jackson St., Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98104.

Based on feedback from three public meetings held in 2012, the county has revised and is proceeding with the update with two goals in mind:

• Maintain the county’s high federal rating for flood preparedness, which results in discounts of up to 40 percent for flood insurance policy holders.
• Move forward with a separate and more detailed analysis and stakeholder process to identify clear floodplain management goals and alternatives for attaining those goals.

The 2013 Flood Plan Update will maintain the county’s rating and insurance discounts. It will provide a progress report to the 2006 flood plan and update technical information that has emerged since 2006, including updated hazard and risk assessments. The 2013 Flood Plan Update does not contain any new policies.

River corridor management plans for several major river systems will be developed over the next two years. Each of these river management plans will include public review of the desired river management conditions and alternative project approaches before being adopted as an amendment to the King County Flood Hazard Management Plan.

King County and the King County Flood Control District will complete a comprehensive revision to the Flood Hazard Management Plan in 2018, integrating these corridor management plans into a countywide plan for public review.