The King County Flood Warning Center has issued a Phase II flood alert for the Green River, where controlled water releases from a dam could result in very minor flooding along portions of the river without levees upstream of Auburn. The Flood Warning Center opened at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29, to closely monitor conditions.
Flows on the Green River at Auburn are expected to reach or exceed 7,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) later this evening, as a result of planned releases from Howard Hanson Dam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ flood-control dam in the upper Green River watershed.
Releasing water from the dam now provides the corps with additional flood-storage capacity for anticipated heavy rainfall in the coming days.
A Phase II flood alert level is the level of the county’s four-phase warning system at which the Flood Warning Center activates to monitor conditions.
Earlier today, the Flood Warning Center closed following a one-day, round-the-clock activation to monitor rising flows on the Snoqualmie River, which rose to a Phase II flood alert level as a result of heavy rainfall in the area.
King County staff will continue to monitor stream gages and weather reports, and will provide updated information on river conditions as necessary. Real-time river level information is available online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/flood.
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