Find recent news coverage on Chehalis Basin Strategy accomplishments, project updates, and ongoing processes in the list below:
February 7, 2024
The Chronicle:
Above the flood — Elevated pads keep livestock and equipment dry
In December 2007, a record-setting flood deluged the Chehalis Basin, causing $930 million in total damages. Basin agriculture also suffered, losing livestock, production rates and equipment. In response, Lewis County and Grays Harbor conservation districts, along with the Washington State Conservation Commission, came together with farmers to design an approach that could prevent future agricultural losses during flood events...
January 5, 2024
The Chronicle:
From local extinction to recovery — the comeback of the Oregon spotted frog in the Chehalis River Basin
Once considered locally extinct west of the Cascades, the Oregon spotted frog was remarkably “rediscovered” by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) biologists in a wetland in the Black River watershed in Thurston County in 1990. Since then, state biologists have found an additional Oregon spotted frog site in 2017 in the same watershed, including a site at Bloom’s Ditch in Thurston County...
December 1, 2023
The Chronicle:
Chehalis Basin Flood Warning System wins National Operational Excellence Award
A series of atmospheric rivers are expected to impact the Pacific Northwest beginning Saturday, Dec. 2. The National Weather Service is forecasting rising rivers and streams in the region. Some river locations in the Chehalis region may reach minor flood stage. Over the past month, rain gauges in the Chehalis River Basin have recorded 10 to 20 inches of rain with another 5 to 10 inches of rain possible by Dec. 4…
November 17, 2023
The Chronicle:
Bringing Stillman Creek back to life
Stillman Creek, a tributary to the South Fork Chehalis River, is a salmon-bearing creek in Lewis County. In partnership with four private landowners, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Capitol Land Trust and Lewis Conservation District restored 2 miles of habitat and improved more than 45 acres to benefit coho and Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, lamprey and other aquatic species...
October 28, 2023
Washington State Department of Ecology:
Ecology names new Office of Chehalis Basin Director
Washington Department of Ecology Director Laura Watson has named Jeff Zenk as director of the Office of Chehalis Basin. This office oversees the state’s efforts to reduce catastrophic flood damage and restore aquatic habitat in the Chehalis River Basin, the state’s second-largest river basin. Zenk has worked at Ecology since 2019, serving as the agency’s Southwest Region communications manager…
October 27, 2023
The Chronicle:
Erosion management at Haul Road
In 2022, the Port of Grays Harbor engaged the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority and the OCB to support an erosion management project along Haul Road, which contains critical industrial-scale water infrastructure that supports major facilities such as Grays Harbor Energy’s power plant at the Satsop Business Park. While long-term planning was underway to address this erosion issue, near-record flooding significantly worsened erosion…
October 13, 2023
The Chronicle:
Fish and flooding: Tabletop exercise considers Chehalis Basin Strategy, which might be finalized by late 2026
What could a long-term strategy for the Chehalis River Basin’s communities and ecosystems look like? Though a plan will not be finalized for roughly three years, that was the focus of discussion during two days of Chehalis Basin Board meetings last week. Board members were asked to come up with a list of different packages of scenarios for flood control, mitigation and aquatic species protection in the basin…
September 29, 2023
The Chronicle:
Improving fish passage on Middle Fork Wildcat Creek in Grays Harbor County
This project to restore aquatic species habitat is located on the Middle Fork Wildcat Creek in Grays Harbor County. For years, undersized culverts on the creek have prevented resident and migratory species such as coho salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout from reaching important habitat for rearing and spawning. Wildcat Creek, located north of McCleary, is a tributary of Cloquallum Creek, which feeds into the Chehalis River...
September 15, 2023
The Chronicle:
Pump station paves way for economic revitalization, flood protection in Grays Harbor County
Pump stations provide an important infrastructure solution for communities facing chronic flooding. Offering major return on investment, long-standing flood protection and relatively quick construction time, pump stations are a key element of the Chehalis Basin Strategy’s suite of local flood projects implemented by the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority. The Ramer Street pump station project had two key aims…
August 25, 2023
The Chronicle:
Log jacks protect wastewater treatment plant in Grays Harbor County
Over the course of 2018 and 2019, more than 220 “log jacks” were placed in front of the Montesano Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to protect the treatment plant from the oncoming Wynoochee River and prevent the treatment plant’s catastrophic failure from the river undermining and toppling the facility and preventing a public health and environmental disaster from raw sewage being dumped on downriver communities…
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August 4, 2023
The Chronicle:
Chehalis-Centralia Airport pump station replacement
The Chehalis-Centralia Airport pump station replacement project involved the design and replacement of the World War II-era airport pump station located at the northeast corner of the Chehalis-Centralia Airport property. During the 2007 flood event, the pump house was submerged, failed to operate and was subsequently shut down. This in turn necessitated breaching the existing airport levee to let the water out…
July 22, 2023
The Daily World:
Erosion project protects key energy infrastructure
When the Washington Public Power Supply System built a gravel road 50 years ago on the soft river deposits on the south bank of the Chehalis, it was almost certainly not among the most glaring mistakes the agency made in constructing a nuclear power plant that would never come to fruition. But today the old plant serves new industry, and the road is critical to infrastructure. Its precarious placement…
January 26, 2023
Washington State Department of Ecology:
Pilot projects designed to curb bank erosion showing success in Chehalis River Basin
Since 2013, the Office of Chehalis Basin has invested $98.8 million for 39 projects to reduce flood-related damage and 68 projects to restore aquatic species habitat in the Chehalis River basin. There are eight other basin projects that have dual flood-reduction and ecosystem benefits. For these integrated projects, OCB has invested $1.6 million to acquire property, develop a streamflow gauge plan, create a demonstration project…