From a press release:
Flood prevention and habitat preservation projects in the community of Fairwood and City of Renton will receive will receive funds from the 2016 King County Flood Control District Sub Regional Opportunity Fund.
Approved by the King County Flood Control District at its July 11 meeting, the Sub Regional Opportunity Fund is a portion of the Flood District’s levy set aside for local jurisdictions to build flood control and storm water improvements within their jurisdictions.
“The King County Flood Control District is committed to combatting flooding across King County and as such the district created the Sub Regional Opportunity Fund to help address localized flooding issues,” Reagan Dunn, Chair of the King County Flood Control District, said in a press release. “I am pleased that projects receiving funding this year are focused on the same goals we are striving towards and look forward to seeing how they develop and protect our region.”
The City of Renton will receive $179,202 in 2016 Opportunity Grant Funds that will go towards the final design phase of the Cedar River Gravel Removal project. The project which will remove approximately 120,000 cubic yards of gravel and sediments from a 1.25-mile stretch of the river from its mouth to the Williams Street Bridge, will reduce flooding to the Renton Municipal Airport, Boeing commercial airplane plant, and various public facilities. In addition to removing gravel, the project will also repair unstable banks, improve outfall from storm pipes, and remove invasive vegetation in favor of native plants.
In addition to this funding, the King County Flood Control District has contributed over $13 million for the overall project and is providing approximately $7.5 million to fund construction.
“There is a significant amount of logs and other woody debris gathering along the length of the Cedar River, which creates a potential problem to bridges and other infrastructure if in the event we experience a possible major flood,” said Mayor Denis Law. “Thanks to the our continued partnership with the King County Flood Control District we as a city feel have the resources to work towards preserving habitat along the Cedar and protecting residents from flooding.”
A project in the unincorporated community of Fairwood will receive $530,532 to continue designing and to construct water conveyance improvements in the Fairwood West neighborhood. This project, also supported by financial contributions from the Fairwood West Homeowners’ Association and a prior Flood Control District Grant, will replace a failing pipe with a conveyance structure that has fish passage features along Molasses Creek.
“The Fairwood West Home Owners Association has been working with King County to obtain funds for this project during the past eight years,” said Adrian Ryneveld, resident of Fairwood West. “These funds will resolve a potential pipe failure and help restore fish passage to Molasses Creek. The HOA thanks Councilman Reagan Dunn for his contributions towards moving this project forward. The project will benefit all residents of the Fairwood community.”
