Three things are certain in Snoqualmie Valley — death, taxes and flooding. Every year, the Snoqualmie River rises over it banks, flooding nearby homes. On average, more flood insurance claims are filed by residents of Snoqualmie than by any other city in Washington, according to state officials. And flooding in the valley has only become more severe in the past 15 years, according to King County river gauges. SnoValley Star’s three-part series, “Living with flooding,” was a comprehensive look at how the valley’s residents have learned to live with flooding. The series, by Dan Catchpole and Laura Geggel, explored the immediate and long-term affects of flooding on Snoqualmie Valley residents, how and why flooding occurs, the role of flooding in shaping the local ecology, and the formation of current flood management policy. The reporters used several dozen sources in putting the series together. They found residents who typified the experience of people in the communities. They interviewed municipal and county officials for information about flood management policies; FEMA officials about flood insurance policies; residents for their experiences with these policies; hydrologists for information about the dynamics of flooding on the Snoqualmie River. Stacks of documents were reviewed. The stories were carefully structured to progress through the issues, and infographics were meticulously created by one of the reporters to enhance the articles.

UU--ccuutt ffaarrmmssU-cut Christmas treefarms blossom in Valley.Page 10.

DDrrooppppiinngg eennrroollllmmeennttSnoqualmie schools seeenrollment decline. Page 3.

GGiirrllss bbaasskkeettbbaallllWildcats get first win forfirst year coach. Page 14.

RRuuddyy ssaayyss ‘‘bbyyee’’After 20 years, RudyEdwards leaves schoolboard. Page 7.

SSaallmmoonn sscciieenncceeMiddle school studentsget inside look at salmon.Page 12.

JJiinnggllee BBeellll rruunnValley residents run tocure arthritis. Page 10.

December 17, 2009

VOL. 2, NO. 48

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Living with flooding: a valley enduresBByy DDaann CCaattcchhppoollee aanndd LLaauurraa GGeeggggeell

In freezing-cold rain, JulieRandazzo and other Snoqualmieresidents frantically filled sand-bags. Her back and shouldersached after hours of lifting shovel-fuls of wet, heavy sand into thebags. The sun had set, but theSnoqualmie River was still rising.

Randazzo knew that if she andher husband, Harold Nesland,were going to save their business,Sahara Pizza and Adventure Lanes,they would need more sandbags.She dug the shovel into the pile ofsand once more.

As much as Seattle is knownfor its rain, Snoqualmie Valley ismaking headlines because of itsflooding. People move to theValley for its natural beauty,much of it thanks to waterwaysenabling the flooding in the firstplace. Still, many people endurethe flood and find ways to coexistwith high waters. Through prepa-ration, people can move their pos-sessions beyond the water’s reachand be ready to sandbag at amoment’s notice, just likeRandazzo and Nesland.

Together with some of theiremployees, they filled and stackedthe bags around the eighty-year-old building, in hopes of keepingthe floodwaters at bay. Theirlivelihood depended on how welltheir preparations stood up.

Shortly after dinnertime,Randazzo and Nesland said‘goodbye.’ With the floodwa-ters rising in the upperSnoqualmie Valley, she andtheir five children needed toget out before the roads werecut off.

“I barely got out of townwith the kids,” she said. “Thewater had already started com-ing up over the road, and Iwasn’t sure if my van was highenough to get over the water.”

Randazzo rolled the dice andcleared the water withoutflooding her engine.

Nesland and three othersstayed at the bowling alleythrough the night, pumpingwater for nine hours straight tokeep from damaging the lanes.Despite sandbagging the build-ing’s exposed sides, water was stillseeping in under the pin chang-ing machines, which were boltedto a slab of concrete. The bolts,Randazzo said, must run into thedirt, which was saturated.

“If it destroys the lanes, itwould pretty much destroy thebusiness,” she said. Insurance

wouldn’t have been enough tocover the $150,000 it would costto replace the lacquered woodfloors.

Randazzo spent a sleeplessnight at on high ground, callingNesland for updates. By the timethe sun rose, the worst had passedand their business had survivedanother flood.

Not far from Sahara Pizza, Donand Nancy Ekberg were waitingfor the water to subside to seehow their house fared.

Without the help of a small

army, sandbagging wouldn’t savetheir house. Kimball Creek runsthrough their backyard, which isonly half a mile from theSnoqualmie River.

They raised everything theycould off the floor and went nextdoor to their neighbor’s house,which was on higher ground.

“Me and my wife just sat overon the porch and watched ourhouse go ‘bloop, bloop, bloop’,”Ekberg said, imitating the sound

BByy TTaarraa BBaalllleennggeerrAfter more than an hour of

public interviews, the NorthBend City Council deliberated ina closed session for twenty min-utes before emerging to namethe two new council members—Jeanne Petterson and ChrisGarcia.

Before announcing their deci-sions to the public, the councilemphasized that all four candi-dates were well qualified, and

that North Bend had an “embar-rassment of riches” when itcame to civic-minded citizensready to step up and make a dif-ference.

“This was one of those impos-sible decisions to make,” coun-cilman David Cook said. Heencouraged those who were notselected to stay involved in cityaffairs and volunteer for other

BByy TTaarraa BBaalllleennggeerr

When Charlotte Esch has asweet tooth, she likes to satisfy itat George’s Bakery & Deli.

But while the little shop onWest North Bend Way is the per-fect place to sink her teeth intodoughnuts, sticky buns and myriadpastries, getting to the heavenlytreats from her apartment on MainAvenue in her wheel chair can bechallenging because of the citycenter’s outdated curb ramps.

Former councilman Chris Garcia andretired school administrator JeannePetterson appointed to two-year terms.

NB City Council has two new faces

Chris Garcia

Jeanne PettersonSee CCOOUUNNCCIILL, Page 2

North Bendto improvewheelchairramps

See RRAAMMPPSS,, Page 3

File photo

A Snoqualmie Valley resident paddles a makeshift raft through floodwaterduring the January 2009 flood.

LIVING WITH FLOODING

Part 1 of 3

See FFLLOOOODDIINNGG,, Page 6

of air escaping.The water in their driveway

was neck deep. Inside their house,which was around three feet offthe ground, it was 30 inches deep.

They waited two days for it tosubside before opening their frontdoor.

“We lost everything,” Ekbergsaid. Beds, appliances, furniture,cabinets, flooring, carpeting anddrywall were ruined.

Fortunately, there was no mudinside their home, but everythingwas “sopping, soaking wet,” fromwater mixed with paint, oil, rawsewage and other effluence, herecalled.

There was a big wheel tricycle10 feet up a tree in their backyard,and a refrigerator floated by atone point.

Ekberg did the only thing hecould and started throwing outwhat was beyond repair and tear-ing out wet drywall.

Since buying their house in2005, Ekberg and his wife havealready endured two major andone minor flood events. It is thefirst house either one has owned.

The flood in 2006 was emo-tionally devastating for the cou-ple. Their house had 12 inches ofwater in it.

“Here’s our brand new house,and it just got trashed,” Ekbergsaid.

Three years later, they were hitwith a financially devastatingflood.

“In 2009, I was just plainpissed,” he said.

When there is a major floodevent on the Snoqualmie River, itleaves behind a swath of damageand destruction.

Flooding happened more oftenthan not at the old St. ClareEpiscopal Church. Trouble firstseeped into the basement in arain-induced mini-flood of fourinches of water in January 2006,which sat for several days before amember discovered the unortho-dox wading pool.

A few months later “in May,we noticed that the ceiling in thechurch was getting back marks onit,” said the Reverend Patty Baker,

the church’s pastor. “We realizedthere was mold growing in there.”

A mold removal companyadvised the congregation to leavethe building, as mold can affectpeople with at-risk immune sys-tems. In May 2006, the congrega-tion moved next door to theparish hall.

A week before the November2006 flood, the congregation metto discuss repairing the church.

“We said, ‘this will work but itwill never keep us from beingflooded again,” Bakersaid. “How muchmoney do we keeppouring into a facilitythat is so severely com-promised and sounable to be protectedfrom further flooding?We could have spentthousands of dollars tofix the problem and wecould never haveaddressed that the nextflood would havecaused the same dam-age again.”

After the 2006flood, the congregationopted to demolish theflooded church. Theparish hall survived the2008 flood because it isbuilt higher ground.

“The building itselfis up on a little bit of arise,” Baker said. “Weare very thankful forthat.”

Snoqualmie Valley

School District racked up over$1.7 million in damages when, in2009, water flooded Mount SiHigh School, the first floor of thedistrict’s administration buildingand caused damage across the dis-trict, especially to elementaryschool playgrounds. The districthad to pay for repairs out of pock-et and is still waiting to be repaidfrom its insurance companies, dis-trict spokeswoman CarolynMalcolm said.

After the 2009 flood, home-

owners in Snoqualmie reportedan estimated $1.4 million in dam-ages to King County. Ten busi-nesses reported damages worthnearly $300,000, and the city hadover $270,000 in flood-relatedcosts itself.

However, these numbers weredown from the 2006 flood, whenSnoqualmie residents reported anestimated $2 million in residentialdamages and the city had over$550,000 in flood-related costs.

Snoqualmie’s residents filemore flood insurance claims thando residents of any other city inWashington, according to several

officials. Snoqualmie Valley reg-

ularly floods. Unlike otherrivers in WesternWashington, it is anunregulated river. Typicalflood control measures,such as a dam at theriver’s headwaters or alevee system, have beenfound to be unsuitable forSnoqualmie River by KingCounty officials and flood-ing experts.

“It’s much more of awild river,” said ClintLoper, King County’ssupervising engineer forthe Snoqualmie Riverbasin. “Partly because ofthat it’s retained its ruralcharacter.”

Much of that ruralcharacter is found in agri-culture. The upperSnoqualmie Valley basinspans 367 square milesand the Snoqualmie RiverBasin supports more than

4,500 acres of farmland. Thatfarmland is usually first to floodwhen rain and snow run-offexpands the river.

The river floods today muchthe way it has since glaciers creat-ed it 12,000 years ago.

The river’s floodwaters can bedeep but are usually slow moving.

Typically, the greatest damageis from inundation, such as hap-pened to Ekberg and St. ClareEpiscopal Church. However, therecan be times when conditions cre-ate fast-flowing water in a smallarea, which can undermine abuilding’s foundation.

Another very serious danger iswhat experts call “channel migra-tion,” when a river moves acrossthe landscape. The SnoqualmieRiver is most likely to move in thelower valley, with its flat floor andaround its Middle and SouthForks.

“It’s an area of high instabilityand with a lot of houses,” Lopersaid.

Predicting where the two forksmight move to is very difficult.“Geologically its an unstablepoint,” he said.

Despite the river’s unpre-dictable nature, many peoplechoose to live in the Valley for itsnatural aesthetics. Without a con-trol dam, flooding will continueto occur, Loper said, but thatdoesn’t mean Ekberg is ready topack her bags.

“We’re not going anywhere,”Ekberg said. “We love it here.Snoqualmie Valley’s a beautifulplace 361 days of the year. It’sthose other four days a year thatyou hate.”

PAGE 6 SnoValley Star DECEMBER 17, 2009

THE

RIGHT TRACTION

WW

We’ll do it fast. We’ll do it right. And you’ll know if you’re good to go!We’ll do it fast. We’ll do it right. And you’ll know if you’re good to go!

FFllooooddiinnggFrom Page 1

Source: King County

CCoonnttrriibbuutteedd

Floodwater in Snoqualmie Valley usually moves slowly but can pick upspeed in localized incidents, such as this one near Fall City in January.

SSnnooqquuaallmmiiee RRiivveerr fflloooodd pphhaasseess::

Phase Flow level Description 1 6,000 c.f.s.* Internal Alert2 12,000 c.f.s. Lowland flooding3 20,000 c.f.s. Flooding in the entire Snoqualmie

Valley4 38,000 c.f.s. Some residential areas may experi

ence dangerous high velocities and flooding of homes.

*c.f.s.= cubic (of water) feet per secondSource: King County, United States Geological Survey

BByy DDaann CCaattcchhppoollee aanndd LLaauurraa GGeeggggeell

Flooding. It’s an all-too famil-iar part of life for many residentsof Snoqualmie Valley. Sincemoving to the Valley in 2005,Snoqualmie residents Don andNancy Ekberg have had theirhome flooded twice. Business-owner and resident JulieRandazzo and her husbandHarold Nesland have sandbag-ging their pizza restaurant andbowling alley down to a science.

But flooding is part ofSnoqualmie Valley’s naturalrhythm, say experts. And manyof them agree that fighting it isa losing battle.

Today, King County has awork-with-nature approach toflood management, whichreflects both the high costs oftrying to control flooding andthe ecological value of flooding.

At the same time, the countyand the Valley have grown veryquickly in recent decades, andthe county must balance devel-opment and flood management.

“The one thing about flood-plains we’re sure of is that theyflood,” said Dave Montgomery,river expert and geomorphologyprofessor at the University ofWashington. “Over the longrun, sometimes avoidance of ahazard is the best policy.”

Along the Snoqualmie, thecounty has decided it is morecost effective to buy out or ele-

vate homes to move residentsout of harm’s way, rather thanput in hard fixes, such as a dam

or levee system.Relying on these solutions

can cause problems down theline.

“A lot of things can go notaccording to plan,” Montgomerynoted, pointing to the GreenRiver’s Howard Hanson Dam asan example.

After the dam and a levee sys-tem were built, the countyencouraged industrial develop-ment along the Green River. Butthe dam has proven to be lessstable than anticipated and theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers isworking with local engineers tofind a long-term fix. Some riversthemselves also have beenaltered, reducing their ability tomanage high water.

In the meantime, part of KingCounty’s industrial core is at ele-vated flood risk.

“How wise are we to assumethat the flood controls today arealways going to be there?”Montgomery asked. So, “there’sthis long-term debate aboutwhat is the best land use on a

NNeeww CCiittyy HHaallll ooppeennssSnoqualmie’s new CityHall opens, putting citydepartments in one place.Page 7.

LLaanndd uussee tteennssiioonnssRural landowners bristleunder city-oriented countygovernment, report finds.Page 5.

SSoocckk hhoopp bbaacckk iinn sscchhoooollChief Kanim studentslearn 1950s dance, poo-dle skirts and all. Page 15.

TTrriibbee ttoo bbuuiilldd hhoouusseessThe low-income housingwill be paid for, in part, byfederal stimulus money.Page 7.

CCaarrddss ffoorr MMaarriinneessNBES students send holi-day cards to Marines over-seas. Page 14.

December 24, 2009

VOL. 2, NO. 49

WWiillddccaattss ssooaarr oovveerr LLiibbeerrttyy

Page 16

Your locally-ownednewspaper, serving

North Bend andSnoqualmie,Washington

Prsrt StdU.S. Postage

PAIDKent, WA

Permit No. 71

POSTALCUSTOMER

BByy TTaarraa BBaalllleennggeerr

As 2009 winds to a close, lay-offs, foreclosures and debt havewreaked havoc on the financialand personal lives of manyAmericans.

While experts say that theSnoqualmie Valley is seeing sim-ilar hard times, it is an area thathas grown accustomed to pros-perity, and many Snoqualmieand North Bend residents havebeen blindsided by suddenunemployment.

Unemployment inWashington has recently startedto slow. Around 9.2 percent of

state residents in the job marketwere unemployed in November,down from 9.3 percent inOctober. King county is notmuch better off—around 10,000people have been laid off in thecounty in 2009 and the unem-ployment rate was 8.8 percent inNovember.

“Unemployment has risen inWashington state and all acrossKing County,” not only inSeattle, said Desiree Phair,regional labor economist for theWashington EmploymentSecurity Department.

LLiivviinngg wwiitthh ffllooooddiinngg:: mmaannaaggiinngg ggrroowwtthh aannddeennvviirroonnmmeenntt iinn tthhee ffllooooddppllaaiinn

Unemployment bringsnew challenges to Valley

See JJOOBBSS,, Page 6

Photo by Alan Berner

The Snoqualmie River pours out of its banks last January, flooding theValley wall to wall near Carnation. A river’s floodplain is really the riverat high flow, says David Montgomery, a geomorphology professor at theUniversity of Washington.

See FFLLOOOODD,, Page 2

BByy LLaauurraa GGeeggggeell

As Washington faces a $2.6billion budget shortfall, theSnoqualmie Valley SchoolDistrict is gauging how much itcould be affected by the cuts.

Last year’s $3.35 millionbudget cuts were hard enough.The district cut 11 teachingpositions and cut three of itsfour library positions at themiddle and high school levels.

Five custodians lost theirjobs and the remaining 21 cus-todians received pay cuts. Themiddle school extra curricularprogram lost $300,000, forcing

the district to start a pay-to-play policy for both clubs andsports. In 2010, cuts may beeven more drastic. GovernorChris Gregoire released her pro-posed 2010 supplemental bud-get earlier this month. In anews release, Gregoire saidthough she was legally requiredto submit a balanced budget,she did so “with the greatestreluctance.”

“This document is not trueto the values I believe in andwhich have guided me througha 30-year career in public sice,”

Governor’s budget wouldcut money for schools

See BBUUDDGGEETT, Page 6

LIVING WITH FLOODING

Part 2 of 3

-

PAGE 2 SnoValley Star DECEMBER 24, 2009

CARNATION GAGE SNOQUALMIE GAGE FORKS GAGE

Recent high flows on Snoqualmie River

Values are in cubic square feet per second.Source: King County, United States Geological Survey

flood plain. What are we will-ing to allow on places in aflood plain?”

Today, the county tries tofind a cost effective way ofminimizing risk.

“We’re at a point where werecognize we need to help peo-ple better live with flooding,”said Clint Loper, King County’ssupervising engineer for theSnoqualmie River basin.

Snoqualmie Valley “hasbeen a floodplain historically;this continues to be a flood-plain,” he said, explaining thecounty’s view on flooding inthe Valley.

The river ties the Valleytogether, running like a ribbonfrom the northern end to thesouth, where its three branchessplit off like strands of frayedrope. The river floods todaymuch as it has since a massivesheet of ice last retreatednorthward thousands of yearsago. It rolls down from theCascade Mountains to theSkykomish River to form theSnohomish River and into thePacific Ocean.

Most days, the SnoqualmieRiver peacefully passes along,but when the conditions areright, the river surges over itsbanks, flooding the fields,forests and communities in theValley.

The Snoqualmie River’s flow– the amount of water in thechannel – is unregulated. Thereare no dams on the forks tocontrol its headwaters. It is amix when it comes to floodmanagement, with levees andrevetments used in some placesto protect developed areas athigh-risk of flood damage evenduring small flows. Many ofthese areas are along the SouthFork of the Snoqualmie River

in and around North Bend.Noticeable flooding typically

occurs after a heavy rain landson already saturated ground,said Brent Bower, a servicehydrologist in the NationalWeather Service’s Seattle office.He is responsible for issuingflood predictions.

Those conditions occurmost often in late fall throughwinter, but flooding can hap-pen any time of the year.

Flooding is a natural processthat can be thought of as theriver at maximum flow.

“Rivers aren’t designed tocarry all the flows they get.The floodplain is the river athigh flow,” said DavidMontgomery, a river expertand geomorphology professorat the University ofWashington.

When the Snoqualmie Riverfloods in its natural state, itreshapes the landscape aroundit, forming new habitats forfish and animals, and deposit-ing nutrient-rich soil on thevalley floor.

“You can think of a river asthe circulatory system of thelandscape – the flow of energyand material is organizedthrough the channel system,”Montgomery said.

The ecological importanceof a river typically goes farbeyond the space it occupies.

“To the things that live inand along the river, the thingsthat come along with the floodare pretty important,” he said.

This is especially true forsalmon, which spawn in thelower Snoqualmie River.

For the people who livealong the river, the effects offlooding can be devastating.Randazzo twice almost lost herbusiness, and Ekberg sufferedthousands of dollars of damageto his home, not to mentionthe stress that came along with

FFllooooddFrom Page 1

See FFLLOOOODD, Page 3

Snoqualmie

NorthBend

Carnation

Raging

River

Tolt RiverSnoqualm

ieR

iver

North

Fork

Middle Fork

South Fork

SNOQUALMIE RIVER BASIN

KKiinngg CCoouunnttyy ffllooooddiinngg sseerrvviicceess::www.kingcounty.gov/environment/waterandland/flooding.aspxBBaassiicc iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn aabboouutt pprreeppaarriinngg ffoorr aa fflloooodd:: www.kingcounty.gov/safety/FloodPlan

IInnffoorrmmaattiioonn aabboouutt fflloooodd iinnssuurraannccee::www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/LLiivvee rriivveerr--ffllooww iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn:: http://green.kingcounty.gov/river-gagedata/gage-data.aspx?r=green

Illustration by Dan Catchpole

watching water rush into hisnew home.

They aren’t the first humans tohave endured flooding along theSnoqualmie.

Humans have been drawn tothe benefits of the SnoqualmieRiver for thousands of years.SnoqualmieTribe’s ances-tors werehunters andgatherers in thefertile lowerValley. Whitesettlers came forthe Valley’sagricultural andtimber lands.

Flooding wasof little conse-quence when the population wassparse, said Gardiner Vinnedge, aNorth Bend historian.

At first, “there just weren’t thatmany people here to notice it andthey didn’t have that much atstake,” Vinnedge said.

Logging led to more floodingand dead trees jammed theSnoqualmie River. As farmersmoved in, they began to drainswampy areas and straightenwaterways, such as GardinerCreek, named for GardinerVinnedge’s great-grandparents.The creek meanders down fromRattlesnake Mountain andthrough Forster Woods, butstraightens when it hitsMeadowbrook Farm. When thesettlers straightened it, its waterbegan to move faster.

“You begin messing with thenatural patterns and you begin toget changes,” Vinnedge said.“You’d begin to have washoutsand silt and more severe flooding,but it would have been verylocal.”

People began building perma-nent, more valuable structuresthey didn’t want flooded. They

started bringing in fill, like gravel,and built on top of it. Railroadbeds, roads and culverts changedthe landscape.

After being hit by bad floods in1959, levees were built in andaround North Bend. The city sawa decline in flooding after that,which prompted further develop-ment, including the FactoryStores, the Nintendo warehouseand the Shamrock Park neighbor-hood.

“(We have)massive newinvestments,and now theyhave to be pro-tected,”Vinnedge said.

In KingCounty, morethan $7 billionworth of devel-opment wasbuilt over time

in the floodplain, according to a2007 county estimate.

“We’re in a region that’s grow-ing,” and local, county and statepolicy is designed to allow devel-opment to happen, Loper said.

King County has been chang-ing its development policies toincreasingly restrict developmentin floodplains. To qualify for thefederal flood insurance program,municipalities must adhere toFEMA’s strict guidelines for devel-opment in floodways – the feder-ally-designated core of a flood-plain.

Loper couldn’t say whether ornot the county would build thelevees in the same way today asthey were originally built, but it isin the process of a $5 millionlevee restoration and improve-ment project on the South Fork.

While dredging hasn’t beendone in upper Snoqualmie Valleyfor years, the county widened the

river’s channel just above the fallsin 2004-05, which had a similaraffect to dredging. The projectwas designed to reduce flood ele-vations upstream in the city ofSnoqualmie by 1.5 feet during a100-year flow.

Flood management oftencomes down to a cost analysis,according to experts.

The question becomes “howmuch does society want to subsi-dize people on a flood plain?”Montgomery said.

Growth has come, in largepart, by building on previouslyundeveloped lands. Between thelate 1970s and 2002 inWashington, about 1.2 millionacres of forestland, almost all of itprivately owned, were convertedto other land uses, includingdevelopment, according to thestate Department of NaturalResources. That is a little morethan the size of the Olympic andMt. Rainier National Parks com-bined.

Each year between the late1980s and 2004, over 30,000acres of forestland around PugetSound were lost, much of it beingused for rural-residential andurban development, according toLuke Rogers at the UW College ofForest Resources. That is an arearoughly half the size of Seattle.

Development typically meansmore runoff when it rains. Thefaster and more runoff there is,the worse flooding will likely be.

“The biggest change is if it getsdeveloped into towns, buildings,streets, which have 100 percentrunoff,” said Bower.

However, the amount of devel-opment in Snoqualmie Valleylikely falls far short of what wouldbe needed to cause a noticeablerise in flood levels, he said.

The Valley’s flood storagecapacity could have even possibly

DECEMBER 24, 2009 SnoValley Star PAGE 3

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FFllooooddFrom Page 2

increased as former logging areasconverted back to forest, he said.

New development in a river’sfloodplain must meet strict guide-lines before work can begin, butbuilding in uplands can affectflooding, as well.

In King County, all develop-ment outside a floodplain muststill minimize its effect onchanges in runoff characteristics.

For large developments, solutionsinclude structures such as storm-water holding ponds.

No engineering solution willbe as good as the natural setting,Loper said.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext.246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.Comment online at www.snoval-leystar.com.

“Rivers aren’t designed tocarry all the flows they get.The floodplain is the river athigh flow.”

—— DDaavviidd MMoonnttggoommeerryyGeomorphology professorUniversity of Washington

Photo by Alan Berner

The Snoqualmie River’s full force pours over the falls during theJanuary flood.

CCoouunnttyy ccuuttss 44HH mmoonneeyyThe cuts will force someparts of program to scaleback. Page 8.

55tthh DDiissttrriicctt rraaccee iiss oonnTwo candidates are lookingto unseat the incumbent 5thDistrict legislators. Page 7.

QQuuaakkee sshhaakkeess VVaalllleeyySnoqualmie Valley shookfrom a small earthquakeDec. 24. Page 6.

TTaakkee aa hhiikkee!!Check out RattlesnakeLedge. Page 12.

VViirrttuuaall aaccaaddeemmyyGo to class online. Page 11.

RRaaiill mmuusseeuumm ggrraannttNW Railway Museum getsgrant. Page 11.

December 31, 2009

VOL. 2, NO. 50

SSeeee ffiinnaalliissttss ffoorrCCiittyy HHaallll aarrtt

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Your locally-ownednewspaper, serving

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Prsrt StdU.S. Postage

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Permit No. 71

POSTALCUSTOMER

Living with flooding: Learningto coexist alongside the river

BByy DDaann CCaattcchhppoollee aanndd LLaauurraa GGeeggggeell

The communities ofSnoqualmie Valley have perse-vered despite heavy floods. Theinhabitants are invested in theirneighborhoods and don’t wantto leave the area’s beautiful set-ting. Now, the residents and localmunicipalities with KingCounty’s help are learning how

to live beside wild rivers prone toseasonal flooding.

Together, they are finding away to coexist with the river.

For many the answer is elevat-ing their houses. More and morehomes in Snoqualmie and NorthBend have been raised up inrecent years. The sight of a house

BByy TTaarraa BBaalllleennggeerr

With his suede jacket andcowboy hat to arm him againstthe cold, Tom Kemp braved theruthless winds that whipthrough the parking lot of Ken’sTruck Town off Interstate 90 todeliver homemade cookies tohomesick truckers on Christmas.

“If they are out on the lottoday, they probably didn’tmake it home for Christmas,”said Kemp, the chaplain for theTransport for Christ,International chapel in NorthBend, which is a small trailer inthe parking lot of Ken’s TruckTown.

Starting a week beforeChristmas, Kemp would make

the rounds around the big park-ing lot of Truck Town—one ofonly four full-service truck stopsin Washington—twice a day,carrying dozens of cookies in awhite trash bag.

“Hey boss,” he addressedmost drivers as he walked up totheir semis. Many were sleeping,checking e-mail or just didn’twant to be bothered. But forthose who could spare a second,Kemp made a good case forthem to take the holiday chari-ty. After all, he has 150 dozencookies to spare.

“The response was incredi-ble,” Kemp said. At a recentmeeting of the Snoqualmie

Truckers get sweets andChristmas cheer on road

Photo by Tara Ballenger

Far from home, a truck driver (left) takes a sack of cookies from TomKemp at Ken’s Truck Town on Christmas. Kemp is the chaplain for thestop’s Transport for Christ, International chapel.

Chambertaps Valleyfixture fordirectorBByy TTaarraa BBaalllleennggeerr

Beginning Jan. 1, FritzRibary—former mayor of NorthBend and current commissionerfor the Snoqualmie ValleyHospital district—will begin hisnew job as the executive directorof the Snoqualmie ValleyChamber of Commerce.

Executive director is a full-time paid position and isresponsible for the day-to-dayoperations and activities of theChamber. Ribrary was chosenover several other candidates onDec. 23, after several interviewsand a 40-minute presentationfor the interviewing committee.

Ribary said he is excited tocome on board as executivedirector of the Chamber, afterserving as president and vicepresident in the past.

“The time is right for groupsof businesses, organizations andcities to take a look at howthey're doing things, and topartner rather than trying to doeverything on their own or inde-

See CCHHAAMMBBEERR, Page 6

See CCOOOOKKIIEESS, Page 8

Photo by Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times

Sara Posey (left) and Matt Hedger, with Snoqualmie City Parks, unclog a storm drain Nov. 13,2008, as post-flood clean-up starts. Behind them, Snoqualmie Elementary School is still closed.

See FFLLOOOODD, Page 2

LIVING WITH FLOODING

Part 3 of 3

WWEEBBWWEEBB EEXXTTRRAAEEXXTTRRAA>>>> wwwwww..ssnnoovvaalllleeyyssttaarr..ccoomm

See video of the 2009 floods.

PAGE 2 SnoValley Star DECEMBER 31, 2009

sitting on stacks of logs as it isbeing elevated is not uncom-mon around the upper Valley.

Along other stretches of theriver, the county continues tomaintain levees and revetmentsto hold the river in place.

Some residents’ houses havebeen simply bought out bylocal government to remove theinhabitants from harm’s way.

Finding a way for people tolive and work on floodplains iscritically important toSnoqualmie Valley residentsand King County, which hasmajor economic interests onfloodplains. This is especiallytrue along the Green River,where much of the county’smanufacturing base is located.

Rising above itSnoqualmie residents are

interested in house elevations,according to LaurenHollenbeck, a senior planner forSnoqualmie.

“People don’t want to move.They want to stay and get theirhomes elevated,” she said.

After the 2006 flood, around90 residents applied to havetheir houses raised, while only12 applied to have their homesbought out.

Don and Nancy Ekberg arehappy to be able to look downon their yard from their frontdoor now that their house hasbeen elevated a full story.

After buying their home inSnoqualmie, it was flooded in2006 and 2009. It was devastat-ing for them.

The Ekbergs applied to havetheir home raised after the 2006flood. They had to wait morethan two years for the eleva-tion, and in January 2009, theirhouse was inundated withmuch higher floodwater thanin the previous flood.

Once work started last sum-mer, it only took the contractor,Roswold, Inc. of North Bend,about five weeks to complete.

Ekberg takes the delay instride, chalking it up to“bureaucratic backlog.”

While contractors worked ontheir home, the Ekbergs slept ina camper.

“We used to walk up foursteps, now we go up 15,” Nancysaid as she smiled.

The home elevation hasbrought peace of mind.

“If we hadn’t been raised up,I would’ve walked away—screwmy credit,” Ekberg said.

The elevations are “extreme-ly cost-effective,” Hollenbecksaid. “They’re easier to get fund-ing for than if you’re dredgingthe river or something likethat.”

The bulk of the moneycomes from the federal govern-ment and is managed by FEMA.Communities must compete for

the money,except for somefederal grantslike the HazardMitigation GrantProgram. Thegrant is availableto cities afterfloods.

“It’s easier togo after becauseit’s not nationally-competitive,”Hollenbeck said.

Since the 1980s, around 120homes in Snoqualmie havebeen elevated or built as elevat-ed by the city and homeowners.

Home elevations are effectivein part because the SnoqualmieRiver’s floodwaters are generallynot fast moving. If they were,even raised houses would be atrisk of having their foundations’undermined.

Snoqualmie Valley residentstypically have a day or twowarning of impending flooding.

“For two days, you’re sittingthere, waiting for your house toget flooded,” he said.

After the floods, the mentaland emotional stress of havingto put their lives back togethertook a toll as well. Besides thequantifiable damages to theirhouse and possessions, therewere potential irreplaceable loss-es as well.

After the 2006 flood, Junior,one of the Ekbergs two cats, wasnowhere to be found. Thewhite and gray cat was only akitten at the time. Three weekslater Ekberg was doing repairwork at home. He had severallarge fans going, trying to dryout the house. Over the fanswhirring, he heard Junior’splaintive cries.

“He came in looking fraz-zled, dirty and hungry,” he said.

Snoqualmie focuses on eleva-tions and tries to minimize buy-outs, because FEMA requiresthat the land remain empty for-ever, Hollenbeck said.

The city doesn’t want itsdowntown sprinkled withempty lots, so it focuses its buy-outs along the river’s banks or ifa house is extremely damaged,Hollenbeck said.

“That land has to remainopen in perpetuity. You can’tbuild a house on it. You canbuild a pea patch. We have lotsof pea patches in town,” shesaid.

To qualify for a buyout, ahouse must sustain more than50 percent damage from oneflood.

Future developmentBecause of FEMA guidelines,

development is strictly con-trolled in Snoqualmie Valley’sfloodplain.

For a community’s residentsto qualify for the national floodinsurance program, it has tomeet FEMA’s regulatory stan-dards for development in afloodplain. By adopting furtherstandards, a community canalso help its residents get a

reduced rate onthe insurance.

“FEMA’sdevelopmentguidelines don’tpreclude anydevelopment inthe floodway,but it does makeit more difficult,said Clint Loper,

King County’s supervisinghydraulic engineer for theSnoqualmie River basin.

Snoqualmie, North Bend andKing County, which managesunincorporated areas, haveadopted strict developmentstandards. For example,Snoqualmie limits density inthe floodplain by requiring atleast five acres before a residen-tial unit can be subdivided.Because of that and other mea-sures, flood insurance rates forSnoqualmie residents arereduced 25 percent.

In unincorporated areas,King County has a zero-risestandard. No new developmentcan have a noticeable affect onthe flood level.

However, this has beenrelaxed somewhat in lowerSnoqualmie Valley to make iteasier for farmers to build farmpads. The pads are elevatedpatches of land where they canmove animals and expensiveequipment during floods.

Only a small portion ofNorth Bend is in the FEMA-mapped floodway, but much ofthe city is in the floodplain, saidGina Estep, the city’s economicdevelopment director.

Since the downtown core isnot in the floodway, NorthBend doesn’t face significantrestrictions on development.

“It’s more a matter to addressthe safety concerns” of residentsand business owners, she said.Nonetheless, “being in thefloodplain does come withsome restrictions,” such asbuilding elevated homes.

Like Snoqualmie, NorthBend’s development codeallows residents to receivereduced flood insurance rates.

Even with flood insurance,homeowners must be ready topay some expenses up front.

“Initially, it’s all out of pock-et because you’re waiting forthe checks to come in,” Ekbergsaid. He and his wife waited upto two months for their insur-ance payments to start coming.

Out of luckSome residents have had bit-

ter experiences trying to gettheir houses elevated, though.Two of them live in ShamrockPark, a neighborhood surround-ed by, but not part of NorthBend. A continuous levee sys-tem holds back the South Forkof the Snoqualmie River, whichruns along the neighborhood’seast and north sides.

Shamrock Park resident

“If we hadn’t beenraised up, I would’vewalked away—screw mycredit.”

—— DDoonn EEkkbbeerrggSnoqualmie resident

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FFlloooodd rreessoouurrcceess::❑❑ SSiiggnn uupp ffoorr fflloooodd aalleerrttssRegional Public Information Network, sends e-mail and text message alerts:www.rpin.org King County Flood Warning Information Line: 206-296-8200 or 800-945-9263Sign up for flood warnings and get information on flood insuranceand emergency kits at www.kingcounty.gov/floodplans.

❑❑ OOtthheerr rreessoouurrcceessNorth Bend flood information: Ronald Garrow, 425-888-0486 orrong@ci.north-bend.wa.usHousehold hazards line: 206-296-4692 or visit:www.govlink.org/hazwaste/house.

King County project sites:1. South Fork Levee SystemImprovements: Rehabilitation of thelevee system on the South Fork.2. North Bend Area Residential FloodMitigation: Reduce flood risks tohomes in the North Bend area.

3. Middle Fork Levee System CapacityImprovements: Reduce flood risksassociated with constrictions causedby segments of the incomplete leveesystem on the Middle Fork.

SnoqualmieRiver

South Fork

Middle Fork

North Fork

NorthBend

Snoqualmie

1

2

3

Source: King County; Graphic by Dan Catchpole

Photo by Dan Catchpole

Don and Nancy Ekberg are breathing easier perched high and dry in theirrecently raised house in Snoqualmie.

See FFLLOOOODD, Page 3

DECEMBER 31, 2009 SnoValley Star PAGE 3

Dwight Bunn and his wife gotstuck in bureaucratic morassbetween FEMA and the countytrying to get their house raised.Rather than wait for anotherflood, the couple took $67,000from their retirement savings toraise their house four feet.

The Bunns found plenty ofhidden costs, they said. The workwas not tax deductible, and theyhad to pay for permits.

Another Shamrock Park resi-dent, Stephanie Huber, reportedsimilar difficulties in trying tosave her two-story home, whereshe has lived since 1989.

Huber’s already spent almost$250,000 on protecting andrepairing her house from flooddamage, she said.

Huber grew up in the neigh-borhood, and has seen the land-scape change over the years.

The neighborhood, which isbordered by North Bend on threesides, has sought to join the city,but with no success.

“We’ve asked to be annexedand never got anywhere. Andwhy? Because we’re a liability,”she said.

North Bend won’t annexShamrock Park because of itsflooding risk, according to a cityofficial who spoke on the condi-tion of anonymity because hewasn’t authorized to publicly dis-cuss the issue.

Managing the riverSeveral Snoqualmie Valley resi-

dents said they want the riverdredged, but King County isreluctant to dredge unless it con-siders it absolutely necessary. Thecounty monitors several pointsalong the river to determine ifdredging is required, but it hasn’topted for it since the 1990s. Theriver hasn’t been regularlydredged since the 1960s.

Streambeds naturally changeas a river carries sediment downfrom the highlands, and justbecause a gravel bar is createddoesn’t mean it will make flood-ing any worse, Loper said.

During a significant floodevent, the Snoqualmie River car-ries 200 or 300 times its normalcapacity.

In most cases, dredging theriver beforehand wouldn’t make anoticeable difference in the floodlevel, he said.

As always, cost is a considera-

tion.“For any given problem, there

might be multiple solutions tolook at,” Loper said.

In lower Snoqualmie Valley,there are also environmental con-siderations, as the river there isspawning habitat for salmon,which are protected.

King County has also adaptedhow it manages levees and revet-ments along rivers. More flexibledesigns have been adopted whenpossible to more closely mimicnatural settings, which are typi-cally best suited for holdingfloodwater, Loper said.

The county has begun usingsetback levees and revetments,when possible. As their nameimplies, they are setback from theriver, rather than hard against it,like the levees protectingShamrock Park.

That extra room, which often-times has vegetation growing init, allows for a river’s “inevitabledesire to move,” Loper said.“That’s hopefully more long-termsustainable and more cost effec-tive because you’re not fightingthe river.”

Even slow-moving rivers likethe Snoqualmie have tremendousforce. It is expensive and difficultto lock its channel into one path.But this is what human develop-ment often tries to do, noted sev-eral experts.

Setback measures allow theriver channel room to movearound.

But they aren’t a solution forthe entire Snoqualmie.

“There are homes and busi-nesses that are getting floodedand I don’t think there’s anystructural solution to changingthat,” Loper said.

While King County’s Waterand Land Resources manages therivers day to day, the KingCounty Flood Control Districthas overseen flood protectionpolicies and projects since it wascreated in 2007.

King County Councilwoman

Kathy Lambert — who representsSnoqualmie and North Bend —chairs the board with other mem-bers of the County Council.

Overall, Lambert said, “resi-dents need to be at higher eleva-tions.”

Community spiritWhile flooding is destructive

and dangerous, it can also bringthe community together some-times. Neighbors help each othersecure belongings and movethem out of harms way.Residents fill sandbags for peoplein harm’s way. After the flooding,people pitch in to clean up.

Flooding brought out the bestin the community, said JaneEllen Seymour, a North Bend par-ent.

When a North Bend Yahoogroup sent a message asking forsandbagging volunteers, her chil-dren helped at the city’s PublicWorks building.

“It was wonderful,” Seymoursaid. “I’m a North Bend resident,so I was impressed with the quali-ty and the amount of the com-munication.”

The Seymour family alsopicked up debris at Mount SiHigh School.

“Many hands make lightwork,” Seymour said. “What wasnice, it was not just adults. It waswhole families helping pitch inand clean up.”

Community members—somenot even from the Valley—cameto fill sandbags in the cold rain inJanuary in downtownSnoqualmie.

Julie Randazzo, owner ofSahara Pizza and AdventureLanes, made pizza and coffee forthe volunteers. She figures she fedaround 20, but not everyone ate,she said.

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246,or editor@snovalleystar.com. LauraGeggel: 392-6434, ext. 221, orlgeggel@snovalleystar.com. Commentonline at www.snovalleystar.com

Your news comments welcome!

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Photo contributed

Construction crews tear into the old St. Clare’s Episcopal Church in 2008. Afterthe November 2006 flood the building started growing toxic mold.

Photo by Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times

Patty Miller sweeps up water in her Snoqualmie home's basement themorning after flooding in November 2008.

PPrreevveennttiinngg cchheemmiiccaall ccoonnttaammiinnaattiioonn::Many homeowners have hazardous chemicals, which, if spilled, can contaminatefloodwater. Hazardous products include cleaners, automotive products, oil-basedpaints and items like computers, according to King County’s hazardous waste pro-gram. To learn more, visit www.govlink.org/hazwaste/index.cfm.

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