Commission updates flood control plan

On the evening of July 25, the Wahkiakum County Planning Commission held a public meeting to discuss a project that strives to reduce local communities’ vulnerability to flooding. The draft under consideration is an updated version of the 2005 Wahkiakum County Comprehensive Flood Hazard Management Plan.

Roughly 8 percent of Wahkiakum County’s population lives in floodplains and during the flooding season of October to April, those community members and their homes are at risk. The flood management plan estimates that flooding “impacts residential structures every year, even if the damages are not substantial enough to be documented.” Along with the harmful impacts of flooding events, the document also addresses natural factors that can contribute to flooding. Flooding patterns can be influenced by elevation ,topography, soil erodibility, and precipitation levels. Human activities such as timber harvesting also contribute to flooding.

A large portion of the plan is dedicated to describing methods of mitigating the risk of flooding and improving the actions taken when flooding events do occur. FEMA’s incentive program, the Community Rating System (CRS), offers four categories of recommendations for activities to combat flooding hazards: warning and response, public information, mapping and regulations, and flood damage reduction. There are ten CRS rankings for participating counties. With each increase in a county’s rank comes a 5 percent increase in flood insurance premium reduction for that county’s inhabitants. Class 1 communities, for example, receive a 45 percent discount. As of April 1, 2024, Wahkiakum County is a Class 10 community and therefore receives no insurance premium reduction.

As attendees of the meeting reviewed ways to prepare the best possible draft of the flood management plan, it was suggested that as much as a 25 percent discount may be feasible to achieve for locals living in flood zones, should Wahkiakum County elect to pursue some CRS requirements. Those living in flood-prone areas, such as near the Columbia River or Grays River, undoubtedly would benefit from receiving flood insurance at a discounted price. Commission members agreed that gaining as many points as possible from the CRS would act as a sign of goodwill toward the residents of Wahkiakum County.

The county’s existing plan already requires base flood elevation certificates for homes, which will serve as one guaranteed source of points. Other methods for obtaining points can come from creating outreach programs, maintaining up-to-date building and construction regulatory standards, dedicating resources toward nature preservation and protecting endangered species, and conducting sufficient data management. Wahkiakum County already meets some of these requirements. The commission now faces the decision of choosing which additional requirements they have time to pursue that will simultaneously grant the most points.

After the Wahkiakum County Planning Commission finalizes the flood management draft, they must gain approval from the county commissioners, and then seek state approval, before finally implementing the plan.