The Juneau Assembly on Monday night approved spending up to $2 million to install Hesco barriers along a stretch of the Mendenhall River as a semi-permanent levee to protect homes from flooding of Suicide Basin. But it’s clear there will be lots more discussion and evaluation of the proposed project — including its potential impacts on homeowners’ properties and what share they may be forced to pay — before city leaders decide whether to proceed.
At the same time a big dilemma, several Assembly members said, is while there are many concerns about the barriers it doesn’t appear there is another realistic short-term solution that protects residents against record-level floods occurring during the past two years that damaged more than 300 homes.
“There are a lot of unknowns and there are a lot of factors that we have to mitigate with any solution,” Ella Atkison said as Assembly members were each asked to give their recommendations to city administrators who are researching specific proposals. “So I think that’s something we’re constantly gathering information on and hopefully some of those concerns will be alleviated or answered through this process. I just really don’t want us to have fear of risk make us do nothing, because when we have a long-term solution we want properties still there to protect.”
The funding approved by the Assembly in an emergency resolution “would contribute toward the first phase of installation of HESCO barriers along approximately four miles of the Mendenhall River to aid in the mitigation of future glacial outburst floods,” according to City Manager Katie Koester.
“Funding for this request is needed as soon as possible to authorize CBJ to incur expenses associated with this work in order to give the community the best chance at having this work complete before the next glacial lake outburst flood,” she wrote in a summary of the request.
The Hesco levee along up to four miles of one side of the river where most of the area’s homes are is being recommended by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which would provide the barriers that have a three-foot-square footprint and are four feet tall, along with expert guidance on their installation.
But the installation and maintenance costs would have to be paid locally, and city leaders are considering what’s known as a Local Improvement District (LID) assessment on homeowners getting what would be classified as upgraded protection for their properties.
Several residents living on such properties testified during the meeting in opposition to the barriers. The residents said that many people would likely be unable to afford the cost — which could be $100,000 or more — such a burden would lower their property values and the installation could literally uproot portions of their property including removal of trees. Furthermore, some said, it’s unfair to charge only homeowners along the riverbank when the barriers would also be providing protection to hundreds of other homes nearby.
Among Assembly members expressing the strongest concern about the barriers was Wade Bryson, who said “the more that I’ve listened the less I like these Hesco barriers.
“It is a temporary solution that could empty our piggy bank and literally use up the funds that we will need to do a permanent solution,” he said.
In addition to the disruption to people’s properties and possible spiraling costs to deal with complicating factors, Bryson expressed concerns about errant placement of the barriers that results in floodwaters being unintentionally diverted to places past the levee where it could cause significant damage, such as Thunder Mountain Middle School.
An alternative proposal of building a levee around Mendenhall Lake using available materials has been embraced by many residents living in flood-vulnerable areas as a short-term solution. But because it is on U.S. Forest Service land that means the regulatory process will likely take five to ten years, according to city leaders and experts who have offered assessments of possible solutions.
That isn’t deterring David Ignell, a local journalist and former attorney, from advocating for the lake levee.
“This is where it’s incumbent on all of us to put the full-court press on the federal agencies,” he told Assembly members.
However, even though Ignell cited numerous potential problems with deploying Hesco barriers, when asked if would support them as a near-term solution if a levee at the lake isn’t possible for a decade, replied “absolutely.”
Annual glacial outburst floods from Suicide Basin have occurred since 2011, but the record flooding during the past two years that has damaged hundreds of homes is likely to continue in future years due in part to warmer and wetter weather from climate change, according to experts studying the area since last year’s major flood.
An intensive and collaborative effort toward short- and long-term flood protection measures is occurring among local, state, tribal and federal entities.
Short-term measures, according to a memo prepared for Monday’s Assembly by Koester and other top administrative staff, include 75,000 sandbags that were distributed to residents during the weekend provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The memo states the Hesco barriers can be provided by the Corps of Engineers within two to three weeks after the city orders them.
Public outreach meetings by the Corps of Engineers are scheduled Oct. 29 and 31, with specific times and places being determined, according to the memo.
“In general, most homeowners were favorable to the concept of Hesco barrier installation to protect their and others’ property,” the memo states after surveying residents with homes along the river. “Bank stability is a significant concern over approximately two-thirds of the properties visited and engaging with the Army Corps for technical advice and assistance prior to barrier installation is a key next step. In addition, of the 79 parcels, 3 lack sufficient space for the HESCO barriers and major bank work would need to be done and 16 have significant obstructions that will be difficult and costly to address.”
Options for an LID range from the city paying all site preparation costs to property owners being largely responsible — and the city billing owners who refuse to do the work if the city has to. The memo recommends a mid-range option where “CBJ pays for a portion of the cost (of) all site preparation.”
“Paying for a percentage of the total project cost provides relief to all property owners and incentives homeowners to do their own small projects for site preparation,” the memo states.
Long-term measures will be evaluated in part through a multiyear study expected to cost $6 million, with the Assembly already approving $3 million to match a similar amount from the Corps of Engineers. Among the possible long-term projects are a drainage tunnel through a mountain or a levee along Mendenhall Lake and/or Mendenhall River.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
