City Reviews Levee Inspection

WAITSBURG - During Last week's Waitsburg City Council meeting, John Wells, Project Engineer for Ander­son Perry & Associates, gave recommendations on how the City should best respond to levee deficiencies noted in a recent inspection by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The inspection was a rela­tively short Routine Inspec­tion - a visual inspection required annually by the Corps. in order for Waitsburg to retain eligibility in the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Re­habilitation Program. Every five years, the Corp performs a much more comprehen­sive Periodic Inspection. Inspections result in ratings of Acceptable, Minimally Acceptable or Unacceptable. Entities receiving an Unac­ceptable rating are no longer eligible for the Rehabilitation Program.

Wells recommended do­ing what is necessary to remain active in the Program which provides federal as­sistance to restore a levee to its previous condition in the event of a high water inci­dent. He said the Corps re­port showed three main areas of concern: low capacity, an over-steep embankment and excess vegetation.

Wells described how the Waitsburg levee was devel­oped in the 1930's and was not designed at a 100-year flood elevation. In the 1940's and 1960's the Corps. added rip-rap abutments, but the levee still doesn't meet Army Corps standards.

While increasing capac­ity and decreasing the bank slope would be expensive undertakings, Wells said there was some "low hanging fruit" the City could address to maintain the required Minimally Acceptable rat­ing.

He specifically men­tioned cleaning out a cul­vert and discharge pipe just upstream of Main Street, near the pool, and running a camera through to perform a video inspection. He also suggested removal of any leaning or falling trees and enough brush to allow for easy visual inspection of the levee.

The Council asked about a report reference to a fish trap and building the Corps wants removed. Public Works Di­rector Dan Katsel explained that, two years ago, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) asked permission to place a fish trap along the river near the City's Waste Water Treatment Plant. In addition to placing the trap, they built a building and rip-rap was removed. Fish & Wildlife is currently in disagreement with the Corp over whether or not the building should be removed.

Wells explained that the Corps and the WDFW are still at odds over the issue of vegetation in general. WDFW would like vegeta­tion retained to provide fish habitat.

"The current position of the Corps is that all vegeta­tion should be removed, but they're still studying the issue. It's not a done deal," said Wells. "The City should continue to work on it and show responsiveness but you don't want to rip everything out and then have regula­tions change."