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What’s happening to the GRNRA?
The Lower Russell Levee Setback Project
October 18, 2021 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
by Eric Peters, P.E., CCS
Our member meetings are held the third Monday of every month. Check back regularly for Presentation details. Due to Covid-19, we are holding all member meetings online. Check Presentation details for a link.
About this project
The project is located on the east bank of the Green River between river mile (RM) 17.85 (S. 212th Street) and RM 19.25 (Veteran’s Drive/S. 228th St) within the City of Kent. The project driver was to replace an existing flood control levee that was eroding and not able to be rebuilt in its existing location and meet current engineering design standards. A levee failure during a flood event would damage a significant number of buildings, building contents and interrupt business. The project began planning and preliminary design in 2014 and is now under construction. Construction will be complete in 2022.
The project goals are the following:
- Increase the flow containment capacity of the flood protection system.
- Construct a flood protection system that balances policy directives regarding flood protection (e.g., scour protection, stability, and vegetation maintenance), habitat restoration, and recreational use.
- Set the new flood protection system back from the river, where feasible, to improve riverine and riparian processes, functions, and habitat.
- Design a system that minimizes long-term maintenance needs and associated costs. The project resulted in flood protection system that is a combination of floodwall and levee, setback from the river. Riparian habitat will be significantly expanded with the levee setback. Recreation improvements include expanded shoreline access, constructed trails of various types, replacement Van Doren’s Landing Park and hand carry boat launch. More information may be found on the project’s web page.
Erik Peters is a civil engineer with King County’s River and Floodplain Management Section. He has over twenty-three years of experience working for private consulting and King County. His expertise is in water resources engineering. His experience ranges from planning to design and construction management. Erik has a BS and MS in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota.
New Environmental Center?
This construction will result in the relocation of the former Van Doren’s Landing Park to the east side of the new levee. The city is also looking into the possibility of creating a new Environmental Center at this location. We will follow Eric’s presentation with a short update about this from Rowena Valencia-Gica, Environmental Supervisor with the City of Kent.
