November 2006 Flood Event Prompted a Review

Pierce County is applying for state and federal funding to acquire flood damaged and impacted properties from the November 2006 Flood Event. Many properties located along the Puyallup and Carbon Rivers, as well as an area near Clover Creek in Spanaway, were significantly damaged or impacted by the floods.

Pierce County received requests from more than 50 property owners interested in being considered for a buy-out if funding is secured. A list of interested property owners was developed and a Level 1 Cost Benefit Analysis was performed for each of the properties.

This served to sort out geographically where the most impacted properties had occurred and to determine feasibility versus benefit of acquiring the various properties (See Table 1). This analysis was also needed since potential state and federal funding for property acquisitions is very limited. Acquisition projects have to be grouped, ranked, and prioritized.

Public Meeting Presentations

Potential FEMA HMGP Dr-1734 Flood Damaged Property Land Acquisition Funding - pdf (27 pages - 2,217kb)

Flood Control Account Assistance Program (FCAAP)

Based on the results of the Level 1Cost Benefit Analysis, Surface Water Management applied for Washington State Department of Ecology funding as follows:

• State of Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE)
  Flood Control Account Assistance Program (FCAAP)
  Puyallup River Riverside Drive - River Mile 12.4 Right Bank
  $500,000 in Potential Grant Funding
  Possibly Acquire Up to Four Properties

Surface Water Management should know whether the WDOE will award Pierce County a FCAAP grant by the end of September 2007.

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)

HMGP Application Review Timeline (pdf)

Based on the results of the Level 1 Cost Benefit Analysis, Surface Water Management applied for federal funding as follows:

• State of Washington Department of Emergency Management (WDEM) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
  
  
  1. Presidential Declared Disaster Declaration DR-1671 (November 2006 Flood Event) - Two Applications Allowed with potential funding not exceeding $1,000,000 for each application.
  A. Application 1 (235 pages; 25.6 MB): Carbon River Alward Road: River Miles 6.0 and 6.6 Right and Left Bank. Possibly Acquire Up to Four Properties (See Table 2).
  B. Application 2 (233 pages; 25.7 MB): Carbon River Alward Road - River Mile 6.6 Left Bank; Possibly Acquire Up to Four Properties (See Table 3).
  C. Applications were completed and submitted to WDEM on June 30, 2007.
  
  2. Presidential Declared Disaster Declaration DR-1682 (December 2006 Windstorm) - Two Applications Allowed with potential funding not exceeding $1,000,000 for each application.
  A. Application 1: (252 pages; 35 MB) Carbon River Alward Road - River Mile 6.9 Left Bank Possibly Acquire Up to Five Properties (See Table 4).
  B. Application 2: (275 pages; 39.4 MB) Puyallup River Neadham Road - River Mile 26.0 Right Bank Possibly Acquire Up to Four Properties (See Table 5).
  C. Applications were completed and submitted to WDEM by July 31, 2007.
  D. Table 6.

WDEM and FEMA will notify applicants of any grant awards by the end of December 2007.