Metropolitan King County Council
516 Third Ave., Rm. 1200
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: 206-296-1000
Toll Free: 800-325-6165
TTY/TDD: 206-296-1024
Fax: 206-296-0198

council@kingcounty.gov
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About the King County Flood Control Zone District

The Metropolitan King County Council created a new countywide government, the King County Flood Control Zone District (FCZD), on April 16, 2007, with responsibility for developing a plan for funding a backlog of maintenance and repairs to King County's aging system of 500 levees and hardened embankments.

All 9 members of the Council sit as the District's Board of Supervisors.

The FCZD replaces 12 separate districts that addressed areas of localized flooding, with little or no coordination between them. The new countywide FCZD is aimed at saving lives, protecting property and ensuring that a significant portion of King County's economic infrastructure is safe from the damage that can be caused by winter storms.

The King County Flood Hazard Management Plan

The King County FCZD will implement the 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan, a blueprint for county management of the 500 flood control facilities throughout incorporated and unincorporated King County that help prevent flooding and work to contain floodwaters when flooding occurs. It was adopted by the Council in January as Ordinance 15673 (Proposed 2006-0293).

The goals of the Plan are to:

• Reduce the risks from flood and channel migration hazards.
• Avoid or minimize the environmental impacts of flood hazard management.
• Reduce the long-term costs of flood hazard management.

The Plan identifies a range of $179 million to $335 million in priority repairs and upgrades over the next decade, including work on flood containment levees and bank stabilization projects. The county has more than 25,000 acres within the mapped, 100-year floodplain, or more than 40-square miles.

The Flood Hazard Management Plan recommends that funding for the new King County FCZD come from a countywide property tax levy. The King County Council, sitting as the Board of Supervisors of the FCZD, would have the authority to approve such a levy in a separate legislative action. Of the 13 local flood districts being dissolved by the approved legislation, only one – the Green River Flood Control Zone District—exercised its statutory authority to assess levies to fund flood control projects.

The plan addresses flood hazards associated with King County’s six major river systems, which are the South Fork Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Sammamish, Cedar, Green, and White Rivers; and their significant tributaries, the Tolt, Raging, Miller, and Greenwater Rivers.

The Flood Hazard Management Plan also addresses flood hazards along other tributaries and small streams, including those with existing flood protection facilities like Tokul Creek, Kimball Creek, Coal Creek (in Upper Snoqualmie Basin), Issaquah Creek, Fifteen-Mile Creek, and Holder Creek.

Flood Control Zone District Advisory Committee

The legislation adopted on April 16 to create the FCZD, (Ordinance 15728, Proposed 2006-0334), also created a Flood Control Zone District Advisory Committee responsible for making recommendations to the FCZD Board of Supervisors on flood control project planning and funding allocations. The Advisory Committee will consist of:

• Representatives of cities that have historically experienced significant flooding due to their locations within floodplains,

• The cities of Bellevue and Seattle,

• Representatives of the Suburban Cities Association (SCA) as chosen by the SCA on a rotating basis among four groupings of member cities,

• A member from an Unincorporated Area Council (UAC).

While the County Council will not have a member on the advisory committee, Councilmembers will be allowed direct contact with members of the advisory committee, will be able to attend meetings of the committee, and participate in advisory committee discussions.

Get More Information on the Flood Control Zone District
You can read copies of the staff reports on the legislation discussed above, including information of committee and council amendments, by going to the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system and entering the appropriate ordinance number. For more information on Flood Control Zone District review of the adopted Flood Plan and proposed legislation, please contact Ricardo Bautista, Legislative Analyst, at 206-296-0329 or ricardo.bautista@kingcounty.gov.


 

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