Flood Authority announces changes, plans

Published 1:30 am Monday, April 20, 2026

Since November 2025, the Flood Authority has braced itself for the departure of its long-serving leader, Vickie Raines.

Vickie served as chair of the Flood Authority for the last 14 years and established a tone and practice of delivering practical results across the Basin to the benefit of all communities — fish and flood.

Raines also served in parallel to the chair the Chehalis Basin Board for the past 10 years, providing balanced and effective leadership focused on delivering results for all communities in the Basin, flood and fish communities.

While Raines has now moved on to new chapters and new challenges, the Flood Authority continues its mission of identifying, implementing, and supporting flood and fish solutions across the Basin.

In January 2026, under the new leadership of Edna Fund as chair of the Flood Authority and Brian Shay as vice chair, the Flood Authority member jurisdictions again, as they have done individually and collectively for nearly a decade, authored a resolution supporting open, transparent, and “information rich” decision-making on the proposed flow-through dam for flood control currently being evaluated by state and federal environmental authorities.

Brian Shay said, “Vickie did a tremendous job, and her departure is a big loss, but the work of the Flood Authority will continue full steam ahead.”