The Office of the Chehalis Basin (OCB) board has backed a bill in the state Legislature that provides funds for flood mitigation and aquatic species restoration.

The board met in Chehalis last week to discuss Rep. Richard DeBolt’s Substitute House Bill 1154.

The Chehalis Republican submitted the bill to provide general obligation bond funds totalling $700 million over 14 years for the OCB, which is a part of the state Department of Ecology. The OCB works with the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority and others to prioritize funding requests, which are then submitted directly to the Legislature.

The OCB was created by the Legislature in 2016 to administer state funding to implement the Chehalis Basin Strategy, which includes short and long term goals and projects to reduce flood damage and restore aquatic species and their habitat. The OCB board has seven voting members: three appointed by the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority, one from each of the Chehalis and Quinault tribes, and two appointees selected by the Office of the Governor.

Grays Harbor County Commissioner Vickie Raines is the board’s chairwoman; she is one of the three Flood Authority picks on the OCB. Other voting members of the board are Edna Fund and Jay Gordon, both members of the Flood Authority; Tyson Johnston, a member of the Quinault Indian Nation; Harry Pickernell, member of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation; and Steve Malloch and J. Vander Stoep, who both were appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee.

Projects the OCB has secured multiple millions of dollars for in Grays Harbor County include the Aberdeen-Hoquiam-North Shore Levee and the protection projects for the Montesano Water Treatment Facility.

Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes, who is not a member of the board, encouraged the OCB board to back the bill and expressed his city’s support for the board and the bill at last week’s meeting.

“Our support continues unwavering for the work of this committee and the Legislature in seeking funds for what has been identified as a basin wide solution, not only to address flooding, but also to address habitat restoration, and all of the various interests of the people that make up our basin,” Dawes said.

He recalled the 2007 Chehalis River floods, which forced the closure of Interstate 5 for several days and is estimated to have caused more than $166 million in damages.

“I understand, yes, that $700 million over the next seven bienniums is a considerable amount of money,” Dawes said. “But I would put to you that if we do nothing, the $700 million will be almost a drop in the bucket so to speak, to the damage that could happen when we get these major floods.”

The board backed the funds without comment Wednesday, but they did have concerns about how the money would be spent.

“I think we could support this bill if we get some language in it that, I don’t want to use the word ‘guarantees,’ but kind of dictates that we split the ($700 million) as equally as we can with flooding (mitigation) and habitat restoration,” Pickernell said.

The OCB board also discussed the amount of votes required from the seven member board to approve funding.

“I would support an amendment to the legislation that says that the Office of the Chehalis Basin would require up to six votes before moneys were spent …,” Vander Stoep said. Vander Stoep is a lawyer from Chehalis. “Six (votes) would assure that people from both interests have to agree, which I think is going to be necessary to go forward.”

Vander Stoep said the interests he spoke about were “fish people and flood people.” The board is a diverse body, but in overly simplistic terms, it often can be boiled down to people who prioritize supporting the re-establishment of aquatic species and people who tend to be mainly concerned with flood mitigation.

The OCB board agreed to back the legislation with the request that the money be required to be split evenly and requires six votes for spending approval.

HB 1154 was scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Capital Budget on Tuesday in Olympia.

Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes addresses the Office of the Chehalis Basin board Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Chehalis. (Michael Lang | Grays Harbor News Group)