Ecology announces lower basin session to comment on Chehalis River flow-through dam

By The Chronicle • December 8, 2025 1:30 am
The image is from a video that comes as progress continues on plans for the redesigned structure Salmon pass below a flow-through dam on the Chehalis River near Pe Ell in this digital rendering provided by the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District.
The image is from a video that comes as progress continues on plans for the redesigned structure Salmon pass below a flow-through dam on the Chehalis River near Pe Ell in this digital rendering provided by the Chehalis River Basin Flood Control Zone District.

The Office of Chehalis Basin is bringing the party to the lower basin to talk about a new environmental impact statement for a proposed flood-mitigating flow-through dam.

The Office of Chehalis Basin and the Washington state Department of Ecology announced Wednesday afternoon that they would hold an additional public meeting in Aberdeen next month on Jan. 13.

The more than two-hour meeting will share the Washington state Department of Ecology’s draft environmental impact statement (EIS) and take public comment on the issue.

According to the announcement from the state, the lower basin meeting is set to start at 5:30 p.m. at the Rotary Log Pavilion in Aberdeen. The event will start as an open house before an information session begins at 6 p.m. followed by a public comment session.

Last month, Ecology released its draft EIS for the proposed flow-through dam that would be built near Pe Ell. That facility is often called a Flood Retention Expandable, or FRE. The proposed facility is meant to hold back a set amount of water during catastrophic floods in the upper basin.

After announcing the draft EIS, Ecology and the Office of Chehalis Basin announced the start of a 75-day public comment period and a number of ways for residents of the basin to participate.

Two public meetings to be held on the Centralia College campus were announced initially. The first is scheduled for next week on Tuesday, Dec. 9, and the second for Tuesday, Jan 6. Those meetings will start at the same time with an open house starting at 5:30 p.m. followed by an information session at 6 p.m. The Aberdeen meeting is the third to be arranged and the only meeting to be held in the lower basin.

The Office of Chehalis Basin and the Department of Ecology will also host two online public hearings scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11, and Thursday, Jan.8. Both meetings will begin at 6 p.m. For information on how to join the online meetings, visit https://tinyurl.com/ksjvnf9b.

Residents of the basin can also submit comments through the mail. Any comments received by the department by Feb. 4 will be included in the final draft EIS, which is expected to be released in the middle of next year. Residents can address their comments to SEPA Revised Draft EIS for the Chehalis Flood Damage Reduction Project, c/o Bobbak Talebi, P.O. Box 47775, Olympia, WA, 98504-7775.