For residents of Downtown and East Talkeetna, the convergence of the three rivers has long been a source of livelihood and recreation. At the same time, floods pose a substantial risk to lives and property in the area. A cooperative effort between the Mat-Su Borough and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes to allow Talkeetnans to rest a little easier, but they say they they need some help from property owners to make things run smoothly.
Back in April, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held an online meeting outlining some of the potential plans for a project under Part 205 of the Federal Flood Control Act. That federal law allows for flood control projects that meet certain criteria to be constructed on a cost-sharing basis, with the federal government picking up two-thirds of the tab.
After years of trying, the Mat-Su Borough got Talkeetna on the list for potential project sites. Now, the Army Corps is coming to the area to compare how existing data and modeling compare to the ground truth, as Project Manager David Williams explains.
“There are basically three types of data that we are looking for–possibly four in some cases. What we are looking for is visual confirmation of the conditions that we are seeing [in modeling data.]”
Those categories include hydraulics, potential property value that could be saved if a flood were prevented, compliance with federal environmental rules, and preservation of cultural sites.
To do that, Williams says his team needs access to multiple pieces of private property. He says the Corps of Engineers has received returned consent letters from the majority of property owners along the river, but some have not yet responded. According to Williams, most site visits will take a couple of hours, and the plan is for the team to visit multiple properties each day they come to town, though it is possible that the process could take longer in some cases.
Williams says data gathered so far has not pointed to a single possible plan that would work best. Options on the table include flood walls, levees, and raising some infrastructure. Since there is no clear best option yet, Williams says studies are continuing.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that we need to input that data into the model before we start selecting alternatives that are most likely to succeed….”
While studies continue, the timeline for the next round of public meetings has been pushed back. Originally, the plan was for a second public meeting this month to further discuss potential plans as the Army Corps of Engineers got closer to a decision. For now, the next meeting is likely to happen in early September, and Williams says even that one will not involve a final determination. He emphasizes that there are clear criteria the Army Corps of Engineers must meet before ground can be broken on a project.
“The whole intent, here, is to identify alternatives that, one, are effective, two, are affordable, and three, are acceptable to the public.”
In this case, affordable means in the neighborhood of fifteen million dollars. The project could theoretically go beyond that in scope, but any additional costs would fall solely on the Mat-Su Borough and the Talkeetna Flood Service Area.
Taunnie Boothby is handling the Mat-Su Borough’s side of the project. She says the borough is pursuing grant funding and other options to cover the local costs. She says owners of local businesses that operate on the rivers have provided valuable input on how things actually look during a flood.
“It’s really critical in getting this right–in getting the right information to the Corps [of Engineers] for the models–so we can get the right output. And that hospitality is so genuinely appreciated, and I just want to make sure that the community knows that.”
David Williams says a new plan has been added to the list of potential projects as a result of the tour that local operators gave to the engineering team.
