State planners outline long-term Chehalis Basin flood and salmon strategy, invite local feedback

Nat Kale, principal planner with the Office of Chehalis Basin, told the Aberdeen City Council that the board is weighing long-term strategies to reduce flood damages and restore salmon habitat across the Chehalis Basin.

Kale said the basin has seen “dramatic decline” in salmon runs and larger, more frequent floods since the major events of 2007 and February (year not specified in briefing). He said the Chehalis Basin Board and Office have invested in more than “a 140 projects” protecting nearly 300 acres of habitat and more than 200 homes and businesses.

The board is evaluating six packaged alternatives that combine three major elements: large structural options in the upper basin (including a proposed “scoop-and-chuck” style dam), a non-dam alternative of local levees and floodwalls in and around Centralia and Chehalis, and basinwide aquatic species restoration with different levels of investment. Kale said the draft environmental review for the proposed dam is underway, with a revised draft environmental impact statement expected in November and a final EIS expected next June.

Kale identified a third decision area: what to do with an existing TransAlta-owned dam on a tributary of the basin. TransAlta is closing a coal-fired steam facility this year, and the board is considering options that range from modifying the dam to improve fish passage, to removal, to leaving it as-is.

Kale said technical teams are now analyzing the six alternatives for outcomes such as how many homes and businesses each option would protect, impacts on salmon recovery, effects on agriculture and roads, and long-term economic and environmental tradeoffs. He asked the council how best to reach Aberdeen residents and encouraged the city to share materials and direct people to the office’s online open house.

The office has scheduled two in-person open houses: Sept. 25 at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis and Oct. 8 at Montesano City Hall, both 5–7:30 p.m., and it has launched an online open house with the same information. Kale said the board will continue technical analysis through 2026 and then deliberate before issuing a recommended long-term strategy.

Vicky Raines, Grays Harbor County commissioner and chair of the Chehalis Basin Board, introduced the briefing and noted the board’s collaborative membership of tribes, local governments, agricultural and environmental interests.

Council members did not take formal action. The presentation was positioned as information and an invitation for local feedback to feed the basinwide technical work and the board’s deliberations next year.