Juneau officials propose two-mile HESCO barrier and LID to protect Mendenhall Valley homes ahead of 2025 season

Juneau City and Borough officials on an evening in January outlined a plan to install temporary HESCO flood barriers along roughly two miles of the Mendenhall River to protect homes damaged in recent outburst floods. City Manager Katie Kester and Chief Engineer John Bohan said the work would be paid for through a Local Improvement District (LID) that preliminarily assesses $6,292 to each of 466 properties, with a 10‑year repayment at the 4.78% interest rate set by city code.

The city presented the proposed Phase 1 alignment — from Marion Drive to Rivercourt Way — as a constructible short‑term flood‑fighting project intended to reduce the chance of repeated, severe inundation in the valley before a long‑term solution can be designed and permitted. “We need to keep the water in the river,” Chief Engineer John Bohan told residents during the meeting, summarizing the immediate goal of the barriers.

Why it matters: Officials said Phase 1 would protect 314 of the 322 homes the city recorded as damaged in the August 2024 outburst flood. Staff and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers emphasized that the HESCO system is a temporary, deployable flood‑fighting measure intended to buy time while a separate, Army Corps General Investigation (GI) study looks at permanent options.

What the barriers are and how they would be used: Bohan and Army Corps representatives described HESCO barriers as wire‑mesh, fabric‑lined baskets roughly 3 feet wide by 4 feet high, sold in roughly 15‑foot sections. Units can be stacked and placed in multiple parallel lines; three stacked units would provide about 12 feet of barrier height. The city described site preparation, bank armoring in vulnerable locations, inlet/outlet…