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Officials urge faster, flexible buyouts and floodplain restoration after December floods
Summary
After December 2025 storms, Partnership speakers and county and tribal representatives told the Leadership Council that prior buyouts and floodplain reconnections reduced damage but that faster, more flexible acquisition funds, better hazard mapping, and tribal inclusion are needed to scale relief across Puget Sound.
Mindy Roberts, the partnership’s newly introduced executive director, and agency staff on March 5 heard a multi‑hour briefing showing how decades of buyouts, levee setbacks and restoration projects limited damage in the December 2025 atmospheric‑river floods — and why leaders say state, federal and philanthropic money needs to move faster.
The presentations focused on how “room‑for‑the‑river” projects reduced velocity and spread floodwaters into restored floodplains, protecting homes, roads and fisheries. "Public investments are paying off," said the Floodplains by Design lead (Bonneville Environmental Foundation), noting an estimated $182,000,000-plus in recovery needs from the December storms and a growing pipeline of ready projects.
Speakers argued that scaling those results requires three changes: nimble, voluntary acquisition funds to seize willing sellers; improved flood and…
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