2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan
(Final, January 2007)

On January 17, 2007, the King County Council adopted the 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan. This functional plan of the King County Comprehensive Plan proposes a much-needed fix to King County's aging system of 500 levees and revetments that protect urban and rural floodplain residents, businesses, regional economic centers, public infrastructure and roads.

Many of the county's levees no longer function as originally designed 40 years ago. The November 2006 flood event, which resulted in a federal disaster declaration, highlights the urgent need to shore up King County's aging flood-protection system, as evidenced by saturated levees, sloughing, cracking and slumping.

Since it is not a question of if there will be a major flood event in King County, but a question of when the next event will occur, King County is proposing to fix these failing flood protection facilities to reduce the likelihood of future flooding disasters.

The 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan recommends contemporary flood hazard mitigation strategies to reduce flood risks to tens of thousands of people, billions of dollars in economic infrastructure and major transportation corridors.

To address the backlog of maintenance and repairs to levees and revetments, the 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan identifies a range of $179 million to $335 million in priority repairs and upgrades over the next decade, and recommends the creation a countywide flood control district to fund the plan.

• Read the Executive Summary [Adobe, 39K]
  
• View a map of project locations and the problems they solve [Adobe, 2.2Mb]
  
• Read the adopted plan
  
• View the January 16, 2007 flood plan presentation to King County Council
  
• View a two minute video of the November 2006 flood event [Windows Media]
  

The King County Flood Control Zone District was established in April, 2007 by the Metropolitan King County Council to protect public health and safety, regional economic centers, public and private properties and transportation corridors.

Download the plan here:

The 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan is provided in Adobe Acrobat format with file size, in sections to enable faster downloads. For help using Acrobat, please visit our Acrobat Help page.

• Front Cover [ 755 Kb]
  
• Front Material [ 252 Kb]

Inside Cover
Acknowledgements
County Representatives
Table of Contents
List of Appendices
List of Maps
List of Tables
List of Figures

• Executive Summary [39 Kb]
  
• Chapter 1 – Introduction [43 Kb]
  • Map 1-1 Geographic Scope of Flood Hazard Management Plan [Adobe, 4.2MB]
    
• Chapter 2 – Policies [64 Kb]
  
• Chapter 3 – Flooding in King County [228 Kb]
  
• Chapter 4 – Flood River Reduction Strategies and Tool [3.2 Mb]
  
• Chapter 5 – Basin Specific Characteristics and Action Plan [Adobe, 687K]
  • Map 5-1 South Fork Skykomish River [600 Kb]
  • Map 5-2 Upper Snoqualmie River [910 Kb]
  • Map 5-3 Lower Snoqualmie River [1.4 Mb]
  • Map 5-4 Tolt River [493 Kb]
  • Map 5-5 Raging River [463 Kb]
  • Map 5-6 Sammamish River [724 Kb]
  • Map 5-7 Cedar River [1.1 Mb]
  • Map 5-8 Green River [2.0 Mb]
  • Map 5-9 White River [1.0 Mb]
    
• Chapter 6 – Implementation and Strategy [50 Kb]
  
• Chapter 7 – Funding [557 Kb]
  
• References [61 Kb]
  
• Glossary [57 Kb]

Appendices

• Appendix A – National Flood Insurance Program/CRS Activity 510 Crosswalk [526 Kb]
  
• Appendix B – Floodplain Management Regulations [55 Kb]
  
• Appendix C – King County Flood Risk Assessment [1.1 Mb]
  
• Appendix D – Accomplishments Since 1993 [165 Kb]
  
• Appendix E – King County Flood Protection Facilities [91 Kb]
  
• Appendix F – Action Plan [121 Kb]
  
• Appendix G – Flood Hazard Management Risk Areas [1.3 Mb]

Printed copies of the Executive Proposed 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan have been distributed to the following public libraries for public access:

• Auburn Library
• Bellevue Regional Library
• Bothell Regional Library
• Carnation Library
• Duvall Library
• Fairwood Library
• Fall City Library
• Issaquah Library
• Kent Regional Library
• Maple Valley Library
• Muckleshoot Library
• North Bend Library
• Redmond Regional Library
• Skykomish Library
• Snoqualmie Library
• Tukwila Library

For questions about the 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan, please contact Priscilla Kaufmann, Project Manager, River and Floodplain Management Unit.

For questions about the Water and Land Resources Web site, please contact Fred Bentler, webmaster.

Department of Natural Resources and Parks
Water and Land Resources Division

Updated: Dec. 21, 2007

King County Watersheds

Stormwater Topics

Hydrologic Information Center

Shoreline Management

Greenprint for King County

King County Flood Control Zone District