Local flood group joining forces with BEIPC

KELLOGG — Over the past few decades the ongoing CERCLA (superfund) cleanup has been moving forward throughout Shoshone County, giving the area a much needed makeover.

But for people who live in the areas along the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River or along Pine Creek, all that work and progress could easily be undone should a 100-year flood event occur.

The 100-year flood is also referred to as the 1 percent flood, since its annual occurrence probability is 1 percent.

For river systems such as ours, the 100-year flood is generally expressed as a flow rate. Based on the expected flow rate, the water level can be mapped as an area of inundation.

The resulting map is referred to as the 100-year floodplain and the areas along the South Fork and Pine Creek exist as one of these floodplains.

The threat of such an event has prompted leaders from the local communities to band together to form the Silver Valley Flood Protection Group. The group’s mission is to find a way to make sure that when a major event happens that they have plans in place to properly handle the situation.

In a 2017 letter from group member and Shoshone County commissioner Mike Fitzgerald, sent to the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission, the group outlined where their primary focus is.

“We are very concerned about the potential damage to our communities, as well as the $87 million in CERCLA remedies estimated to be damaged, or destroyed by a 100-year flood occurrence,” Fitzgerald wrote. “We have also recently learned that a 50-year rain on snow event could potentially cause similar destruction.”

One of the biggest issues, and potentially the biggest remedy, to the issue would be to reinforce or reconstruct the levee system that runs along the South Fork, as well as Pine Creek. This course of action would cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.

Historically, representatives from Shoshone County have petitioned to have their plight looked at and fixed, but government officials who disperse funds for these types of projects have not looked at the problem with the same urgency.

“We need to get higher up on the priority list,” Fitzgerald said. “We regularly fall through the cracks and we’re hoping that having a bigger agency back us will be the thing that gets us noticed.”

When Fitzgerald says bigger agency, what he means is another reference to the SVFPG’s letter, where he outlined their intentions for partnering with BEIPC.

“We have decided that it would be best for the eight local jurisdictions in the Silver Valley to form a partnership with the BEIPC, with BEIPC serving as a special flood council for the Upper Coeur d’Alene Basin so that we can continue to work together toward common goals,” Fitzgerald wrote. “Past experience working with the BEIPC has shown us that we work well together on these types of situations.”

Fitzgerald added why this could be a beautiful thing for Shoshone County.

“It’s really these two groups trying to step up to help people,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re seeing a need and stepping up to try to do something to better the residents of Shoshone County.”