Army Corps to fund next steps of flood barrier improvements

Published 1:30 pm Friday, October 31, 2025

Improvements and expansions are coming to the barrier system that helps protect Juneau from glacial outburst flooding, and they’ll be fully funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. USACE will also begin work on planning long-term solutions for flood mitigation.

The City and Borough of Juneau formally accepted assistance from USACE during a committee meeting on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Representatives from USACE — John Rajek, chief of the geotechnical and engineering services branch, Daryl Downing, Public Law 84-99 program manager, and Mike Records, hydraulics and hydrology civil engineer — attended the meeting to present the plan.

“They’ve secured funding, applied lots of pressure to folks back in D.C., and we could not have done any of this without them,” said Mayor Beth Weldon.

USACE Public Law 84-99 program allows the Army Corps to directly fund and assist emergency flood mitigation efforts. The consistency of glacial outburst floods in Juneau make the city eligible for help from the program.

The assistance agreement comes at a crucial time. According to an agenda document by City Manager Katie Koester, CBJ anticipates reduced funding for emergency responses due to recently approved tax-cutting ballot measures.

USACE’s assistance will build on Phase 2 of a flood mitigation plan that began earlier this year.

Last spring, USACE provided 37,800 linear feet of HESCO barriers for Phase 1, though CBJ was responsible for fortifying and repairing those barriers.

The USACE will install another 46,000 feet of temporary flood barriers under Phase 2, expanding up and downstream from the Phase 1 barriers. Under Thursday’s agreement, USACE will handle engineering design, procurement and stabilization of the Phase 2 barriers. The city is responsible for managing outreach and permitting for installation on private land.

The Phase 2 barriers are set to be completed by July 15, 2026.

The Army Corps will also evaluate “enduring” or long-term flood control options.

These include flood-control dams to reduce peak flows, levees or floodwalls along the Mendenhall River, a bypass channel to increase capacity, a lake tap from Suicide Basin to Mendenhall Lake or relocating infrastructure within high-risk flood zones.