Installation of HESCO barriers intended to protect hundreds of Mendenhall Valley homes from glacial outburst floods began Monday on Killewich Drive, with the first phase of the semipermanent levee along a two-mile stretch of the Mendenhall River scheduled for completion by July, according to the City and Borough of Juneau.
The HESCO barriers, controversial among residents who question their effectiveness and adverse impacts on affected property owners, are seen by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers experts as the only protection option feasible before another flood is likely this year. The Corps is providing the barriers free to CBJ, but the city is responsible for the installation and maintenance cost — and is billing 466 property owners in the neighborhood about $6,300 to cover 40% of that cost.
“Contractors began site and access preparation for the HESCO barrier installation at several locations along the barrier alignment earlier in the week,” a notice posted on CBJ’s Facebook page Tuesday states. “We appreciate the ongoing communication and coordination with area residents and riverfront property owners in particular; please watch for construction equipment and personnel and follow construction traffic control signage.”
Daniel Wayne, one of the property owners on Killewich Drive who will see HESCO barriers placed in his backyard, said Tuesday there’s no visible activity near his house yet of the installations. He said officials recently staked out an area on the property where the barriers will go.
“The certified letter we got a few days ago says they’ll give us 48 hours’ notice before they start turning earth or whatever,” he said.
But Wayne said he’s “not banking on that” since specific details from officials so far about the installation have been sparse. He was among the residents urging the Juneau Assembly and other local leaders to consider an alternative to the fees he and 465 other property owners will pay for protection as part of a new Local Improvement District (LID). Among his reasons: his riverside home wasn’t damaged during record floods the past two years, and the barriers will lower the value and enjoyment of his property.
“I think that the barrier is necessary to protect my neighbors from being flooded because there isn’t any other short-term solution that could work that I can think of — I’m not an engineer,” he said. “I don’t mind chipping in some money for it. I do mind having the city tell me that regardless of how I feel about it they’re going to come in when they want and where they want, and do stuff to my yard, and they’re not going to pay me any money. In fact, they’re going to charge me money and there’s nothing I can do about it.’”
Glacial outburst floods, also known as jökulhlaups, have occurred since 2011 from Suicide Basin above the face of the Mendenhall Glacier. Record-level floods in early August of the past two years have damaged more than 300 homes and experts say similarly severe floods are probable during future years due largely to climate change impacts.
The Assembly in early February unanimously approved an ordinance establishing the LID after formal objections were filed by 117 of the 466 property owners. Property owners will have up to 10 years to pay the required fee. Also, four of the property owners are required to pay an additional $50,000 for riverbank armoring that now lines most of the affected area.
Nila Treston, another Killewich Drive resident who suffered flood damage to her home last year, said there aren’t any visible signs of installation yet near where she lives. She said she’ll be spared having barriers on her property since it isn’t on the riverbank, but is OK paying the charge as part of the LID.
“We feel that the city asked the Army Corps of Engineers, who are the experts on this, and this is what they suggested,” she said. “We don’t mind paying the LID. I know that some is a hardship for some people and I got the impression that maybe the city is going to work with them on that. I personally am going to keep writing to whoever and whatever authority so that we can try to fast-track a permanent solution for this, so that all the people on the river (will) have those barriers up for the least amount of time they have to be up.”
The Army Corps of Engineers is estimating a permanent solution — such as a drainage tunnel through a mountain next to Suicide Basin — could take a decade or more to study and implement, due to the complexity of the project and regulatory issues since it is U.S. Forest Service land.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III (R-AK) both said during recent visits to Juneau they consider that timeline excessive and cited President Donald Trump’s scaling back of federal regulations via executive order as a way faster action may be possible.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
