Andy Zahn

USACE is wrecking the Toutle River

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently working to raise the spillway of the Sediment Retention Structure on the North Fork of the Toutle River. This will result the vast wetlands which have formed behind the SRS being inundated by mud, and it will significantly delay any future efforts to restore natural fish passage to the river.

USACE is spending $35.9 Million on this project, knowing full well that it will only store sediment for a few more years, after which time they will come back to spend even more public funds raising the spillway again, wounding ecosystems and the river yet again for what amounts to a band aid solution. They are kicking the can down the road at monstrous expense to wetlands, migratory birds, salmon, the regional economy, our tax dollars, and to the safety of our communities.

*Wetlands and forests upstream of the N. Fork Toutle River Sediment Retention Structure.*

Every time they raise that spillway, USACE is essentially adding dynamite to a ticking time-bomb set to go off the next time Mt. St. Helens blows its top. When that happens, there is a very real scenario in which it takes out the SRS and buries every community downstream in volcanic mud.

The worst part is that we have alternatives to this mad plan which USACE is enacting on our public lands. The agency itself has seen great success with cross-valley structures upstream of the SRS, and dredging in the Cowlitz is an obvious, viable alternative. For the outrageous funding USACE regularly receives to muck about in the Toutle River, we could have implemented many better solutions long ago, and it’s long past time we started making better decisions here.

Farther upstream, USACE has also bungled the outlet of Spirit Lake. After Mt. St. Helens erupted, they drilled a tunnel through the ridge to prevent the lake from rising to form a new, natural outlet over the top of the debris flow. This was done out of concern that the lake might breach the debris flow if it were allowed to rise, despite this concern being little more than speculation.

Spirit Lake has been dammed by debris flows in the past, which have caused the lake to rise to form a new natural outlet, and there is little solid reason to expect that it might be any different today. Just like the Sediment Retention Structure, the Spirit Lake Tunnel cost taxpayers millions, and ever since it was built USACE has poured yet more millions into keeping it functional. For the amount of cash that has been shoveled into the Toutle River by USACE so far, we could have instead funded an effort to help all the residents and businesses downstream of the N. Fork Toutle move out of harms way.

It’s time the Toutle River stopped being treated as an Corps of Engineers playground and started being managed for salmon, ecosystems, and people who call this place home.