Posted on June 13, 2018
By Andy Porter, Union-Bulletin.com
Funding for a study officials say is vital to the future of the Mill Creek Flood Control Project took a major step forward recently.
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., announced that $500,000 for the Mill Creek project study has been included in next year’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ work plan.
In the release, McMorris Rodgers said she received the news in a call from Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The Walla Walla study was one of six that Congress required the OMB to authorize when the government spending bill was passed earlier this year, McMorris Rodgers said.
The half-million dollars will be the first installment to start work on a study that has a total cost of $3 million, said Jim Johnson, Walla Walla County commission chairman. The county is part of the Mill Creek Coalition, which has been advocating for the study since 2013.
Johnson said half the funding for the study, $1.5 million, will come from the local coalition while the other half will come from the federal government.
The study would be a comprehensive examination of the approximately eight-mile long flood control channel completed by the Corps in 1948 to protect the city’s center. The study will provide the Corps with options to move forward, said Jared Powell, McMorris Rodgers’ spokesman.
Johnson said members of the coalition plan to have a conference call with McMorris Rodgers today to discuss next steps. The coalition consists of the county, city of Walla Walla, Port of Walla Walla and the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation.
Source: UB
