Floodgate helped Stanwood dry out

Published 10:17 pm Tuesday, January 27, 2009

STANWOOD — Stillaguamish Flood Control District officials are celebrating a win.

The district’s new floodgate passed its first big test with flying colors, quickly discharging an estimated 80 million cubic feet of floodwater back into what local people refer to as the Old Stilly, the river’s channel south of Stanwood. That’s a volume equivalent to about 4 feet of water covering 450 acres, district spokesman Max Albert said. In all, it took just 36 hours following the crest of the river on Jan. 8 to clear the flooded farmland.

With its lightweight hatches open wide, the floodgate was able — in record time — to move the water off the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks and Marine Drive, Albert said.

Built in 2007 with the help of grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the city of Stanwood and Snohomish County, the floodgate replaced a 100-foot section of levee south of Highway 532 at 92nd Avenue NW near Stanwood’s sewer treatment plant.

Craig Beecroft, who has a small farm about a half-mile east of the floodgate, called the new flood-control structure a big success.

In previous years, Beecroft and his neighbors often waited for three to four days to be able to use Marine Drive. The new floodgate moved the water so quickly that people started their cleanup efforts a day and a half after the river’s crest, Beecroft said.

“I had six feet of water around my house. Before the floodgate, I would have sat in a lake for days,” he said. “This time the floodwater went out in a continuous flow. It was awesome. Saying the floodgate was successful is really an understatement.”

The flood control district hopes to build more such projects to alleviate flood effects in the Stillaguamish River valley, Albert said.

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.

Learn more

For information about the Stillaguamish Flood Control District, call district commission chairman Chuck Hazleton at 360-652-9233.