DARRINGTON — A slushy 2 inches of snow fell in the Stillaguamish River’s upper reaches Thursday night, just in time to qualify as a white Christmas for folks in Darrington.
That snow might not be so welcome in one rural neighborhood nearby, along Squire Creek. If a warm storm turns the snow into a flood, Ted Nowell worries about how the flood patterns might change course because of some new logs.
Walking Friday along a path parallel to Squire Creek, Nowell pointed to a newly eroded bank near the logjam.
"This trail when I bought the place in 1993 was 100 feet from the creek," Nowell said. "And now it’s what — 20 feet?"
Nowell would prefer to remove the logs, which showed up during the late October flood that damaged more than 200 homes in Snohomish County.
But rules designed to protect salmon habitat require logjams to stay in the river. Biologists say the logs provide cover for young fish and create calm pools for tiring spawners to rest in.
Even so, biologist David Brock of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife gave Nowell an emergency permit to remove the logs during a flood in November. But Nowell could not get the work done safely during the permit’s five-day window because of high water.
Now that the emergency has passed, getting that kind of permit is more difficult.
Brock said his department would continue to work with Nowell. But Brock also said the problem’s origins go back many years to when Snohomish County first allowed people to live too close to streams.
"The solution is to not permit houses in floodways and to move houses out of the floodways," Brock said.
Snohomish County has negotiated buyouts in the past, including one a few miles downstream in recent years, but such deals are not easily pulled off and usually require at least several landowners willing to sell.
Brock said Nowell’s house is in the floodway where high water can be expected on an almost yearly basis. But Nowell said he built there after looking at county maps that showed the spot to be just outside the 100-year floodplain.
Snohomish County Fire Marshal Pam Miller, who also manages the county’s code compliance division, confirmed that Nowell built outside the floodplain.
Nowell would prefer to remove the logs, but he said his more basic request to state and county officials is to get an expert opinion on how the 100-year floodplain might have changed. He is willing to follow federal insurance rules that allow him to raise his home. He just needs to know how high, and he said his neighbors also should be notified if the floodplain has changed.
"They need to know where they stand," Nowell said.
Miller said such questions should be referred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, because the county uses federal information to map the 100-year floodplain.
Even though he prefers to remove the logjam and replace some logs in the summer, Nowell said he’s not asking others to bail him out.
"I understand the hazards of living here, and I accept them," Nowell said. "That’s life. I choose to live where I live."
Brock said the state would try to work with Nowell and still protect fish.
"It would be unfortunate if we have to keep pulling logs out of the river to protect his house but that may be what we have to do," Brock said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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