TUKWILA, Wash. — The water level on the Green River is expected to rise by up to two feet as officials are expecting to return the Howard A. Hinson Dam to normal water flows in the coming days.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reduced the flow when the Desimone Levee breached on Monday in Tukwila.
The water restriction temporarily slowed the flow of the river, but officials say they need to revert to the normal outflow to make space in the reservoir.
“We understand rivers are stressed with continued high flows and conditions on the ground may be changing,” said Travis Ball, Seattle District chief of hydraulic and coastal engineering. “We’ll continue to evaluate outflows as we work to regain space in the reservoir in anticipation of the upcoming storm event this week, as well as provide downstream flood risk reduction as safely as possible.”
The water flow is expected to increase by about 10% to return to normal levels, according to a press release by the corps.
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Engineers returned to the Tukwila breach site on Tuesday to evaluate the strength of the temporary patch, which appeared to be holding up well.
County officials said there are multiple weak spots on the levee system that they are worried about potentially breaching.
“(There are) more than a dozen, I would suspect, across the entire system, some more severe than others,” said John Taylor, the director of King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks.
RELATED | King County official warns of over a dozen weak spots in levee system amid recent breaches
Another levee breach on the White River sent water pouring into the town of Pacific early Tuesday morning, prompting hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes.
Heavy rains continued across much of the Pacific Northwest, prompting concerns that river levels could continue to rise even more.
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