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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Repairs Planned For Latah Creek Levee

A section of levee in a hidden corner of Hangman Valley is going to be repaired this spring in a cooperative project involving the city and the Army Corps of Engineers.

About 250 feet of a 500-foot levee near Oak Street and Inland Empire Way washed out during the Jan. 1 flood on Latah Creek.

The dike protects about three homes and farmland tucked on the west side of the creek, which in that section is below the High Drive bluff.

Bruce Steele, city transportation director, said the cost of repairs is estimated at $115,000. The city is contributing $23,000 of that amount.

He said the levee, constructed during the 1950s, last washed out in a flood in 1974.

A streamflow gauge downstream measured the flood at 25,000 cubic feet per second, which broke the old record of 20,600 cfs set in 1963.

By comparison, that is about the same amount of water as the Spokane River carries during the peak of spring runoff.

, DataTimes