Temporary Fix Planned For Eaglewood Flooding

Spokane County is taking steps to solve - at least temporarily - the flooding problem in Eaglewood, where rising groundwater has soaked a dozen homes and is threatening others.

Although the planned dewatering system is just a temporary fix, it is expected to solve the problem around the neighborhood retention pond until a grant is approved for a complete stormwater system.

The county recently bought about one-third of an acre near State Highway 206 and the Eaglewood entrance.

County stormwater engineers are planning to pump water out of the ground near homes and to the vacant property. Contractors started drilling a test well earlier this week.

“This is a temporary solution,” said Steve Worley, Spokane stormwater engineer.

The ultimate solution, a complete stormwater system with a $1.5 million price tag, is dependent on a grant from the hazard mitigation program, a pool of state and federal money.

So far the application has made it through the first three rounds of review and could be approved by the state in March. Then it will continue through the system for federal approval.

“It takes a while to do all this, but it is the ultimate long-term solution,” said Worley.

The county will still have to pay about 12 percent of the bill. An increase in service fees to pay for the improvement is likely, but it still hasn’t been determined how those fees will be divided up, Worley said.

, DataTimes