Army Corps plans ‘innovative’ long-term flood solution, doesn’t provide specifics

Officials say approach will be faster and cheaper than traditional process; intent is to ‘evacuate’ water from Suicide Basin 

Sean Fagan, a University of Alaska Southeast climate researcher, points to where the Mendenhall Glacier is retreating into Suicide Basin on Aug. 13, 2025. The glacier functions as a natural dam. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Independent)

By Ellie Ruel

Juneau Independent

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it will solicit proposals for a solution to drain Suicide Basin in a new way that avoids “burdensome processes and paperwork” after this year’s glacial lake outburst flood.

Unlike the technical investigation started last year, the Corps won’t be working alone on identifying a solution, this time turning to outside public and private entities for bids. 

“We're taking the most creative approach as we possibly can,” said Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle during a press conference Thursday. “We will be putting a solicitation on the street that will allow us to get to work immediately with all types of industries. Let them tell us the very best way to do this in the best way, the cheapest price.”

The Corps previously identified a gravity-drainage tunnel through Bullard Mountain as the most viable option for long-term flood mitigation. Cost estimates for the lake tap of Suicide Basin ranged from $613 million to $1 billion with an estimated timeline of up to a decade. 

“That's not appropriate when you know people's homes are getting flooded once a summer, and people's lives are at risk,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. 

According to USACE officials, the new Corps process could take “single-digit years, not double-digit years” to construct a solution that would be “considerably less expensive.”

During a site visit near Back Loop Bridge on Friday, Lee Forsgren, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works said the Corps plans to expedite and reevaluate its current procedures. That includes a U.S. Forest Service regulation unique to Alaska that could provide flexibility in where debris is placed and roads are constructed, he said.

“We're kind of at a point where this is like an Olympic athlete. You don't cut seconds off things,” Forsgren said. “You cut tenths of seconds off, and when you cut tenths of seconds of doing 20 different things you cut real time, and that's what we're looking to do is to use those new and emergency authorities.”

Forsgren used the flood berm behind him as an example of a project that’s already gone through unconventional routes to mitigate glacial lake outburst flooding. The berm was constructed using emergency funds within 65 days.

“We're talking about NEPA in days,” he said. “I mean, we nationally have done some new NEPA regs that we're hoping to cut the time to do NEPA environmental assessments down into months. We did this one in what, three days, four days. That's unprecedented. If we can learn those lessons and bring those to bear in other places around the country for other people who need it, that's a win. And that's a win for everybody, all Americans.”

For the past eight months, the Trump administration has been taking aim at the National Environmental Policy Act, a law requiring agencies to study the environmental impacts of major infrastructure projects and allow the public to review and comment on plans before they’re implemented. Business groups say the law hinders progress on important projects, while environmental groups warn that narrowing the scope of required environmental reviews could accelerate pollution and climate change.

Support from the president and Alaska’s congressional delegation has elevated the flooding from Suicide Basin to a national priority for the Corps – which is why 40% of the country’s pumping capacity is in Juneau during the height of hurricane season, Forsgren said. 

“We're looking to learn and this has been a great laboratory,” he said. “We're not doing this as a science project. We're doing this to protect that 13,000 people, but you're stupid if you don't learn when you're doing things.”

Lee Forsgren, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works (center) speaks at a media availability at the earthen berm near Back Loop Bridge on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (Ellie Ruel / Juneau Independent)

He noted local mining companies gave the Corps good ideas for tunneling to possibly implement in other flood-threatened communities. A mining representative presented a plan he estimated would cut the cost of the lake tap roughly in half by using a traditional drill-and-blast method and local labor rather than a specialized tunnel-boring machine in June.

The novelty of glacial lake outburst floods means responding to them is an iterative process since the Corps has less than five years of data to build models on, Forsgren said. 

“Our normal process does not keep pace with the needs, and especially as rapidly changing as this dynamic circumstances,” he said. “So it cried out for a new and different approach.”

Forsgren credited the Trump administration and a new “Build infrastructure, not paperwork” initiative introduced earlier this year with expediting the project. Critics say the initiative is vague in specifics and question if its intent is to largely bypass environmental review of Corps projects.

“USACE commanders will be empowered to take informed risks in advancing critical water resources projects and programs to completion faster and at less cost,” a news release announcing the initiative in February states.

While the Corps said they’re preparing to release the RFP this month, the agency is also still preparing for shorter-term mitigation for this year’s release and future ones since a permanent solution is still years away. 

“We think we're pretty uniformly capable of handling 63,500 cfs of flow,” Forsgren said, referring to the outburst’s size in cubic feet per second.  “What we don't know is whether 63,500 is going to be the number because we're still learning a lot about what the event's going to look like, and that's where I think some of the uncertainty comes.”

The discharge from Suicide Basin the past three years was 34,000, 42,000 and about 50,000 cfs, respectively. 

This year, Forsgren said the odds of the HESCO barriers overtopping or failing are 20%, lower than last year’s modelled odds of 50%.

“The solutions that we have in place now still put this community at a higher risk than it would be with a Corps-funded long-term solution in place,” he said. “We don't tolerate 20% risk of flooding as a general matter.” 

According to the National Weather Service, Suicide Basin is predicted to fill by Aug.11 or 12. In the past, subglacial release has taken up to six days to start after the basin fills.

• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.