.png)
‘Nothing’s off the table for us,’ Army Corps tells potential partners for fast-tracked long-term flood solution
- Mark Sabbatini
- 9 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Attendees at ‘Industry Day’ seminar told type of project is up to them, process will involve ‘unknown risks’ and ‘Forest Service is not going to slow down the process’
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
To show all options are open, attendees of an "Industry Day" event were jokingly told Friday if they invent a sun-powered laser that prevents massive floods from Suicide Basin it will be considered.
On a more serious note, they were also told not to try to solve all "unknown risks" when submitting proposals for a long-term flood solution to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under an accelerated process that envisions moving ahead on a plan by the end of the year.
"There are going to be some unknown risks," said José Sánchez, director of engineering and business for the Army Corps’ Pacific Ocean Division, during the gathering in the Andrew Hope Building involving about 40 potential bidders for the project. "There are going to be some uncomfortable situations we're going to be putting ourselves into as we go forward. It's going to happen. But I just don't want you to build all the contingencies of all unknown risks into it because then we will never build this."
The Army Corps announced earlier this summer it is shelving previous work on medium- and long-term flood solutions — which had potential billion-dollar price tags and more than a decade for a long-term fix — in favor of a fast-tracked regulatory process involving an industry partner. Alaska Beacon reporter James Brooks obtained a recording of Friday’s meeting, which provided an introductory overview to potential partners.
The official Request for Qualifications published Aug. 14 asks bidders to submit plans for a project that keeps Suicide Basin from rising above 1,100 feet and limits flood discharges to 1,000 cubic feet per second. The basin reached a height of about 1,345 feet this year before a release occurred and HESCO barriers along the Mendenhall River are designed to handle a release of 63,500 cubic feet per second.
Sánchez told the Industry Day attendees, "We're not putting in your head what concept would be the most viable."
"I joke with people ‘If you come up with a laser from sunlight that melts the glacier let me know. I have no problem with that,’" he said.
More realistically, Army Corps officials have said they are envisioning possible solutions such as a drainage tunnel from Suicide Basin, such as a drill-and-blast drainage project proposed by one local mining official. But prospective partners need to move fast — the deadline to submit a “white paper” explaining their proposals to the Army Corps is Sept. 4.
"Typically, this paper includes their proposed technical and organizational approach as well as demonstrating experience," a press release issued by the Army Corps on Friday states. "USACE will then review the papers and select the best qualified offerors to be invited to participate in the pitch presentations at the end of September."
Army Corps Brig. Gen. Clete Goetz, during an Aug. 14 press conference, compared the pitch presentations to the reality TV show “Shark Tank.”
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Sullivan, during the press conference, called the Army Corps’ new approach "an incredibly creative proposal that's all about speed." Goetz, when asked after the press conference about safety as a consideration in the process, said "if it isn’t safe it doesn’t get built."
The Industry Day presentation focused on technical and procedural details rather than the hype of media briefings in recent weeks for a project the Army Corps is calling an “Emergency Water Conveyance Prototype.”
"We are using a special authority that's delegated just to this project," said Jennifer Gosh, an agreements specialist for Army Corps’ Alaska District. She said the white papers can be up to 15 pages and the expectation is the best three will be invited to make pitch presentations between Sept. 28-30.
"You're going to be able to share with us for two hours what your ideas are, who your team is, and how you're going to solve the problem that we have here facing the Mendenhall Valley," she said.
Selection of the best-qualified presenter is expected within a week, followed by negotiations involving cost, prototype design and final design, Gosh said. The intent is to award a formal contract by Dec. 11.
Army Corps and other officials have previously stated the decade-long timeline for a long-term solution is due to Suicide Basin being on U.S. Forest Service land, which has specific development criteria, as well as taking the time necessary to ensure whatever is done with the basin’s water doesn’t have unintended and destructive impacts downstream.
"The Forest Service is not going to slow down the process," said Mike Records, a hydraulic engineer who is the technical lead for the Army Corps’ flood prevention efforts in Juneau. He said they are already working to address access issues under the National Historic Preservation Act.
"We would like to minimize impacts to recreation at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center," Records said. He said "nothing's off the table for us," including the possibility of an access road up to Nugget Creek, while also noting "there's a lot of historic items up there."
Army Corps officials say the expedited process is being done under President Donald Trump’s “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” initiative, the declared intentions of which are to shorten permitting timelines and cut administrative red tape for agency projects. Critics have questioned if the initiative’s intent is to bypass environmental review of Corps’ projects, part of a wider concern among conservationists as the Trump administration boasts it is pursuing the biggest deregulation of environmental regulations in U.S. history.
The Army Corps states that under the initiative "commanders will be empowered to take informed risks in advancing critical water resources projects and programs to completion faster and at less cost."
The Industry Day presentation took place about a week after a glacial outburst flood from Suicide Basin receded after the Mendenhall River reached a peak height of 14.7 feet, lower than three previous record-setting years that damaged hundreds of homes.
Local officials say minimal damage to homes occurred this year due to the Army Corps' short-term protection efforts of HESCO levees along the river, a network of pumps in neighborhoods and an earthen berm on Forest Service land near the Back Loop Bridge.
Officials at Friday’s event said those short-term measures involved cooperative efforts with local agencies and residents, and are indicative a partnership approach can work in moving ahead on a long-term solution.
"We're really looking forward to being part of that long-term solution and looking forward to some really innovative ideas because it's going to take innovation to solve this long-term," Janelle Crocker, acting forest supervisor for the Tongass National Forest, said near the end of the meeting.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
