Balducci announces $1.5 million to improve salmon habitat, reduce flood risk in Bellevue

October 8, 2024

King County Flood Control District Supervisor Claudia Balducci on Tuesday announced $1.5 million in funding to improve salmon habitat and reduce flood risk through a project in Bellevue.

"This $1.5 million investment will help the City of Bellevue combine three current pipes into one fish-passable culvert, improving drainage and reducing flooding," Balducci said. "I am excited to be a partner with the city in this project and look forward to benefits to this part of King County and to the day when we will again see fish in swimming in Kelsey Creek."  

The money will fund a project in Bellevue to replace three aging and undersized culverts that currently pose a fish passage barrier along Kelsey Creek where it passes under Lake Hills Boulevard. The project will replace the three culverts with one fish passable culvert large enough to handle 100-year storm events. The project will open up about 1,600 feet of fish habitat and reduce upstream flood risk.

This project will be funded through the King County Flood Control District’s Flood Reduction Grant program, which this year awarded almost $14 million to 31 projects.

The District created the Flood Reduction Grant Program 10 years ago to fund smaller projects that support local communities, proposed by entities including cities, homeowner associations, school districts, businesses, and non-profits. The program provides grant funding for projects with flood reduction benefits, including but not limited to, surface water overflows, near shore flooding, lake flooding due to outflow blockage, clearance of clogged agricultural drainage systems, flooding issues of urban streams, coastal erosion/coastal flooding, and culvert replacement/fish passage restoration. In 2020, the Flood Reduction Grant Program expanded funding to include three new categories of projects: urban streams, coastal erosion and coastal flooding, and culvert replacement and fish passage.