Challenge
Cowlitz County continues to live with the aftermath of the devastating 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption. To mitigate flood risk from ongoing siltation flowing through waterways from the volcano, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed several pieces of infrastructure designed to provide flood protection to downstream communities. As this infrastructure has aged, it is necessary for the Corps to conduct annual surveys to ensure flood protections level are being met. Unfortunately, the Corps has regularly skipped conducting these surveys despite clear direction from Congress. https://www.opb.org/article/2024/10/26/spirit-lake-mount-st-helens-skamina-county-kelso-flood-water-tunnel/
Approach
CFM identified the source of a bureaucratic logjam within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that prevented the Corps from receiving funding for Mt. St. Helens survey work. The funding blockade contradicted congressional intent and was caused by a D.C. bureaucrat who didn’t appreciate the scale impacting communities 40 years after the Mt. St. Helens disaster. CFM applied intense lobbying that engaged the Washington congressional delegation and put Cowlitz County in front of top White House officials.
Success
CFM cleared the bureaucratic logjam that restored and augmented funding for annual surveys to protect Cowlitz County communities from catastrophic flooding.
