Clallam County commissioners approved a resolution adopting the county's multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan update for 2024 as part of the consent agenda on Sept. 30.

During the meeting's public comment period, resident Jeff Tozer asked the county to incorporate specific language and risk assessments related to a May 2022 levee removal by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe along the Dungeness River. Tozer said the levee work exposed downstream communities to a potential mass-flooding event and that earlier internal emails warned of flows that could exceed a 1,000-year flood. He said he could not find that scenario in the updated hazard mitigation plan and asked that the record reflect the risk and the taxpayer costs incurred in responding to the event.

"I don't see that in the hazard mitigation," Tozer told commissioners, summarizing county and tribal emails that, he said, warned of rapid drawdown and very high cubic-feet-per-second flows and the potential for catastrophic downstream impacts. Tozer also said a county employee and a tribal natural-resources staffer exchanged messages estimating peak flows and commenting on possible mass-casualty consequences.

Commissioner reports later in the meeting included an update from the Dungeness reservoir work group noting that environmental cleanup at an old dump site has been completed and that baseline water-quality monitoring has concluded. The commissioner's report added that geotechnical work to advance the reservoir from 60% design to final is currently paused.

The board adopted the hazard mitigation plan by approving the consent agenda; no detailed plan text changes were made on the record during this meeting. Tozer's request asked staff and commissioners to review whether the levee-related scenarios and resulting taxpayer costs should be reflected in county hazard planning documents.