Juneau's flood fix could top $600 million, and the city has $11 million

The engineering fix Juneau needs to hold back glacial outburst floods in the Mendenhall Valley could cost more than $600 million. The city has secured $11.155 million toward flood work so far, and its draft capital priority list does not say where its share of the rest will come from.

That list ranks flood response, mitigation and preparedness first among 21 projects and asks for more than $25 million in the coming year. It lists the total project cost as to be determined.

The Army Corps of Engineers wants to start construction on the mid-term fix as early as the end of 2027. A permanent solution is seven to 10 years out, and the Corps study behind it is underway, with $3 million appropriated locally in 2024 and $4.75 million federally.

The floods that prompted all of it came in consecutive Augusts. The 2024 release from Suicide Basin sent 16 billion gallons into the valley and damaged 290 homes. The 2025 flood was larger, with a higher crest and a faster release. The city credits the first sand-filled barriers with cutting potential exposure from more than 750 homes to fewer than 50. Those barriers are damaged and need significant repairs, and Juneau is responsible for maintaining all of them while the Corps adds more two miles upriver.

Assembly Member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs raised the funding question at an Aug. 31 work session, pointing to what she called the very real long-term need for a cost share.

Comment on the draft list is open through Oct. 23. The Assembly adopts the final version in January.