Ephrata gets county funds for flood-zone mitigation plan
Study would be first step in seeking to remove downtown from federal 'hazard' zone.
Updated
The water diversion channel just below the West Canal and Grandview Heights in Ephrata saw heavy runoff from the Sagebrush Flats area in late February 2022. File photo by Randy Bracht
EPHRATA — Ephrata city council members earlier this month accepted a $112,500 grant from Grant County to finance preparation of a mitigation plan that’s considered the first step in seeking to remove a large portion of the city’s downtown area from a federally designated flood-hazard zone.
The grant was approved in August by Grant County commissioners based on a recommendation from the county’s Strategic Infrastructure Advisory committee. The city will provide a 25% match of $37,500 through in-kind engineering staff work on the project.
Officials say development of a plan by Gray & Osborne Inc., the city’s consulting engineering firm, is needed for Ephrata to pursue non-disaster mitigation grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The ultimate goal is to persuade FEMA to remove 533 acres in Ephrata’s downtown corridor from the current flood hazard zone. The area includes many commercial and residential properties located between the Bureau of Reclamation’s West Canal and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line.
The federal flood-hazard designation is considered a financial burden on many downtown commercial and residential properties because it places additional requirements and restrictions on new construction and larger remodeling projects. Businesses and residents with mortgages provided through federally insured lenders must also purchase flood insurance.
Snowmelt and heavy rains in the Sagebrush Flats area west of Ephrata created a natural runoff channel that enters town along First Avenue N.W. In years past, a so-called “100-year flood” could inundate the low-lying downtown area west of the railroad tracks.
But that has largely been averted over the past half-century when an unlined diversion channel was excavated in 1974. Water runoff is now diverted beneath First Avenue and travels northward beyond Ephrata High School’s soccer and baseball fields before turning east and terminating in a farm field between Frey Road and North Basin Street/Highway 28.
During their Sept. 2 meeting, city engineer Shawn O’Brien told council members that adding a concrete lining to the existing diversion channel would improve its flow capacity, which was initially recommended in a 1972 study prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In an update at the council’s Sept. 16 meeting, city grants/projects engineer Dave Bren reiterated comments made earlier this summer that revised state mapping of Grant County has provided more-precise elevation data of the downtown’s flood-hazard area. With that information, he believes 155 acres in the southwest part of town is not subject to flooding due to higher elevation and is unfairly included in the overall 533-acre hazard zone.
“That’s good news,” said Bren, expressing some hope the 155-acre section could be removed within three years.
Bren and O’Brien both indicated it will likely take millions of dollars from various funding sources and perhaps a decade or more to upgrade the diversion channel at the north end of town. The long-range plan, if realized, would also entail adding a pump station to lift excess water up the hillside north of Ephrata Heights and using gravity flow in a 24-inch surface pipe to carry the water toward Ephrata Lake several miles to the east.
Documents related to the mitigation plan process can be viewed on the city website on pages 26-43 of the council’s Sept. 16 agenda packet.
— In a separate update Wednesday regarding Ephrata’s new pickleball courts, city administrator Ray Towry said they’re expected to be playable for the public at the end of this month or in October.
Finalizing the facility was delayed after the council voted on Sept. 2 to rescind an apparent low bid award of $43,200 to Goldrock INVT LLC for painting the six new courts. That’s because the company could not provide full upfront bonding for the work, parks and recreation director John Johnson said at the time.
Following that action, the council then voted to award the painting contract to the second-lowest bidder, Pickleball Court LLC, which submitted a quote of $52,682.
In all, five companies bid on the project, which requires preparing the concrete base for application of an acrylic surface coat, color coats for each court, and finishing lines.
Towry also said a state grant application to pay for a cover over the courts had received a high rating. If ultimately approved, the city could receive funding for the cover around a year from now, he said.
Note: this article was updated at 10:56 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026 to reflect additional information from a city council meeting earlier in the evening.
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Ephrata gets county funds for flood-zone mitigation plan
Study would be first step in seeking to remove downtown from federal 'hazard' zone.
EPHRATA — Ephrata city council members earlier this month accepted a $112,500 grant from Grant County to finance preparation of a mitigation plan that’s considered the first step in seeking to remove a large portion of the city’s downtown area from a federally designated flood-hazard zone.
The grant was approved in August by Grant County commissioners based on a recommendation from the county’s Strategic Infrastructure Advisory committee. The city will provide a 25% match of $37,500 through in-kind engineering staff work on the project.
Officials say development of a plan by Gray & Osborne Inc., the city’s consulting engineering firm, is needed for Ephrata to pursue non-disaster mitigation grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The ultimate goal is to persuade FEMA to remove 533 acres in Ephrata’s downtown corridor from the current flood hazard zone. The area includes many commercial and residential properties located between the Bureau of Reclamation’s West Canal and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line.
The federal flood-hazard designation is considered a financial burden on many downtown commercial and residential properties because it places additional requirements and restrictions on new construction and larger remodeling projects. Businesses and residents with mortgages provided through federally insured lenders must also purchase flood insurance.
Snowmelt and heavy rains in the Sagebrush Flats area west of Ephrata created a natural runoff channel that enters town along First Avenue N.W. In years past, a so-called “100-year flood” could inundate the low-lying downtown area west of the railroad tracks.
But that has largely been averted over the past half-century when an unlined diversion channel was excavated in 1974. Water runoff is now diverted beneath First Avenue and travels northward beyond Ephrata High School’s soccer and baseball fields before turning east and terminating in a farm field between Frey Road and North Basin Street/Highway 28.
During their Sept. 2 meeting, city engineer Shawn O’Brien told council members that adding a concrete lining to the existing diversion channel would improve its flow capacity, which was initially recommended in a 1972 study prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In an update at the council’s Sept. 16 meeting, city grants/projects engineer Dave Bren reiterated comments made earlier this summer that revised state mapping of Grant County has provided more-precise elevation data of the downtown’s flood-hazard area. With that information, he believes 155 acres in the southwest part of town is not subject to flooding due to higher elevation and is unfairly included in the overall 533-acre hazard zone.
“That’s good news,” said Bren, expressing some hope the 155-acre section could be removed within three years.
Bren and O’Brien both indicated it will likely take millions of dollars from various funding sources and perhaps a decade or more to upgrade the diversion channel at the north end of town. The long-range plan, if realized, would also entail adding a pump station to lift excess water up the hillside north of Ephrata Heights and using gravity flow in a 24-inch surface pipe to carry the water toward Ephrata Lake several miles to the east.
Documents related to the mitigation plan process can be viewed on the city website on pages 26-43 of the council’s Sept. 16 agenda packet.
— In a separate update Wednesday regarding Ephrata’s new pickleball courts, city administrator Ray Towry said they’re expected to be playable for the public at the end of this month or in October.
Finalizing the facility was delayed after the council voted on Sept. 2 to rescind an apparent low bid award of $43,200 to Goldrock INVT LLC for painting the six new courts. That’s because the company could not provide full upfront bonding for the work, parks and recreation director John Johnson said at the time.
Following that action, the council then voted to award the painting contract to the second-lowest bidder, Pickleball Court LLC, which submitted a quote of $52,682.
In all, five companies bid on the project, which requires preparing the concrete base for application of an acrylic surface coat, color coats for each court, and finishing lines.
Towry also said a state grant application to pay for a cover over the courts had received a high rating. If ultimately approved, the city could receive funding for the cover around a year from now, he said.
Note: this article was updated at 10:56 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026 to reflect additional information from a city council meeting earlier in the evening.