A permanent solution to Juneau’s annual glacial outburst flood will be chosen by the end of the year. That’s according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Brig. Gen. Clete Goetz, who said at a press conference in Juneau today that the Corps will post a request for qualifications today for a solution to drain Suicide Basin, the glacial lake that produces the flood.
“We’ll hold a series of what we call pitch briefings,” Goetz said. “Really, if you’ve seen the show Shark Tank — think that. We’ll have those meetings with industry, and from there we’ll select the best qualified to form an agreement with to design this.”
This comes just one day after Juneau avoided catastrophe during the annual glacial outburst flood, and a week after the Army Corps teased the announcement. The move signals the Army Corps’ decision to focus on getting a long-term solution in place and put a so-called mid-term solution on the shelf — reassuring local leaders.
“Juneau is very aligned on what we need,” City Manager Katie Koester said. “We don’t need HESCO barriers for dozens of years. We need a long-term solution.”
The Army Corps will post its request for qualifications, or RFQ, under “emergency water conveyance prototype” on SAM.gov, a website where industry groups can submit bids for government contracts.
Goetz said this process will move fast, following the Army Corps’ “building infrastructure, not paperwork” initiative intended to cut bureaucratic red tape and shorten permitting timelines.
“We will post the RFQ today, we will hold an industry day next Friday, and then we’ll expect proposals 14 days later,” he said.
He said the Army Corps expects to select an industry partner on Dec. 12, just 120 days from now.
Goetz doesn’t know who that partner will be yet, he said, or which technical approach will win the bid, so he declined to comment on a precise timeline for the drainage project to be completed or an estimated price tag. At this point, he said the Army Corps intends to choose the best qualified candidate. Although the RFQ will be open to any bidders, Goetz hinted that mining companies could make a strong bid.
“It’s been incredibly insightful to learn about the construction methods that they use here in Southeast Alaska for mining,” Goetz said.
The Army Corps previously said that a tunnel, also called a lake tap, is the best solution. It would steadily channel water out of Suicide Basin like a bathtub drain, so it couldn’t rise to a level that would create a catastrophic flood. The Army Corps estimated it would cost between $613 million and $1 billion.
But at a community-led meeting in June, a local mining executive presented a plan that could cut the cost in half, and Valley residents rallied around the solution.
In 2022, Congress passed the Water Resources Development Act, which allows the Army Corps to pay non-federal entities to take on a project of this nature, and allocated $85 million to such projects between 2023 and 2027.
“It’s not an exception in the law,” Goetz said about the authorization the Army Corps has to go through this process. “It’s in the law, and it is new for the Corps to be able to do this.”
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan joined the press conference virtually.
Sullivan said the speed and amount of resources the Army Corps is committing to this problem are unprecedented.
“They’re bringing a complete new mindset and solution-oriented approach on this project that really hasn’t been done,” he said.
According to the law, the Army Corps is required to notify congressional committees 30 days before entering into the transaction. It’s not yet clear whether the public will have an opportunity to comment on the selected industry partner or solution.
