The King County Flood Control District Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday to move ahead with repairs to the Briscoe Desimone Levee along the Green River by approving an agreement with the city of Kent to construct the project.

The levee stretches from South 180th Street to South 200th Street and became a controversial topic last year when the city and county couldn’t agree on a repair project. After the county hired a Texas consultant who favored Kent’s plan, the project started to move forward and enabled the flood district to keep a $7 million grant from the state Department of Ecology to help repair the levee.

While Kent will oversee the repairs, the state grant and flood district funds will cover the $17 million project.

“By moving forward on construction, we are providing certainty to Green River Valley residents, property owners and businesses,” said Flood Control District chairman Reagan Dunn, whose County Council district includes part of Kent, in a media release. “These improvements to the levees will protect thousands of jobs in our region, and I commend Mayor (Suzette) Cooke, Council President (Dennis) Higgins and all who played a role in working collaboratively with the flood district in getting us to this point today.”

The Briscoe Desimone levee is about a two-mile segment of the larger levee system protecting the region’s valuable economic center located in the Green River Valley. The lower floodplain houses 24,000 permanent residents and supports nearly 100,000 jobs.

“The levees in the Green River Valley protect tens of thousands of residents, as well as $12 billion in property in the fourth-largest warehouse and distribution center in the United States,” said Flood Control District vice chairwoman Julia Patterson, whose County Council district includes part of the Green River Valley. “I’m happy that with the support of the Legislature, the Flood Control District can continue our work to protect this vital community and regional economic center.”

The levee project consists of four segments on the east bank of the Green River that are considered most at risk of failure.

Pending mutual approval of the inter-local agreement Tuesday by the Kent City Council, county officials said construction on the first segment will start this year, with work on the remaining three segments to begin in 2014.