Purpose
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Levee Safety Program was created in 2006 to assess the integrity and viability of levees and to ensure that levee systems do not present unacceptable risks to the public and property.
Description
The basic objectives of the Levee Safety Program are to develop balanced and informed assessments of levees within the program; evaluate, prioritize, and justify levee safety decisions; and recommend improvements to public safety associated with levee systems. USACE created the National Levee Database, inventoried all levees in the program, and improved inspection procedures. USACE is developing a method to manage its portfolio of levee systems and is reviewing and revising current levee-related policies and procedures.
The Levee Safety Program is composed of more than 14,000 miles of levees and includes systems operated and maintained by USACE; federally authorized systems locally operated and maintained and covered under USACE Inspection of Completed Works programs; and locally constructed, operated, and maintained systems in accordance with Public Law 84-99.
Status
USACE, in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, continues to communicate ongoing activities and the benefits, risks, and flood risk management measures identified for the levee systems in the portfolio. USACE has completed screening-level assessments to understand the risks associated with each levee system, which will be utilized to inform the communication effort with local sponsors. Formal inspections of all federal levees system are conducted on a give-year frequency to determine the ongoing eligibility of the system and evaluate operation and maintenance practices.
For levee systems with complex issues, project sponsors can maintain eligibility through the USACE System-Wide Improvement Framework (SWIF) process while implementing improvements to the levee systems. Currently, there are no systems in the state of Iowa that are engaged in this process.
Levee Systems in St. Paul District Portfolio
The locally operated and maintained federally authorized levee systems are as follows:
• Guttenberg, Iowa
• Decorah, Iowa (two levee systems)
• New Albin, Iowa (federal channel, no levees)