National Levee Report Update
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina brought to the
forefront of public debate and discussion the issues of levee
policy, flood hazard management, and flood insurance. In
response to these issues, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) convened the Interagency Levee Policy Review
Committee. This group of experts, chaired by General Gerald
Galloway, was charged to examine and make recommendations on
current levee policy and programs with a focus toward levee
safety, flood insurance ratings, public understanding of the
risk, and modernized flood hazard maps.
Across the nation, there are now tens of thousands of miles
of levees along rivers and coastal areas that affect millions of
people. It is crucial for them to understand the risks
associated with being behind levees and the steps they can take
to protect themselves and their property from flood damages. In
particular these folks need accurate assessments of their
current degree of protection and the potential scope of flood
damage should their levees fail. As noted in previous articles
on this website, the State of Washington has more than its share
of levees and has seen many key levee systems in densely
populated areas lose Corps of Engineers certification for flood
protection. That means new flood hazard maps for these areas
will more accurately reflect the flood risk and make citizens
and local governments take steps to deal with these risks.
The national levee committee has recently released its report
entitled, The National Levee Challenge: Levees and the FEMA Map
Modernization Initiative, which confirms that changes are
needed. Among the recommendations in this report are:
- FEMA should define a new flood insurance zone for areas
behind levees and identify the level of risk faced by
structures located in that zone.
- A risk classification system should be devised for
levees, perhaps like that now being developed by the Corps
of Engineers.
- Levees recognized by FEMA should be required to meet
standards for inspection (annually), maintenance,
operations, certification, and other factors. It should also
require documentation by levee owners of adherence to those
standards and provide that to FEMA on a regular schedule.
- A spatially referenced inventory of levees nationwide
should be completed, along the lines of the database being
developed by FEMA and the Corps.
- With federal, state, and local partners, FEMA should
develop a public awareness and outreach strategy to improve
public understanding of the hazards and risks associated
with levees.
- FEMA and the Corps should use existing authorities and
funding and seek approval for new resources from Congress
and the Office of Management and Budget as needed to help
communities perform certification analyses and remediate
publicly owned levees.
The Interagency Committee further observed that the baseline
data needed to support the hydraulic and hydrologic analyses
that help make these determinations of levee protection must be
upgraded with enhanced precipitation frequency estimates, stream
gauging, and the most up to date modeling techniques. The report
further states that consideration should be given to requiring a
500-year level of protection for levees in highly urbanized
areas. In addition, it recommends the development of incentives
and support mechanisms to ensure that state and local agencies
can carry out their levee-related responsibilities effectively.
Another important recommendation is that the owners of property
behind levees should share in the mitigation of the risk,
perhaps through the mandatory purchase of flood insurance.
FEMA has indicated that it is reviewing the recommendations
of the Interagency Committee to develop an appropriate action
plan. The implementation of these actions will require the
participation of state and local agencies with their unique
knowledge of local and regional conditions and their role in the
permitting processes to ensure the effectiveness of the chosen
approach.
For more information read about the Interagency Committee’s
report at
http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/fhm/lv_report.shtm.
