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Committee to urge inventory of nation’s levees

Posted by: Maven on December 16, 2008 at 4:38 pm

From the New York Times:

The United States needs a complete inventory of all levees and a national safety standard for the last line of defense against floods, say members of the National Committee on Levee Safety.

”The flooding this year in the Midwest provided a good reminder to committee members of the importance of the task before us and the importance of getting a handle on our levee system,” committee member Les Harder said Wednesday during a teleconference with the media.

This summer, heavy rains led to record flooding in parts of Iowa and floods in Missouri and Illinois that approached record levels of 1993. Hundreds of private levees were breached or overtopped.

While the Army Corps of Engineers completed an inventory of levees it maintains or helps fund, there is no such inventory of the thousands of private levees. Officials don’t know how many there are or what shape they are in.

Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.

December 16, 2008 · Filed Under Levees

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