LLNRD OKAYS FUNDING FOR COLUMBUS LEVEE WORK

The NRD Board voted to provide funds for 30 percent of the design and construction costs to recertify the Loup River and Whitetail Lake levees to meet new standards set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Work to recertify the Loup River levee, which prevents about 30 percent of the city of Columbus from being in a flood plain, is estimated to cost $1.5 million while the Whitetail Lake levee project is estimated at about $741,000. Following Hurricane Katrina, FEMA implemented requirements stating that levees around the country must be recertified to new standards.

Columbus City Administrator Joe Mangiamelli told the NRD Board in June that the Loup River levee required elevation changes to meet the requirements for a 100-year storm. The levee was built in 1972 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Mangiamelli said that without the certification, the residents in the “flood plain” area would be required to buy flood insurance. Mangiamelli said the Corps might also require an environmental impact statement be completed as part of the project.

In July, Michael Brittenham, a representative of the Whitetail levee owners, S.I.D. #7, requested the NRD provide financial assistance for work to recertify the levee at Whitetail Lake. Recertification of the levee at Whitetail Lake will require an increase in elevation, to be accomplished in part by the installation of sheet piling on the levee’s west side. Brittenham said the subdivision’s entrance road from Highway 81 would also need to be raised two to three feet.

The Lower Loup NRD Board of Directors approved both projects at its monthly meeting on July 23, 2009. Flood control is among the many natural resources services provided to the state’s citizens by natural resources districts.

This page last modified on 8/5/09.