‘Best levee in the world’

‘Best levee in the world’

St. Francis Levee Board holds annual meeting

news@theeveningtimes.com

It was all good news at the 2017 St. Francis Levee District board of directors annual meeting in West Memphis. The levee system was repeatedly proclaimed as the best in the world and a trio of speakers pointed to the proof.

Having the best levee ought to reduce costs for flood insurance. The district has been hard at work building and maintaining the network of embankments and relief wells, and working government regulators hard to reduce the cost of flood insurance for property owners in its seven northeast Arkansas county district.

Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association Executive Vice President Stephen Gambrell, St. Francis Levee District CEO Rob Rash, and US Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District Commander Col.

Michael Ellicott touted the safety of the levee. Each one called the St. Francis Levee system the “best in the world,” taking turns touting its excellent safety and linked the great results to a case for better flood insurance rates for district residents.

“The national flood insurance program is of great interest to many of you,” said Gambrell. “They have some obligations on the flood insurance program to increase that account. But it needs to be done in a way that makes sense with real data not just a generic map that shows (flood) water going everywhere and insurance rates going up.”

At issue for a decade is a flood insurance map that marked the entire area between Crowley’s Ridge and the Mississippi River for blanket flooding. Local experts criticized the findings as too simplistic, and pointed out the actual results of the levee in the high-water mark in 2011.

Blanket flooding concept does not occur even in a disaster because water seeks the low spots and flooding would happen in along existing channels and ditches.

Gambrell gave an example of flood map impact on insurance

rates from Smithland,

Kentucky. A new home owner bought an existing house for $89,000.

He said flood insurance rates based on simple studies were unjustified.

“His homeowners insurance was $1,000,” said Gambrell. “His flood insurance was $2,500 per year.

The home has never flooded. The flood insurance is required by insurance company. $2,500 a year? The data does not support that.”

Rash has been pointing to the flood map and lobbying the federal administration for a more sophisticated hydraulic study for a decade. His breach analysis demonstrated much smaller potential flood zones and he pushed for revised findings that would save district land and property owners on flood insurance premiums. In the wake of the flood damage from the 2005 hurricane Katrina, FEMA focused on banking flood insurance money and turned to the entire Mississippi River valley for funding.

“We started this in 2007 with PAL agreements (Provisionally Accredited Levees) coming out of FEMA and the Corps, and those areas were put to us” said Rash. “Those were used in the federal mapping process for FEMA.

Rash said the flood map effectively made the levee nonexistent.”

“Effectively what FEMA did was take our levee out and where ever the water would back up without the levee was a shaded zone,” said Rash. “That was the whole hang-up in 2006, because that is where the mandatory flood insurance came form. Our whole complaint is that is not reality, that is not what happens. If I have a breach, it does not cover everything over to Crowley’s Ridge, it meanders and finds a way back into the (drainage) system.”

Rash said FEMA overlooked levee capabilities simply to fill its coffers.

“We have entry points in the system in case something does happen,” said Rash. “You don’t take that into account when you take the levee away and the (flood) model goes all the way to Crowley’s Ridge.

The reason you don’t is because

you are trying to fund

a

24-billion-dollar

hole.

When you take the levee away and require flood insurance, well that’s a funding mechanism – somewhere around $2.4 billion dollars in the MRT project area alone.”

St. Francis Levee District Board President Stephen Higginbotham extended kudos to Rash and the staff for driving efforts to save money on flood insurance in the area.

“This is a credit to you,” said Higginbotham. “I remember the day at the college where you filled up the room and had people standing in the hallway with people from multiple counties and got their attention.

They left mad at you that day. You’ve taken many trips to Washington D.C.

to address this. The economic savings to the citizens in this valley is remarkable.”

Col. Ellicott acknowledged the safety record of the St. Francis Levee and placed it at the top of the class.

“We are going to talk about how great your levees are, not arguable but definitely how great they are” said Ellicott. “Mr. Higginbotham, they are the best levee is the world.

How can we say that but still find them minimally acceptable or unacceptable?”

The Army Corps Chief Engineer met with Rash according to Ellicott and revised standards are expected. A draft is expected in August with slow progress forecast in correcting the downgrade controversy. At stake are possible reduced flood insurance premiums and the number of properties required to carry mandatory flood insurance.

“So, the wheels are moving slowly,” said Ellicott.

“They’ve looked at the check list that makes for those minimally acceptable or unacceptable ratings.

Supposedly they’ll come out with new ways to look at that. Tentatively their is agreement to pilot the new safety check list here in the Memphis District.”

The St. Francis Levee has been dinged for seepage but Rash said relief wells in a handful of areas ought to count as helps not handicaps. The colonel concurred.

“In that inspection checklist there should be a discussion on seepage as a reality not as an abrogation,” said Ellicott.

“They’ve continued to call into question what you do, and that should never be.

The 160 miles of levees here in Arkansas continue to be the best in the world.”

By John Rech