|
.JPG)
USACE
photo
|
| The Prairie
Du Rocher Levee in Illinois protects 13,000 acres along
the Mississippi River. |
The
St. Louis District’s flood risk management system is comprised
of three major components: urban levees or floodwalls, agricultural
levees and multi-purpose reservoirs. When performance
of a flood damage reduction system is evaluated, all components
must be considered and evaluated as a whole system and not
as separate features. As a Federal leader in Flood Risk Management,
it is our vision to provide and sustain a comprehensive flood
risk reduction system within the St. Louis District watershed
boundaries that reliably minimizes risk to lives and property
damage.
Urban
levees are built very high to protect cities and towns against
floods of great magnitude. Agricultural levees are smaller
levees that provide relatively lower levels of protection
to millions of acres of
cropland against more frequent, less severe floods.
Multi-purpose
reservoirs provide flood storage capacity and support other
Corps’
missions, such as water supply, hydropower, environmental
stewardship and recreation.
|
USACE photo
|
| Army Corps
of Engineers multi-purpose reservoirs are an important
part of the flood damage reduction system. During the
Flood of 1993, the water held back by Army Corps reservoirs
decreased the crest in St. Louis by four feet. |
Levees fall within
three categories: Federal, non-federal and private. There
are 89 levees in the St. Louis District that fall into two
categories, with 47 Federal and 42 non-federal levees
comprising more than 700 miles of structures. Together they
protect some 578,365 acres. Since 1960 they have prevented
more than $11 billion in damages within the St. Louis
District.
Federal
levees are built by the Corps and then turned over to the
customer (city, county, levee district) for operation and
maintenance. One exception in the St. Louis District
is the Chain of Rocks Levee, which is operated and maintained
by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Non-federal
levees are built by public entities or are publicly sponsored.
In order to qualify for federal assistance following a flood
event, these privately-funded levees must be built to Corps
standards
and pass annual inspections. Private levees, built by
private concerns,
are typically built to a lower level of protection than Corps
standards,
although some private levees may meet or exceed Corps standards.
If an eligibility inspection is requested and passed, private
levees can
be eligible for federal funding to help recover from damages.
|
USACE photo
|
| The 1993
flood's record stage of 49.58 feet at the St. Louis gage
was just two feet shy of the top of the floodwall.
|
The
entire structural flood damage reduction system in existence
in 1993 reduced potential flood damages by 50 percent.
The system in this region cannot prevent all damages caused
by all floods because it is not designed to do so. But
the system has an impressive record. However, with aging
infrastructure and underperformance issues noted during the
1993 flood, there are numerous systems in need of reconstruction
and rehabilitation. The Army Corps of Engineers St.
Louis District is working with Federal, state and local officials
and with levee districts and sponsors to study, design and
construct solutions for these issues.
In
addition to building projects, the Corps of Engineers, through
its Flood Plain Management Services, advises communities,
industries, and property owners on protection measures they
can take themselves, such as zoning regulations, warning systems
and flood proofing. Last year this service responded to more
than 44,000 requests for information. The value of property
protected by this program is an estimated $6.2 billion.
The
Corps was first called upon to address flood problems along
the Mississippi river in the mid- 1800's. We began work on
the Mississippi River and Tributaries Flood Control Project
in 1928, and
the Flood Control Act of 1936 gave the Corps the mission to
provide
flood protection to the entire country.
Press Releases
2007
2006
2005
Last
updated:
10/29/2007 10:36 AM
|
