Draft report: Levee that guards Palm Beach County from Everglades flooding is in bad shape
A 105-mile earthen levee built 60 years ago to keep the Everglades from flooding farmland has been rated "minimally acceptable" for protecting thousands of homes that border it .
In preliminary reports obtained by The Palm Beach Post, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rated much of the East Coast Protective Levee "minimally acceptable" or "unacceptable." Those words bear ominous implications for flood insurance ratepayers - and for all property owners who rely on the levee as a barrier from a collapse of Lake Okeechobee's feeble dike.
The relatively good news is that the 28-mile Palm Beach County stretch of the levee, which nestles up to Wellington and other western communities, poses the least risk, according to the most recent inspection, conducted by the corps between April 27, 2010, and May 6, 2010.
But local officials are still wary.
"Let's call this report a C-plus and everyone hopes to be an A," said John Bonde, Wellington's assistant village manager. "This is not a grave concern, but it needs to be addressed."
The Palm Beach County section, known as L-40, runs from the C-51 Canal at Southern Boulevard to the Hillsboro Canal at the Broward County line.
Ken Todd, Palm Beach County's water resource manager, said he is waiting for the corps to release its final report on the L-40 levee and a separate report on flooding caused by a break in the dike before commenting on the levee's safety: "You can't draw any real conclusions until you have final reports."
Still, the preliminary findings are especially troubling for the South Florida Water Management District, which is responsible for maintaining the levee. The district is seeking accreditation for the levee from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which determines a community's risk for purposes of flood maps used to set building standards and insurance premiums.
Under the post-Hurricane Katrina levee safety program, communities near uncertified levees are rated as if no levee exists. The agency is reviewing that rule. But if it is not changed, it could result in a significant increase in flood insurance rates for existing policyholders and would require flood insurance for property owners within an expanded flood plain, as far as it might extend; there's no telling yet.
The district is pressed to earn certification as quickly as possible because the Federal Emergency Management Agency is redrawing its flood insurance maps for Broward and Palm Beach counties. The proposed maps for Broward County could be released as soon as October. Palm Beach County maps are due in 2012.
To earn certification, the district has asked FEMA for provisional accreditation, which would give the district up to two years to bring the levee up to acceptable standards. During those two years, there would be no changes to flood insurance rates.
"That's going to be very draconian if they come up and say, at the end of two years, that if it's not up to snuff they are going to treat it as if there is not a levee," Eric Buermann, former chairman of the district's governing board, said at a meeting in January. "That's going to be a draconian calamity on the people."
Compounding the problem is the district's budget crisis. A state law enacted this year that cut the amount of money the district can raise through property taxes resulted in $128 million less revenue and prompted the departure of nearly 300 employees. Although the district has spent $3.8 million in the past three years for repairs and set aside $4.7 million in its 2012 budget for more work, the exact cost of refurbishing the levee is not known.
"You wouldn't expect it to become a $50 million project?" Buermann asked Tommy Strowd, the district's director of operations, maintenance and construction, during a meeting of the Project and Lands Committee in January.
"I'm not going to rule out anything at this point," Strowd said.
Some upgrades done
A day after The Palm Beach Post shared copies of the reports with Strowd, he sent a letter to Col. Alfred Pantano Jr., commander of the Corps of Engineers' Jacksonville district office, detailing improvements the district has made since the last routine report, in March 2009. Among them: Trees within 125 feet of the base of the levee were removed, along with other unnecessary vegetation. Aerial spraying to control plant growth began. Two sections of the levee were raised, culverts were repaired or replaced, fences were mended, exposed iron support rods were removed and excessively steep segments of the levee were corrected, Strowd wrote.
"We propose a joint on-site follow-up inspection to confirm the repairs and to reach a consensus between our agencies for any unresolved issues, if necessary," he wrote.
"Unacceptable" and "minimally acceptable" ratings do not mean that the levee will not be certified. Officials also note that the preliminary reports could change. The corps inspector who examined the L-40 segment in Palm Beach County determined that the deficiencies he found "will not likely prevent the system from performing as designed during the next flood event."
However, "unacceptable" findings in segments of the levee in Broward and Miami-Dade were so serious that the inspector warned: "If not corrected, (they) may impair the functioning of the system during the next flood event and/or pose a risk to public health."
FEMA does not certify particular segments of a levee but not others. It is all or nothing.
Federal funds at risk
That means that even though the flood risk is lower and the levee is in better condition in Palm Beach County, the levee could fail certification because of deficiencies in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Failing certification also means that the district could lose its eligibility to receive federal money to repair the levee after a disaster.
For now, repairs continue and Strowd is waiting for the letter from FEMA granting provisional accreditation. Strowd said it will be a challenge to repair the levee in two years, but he is convinced there is "no significant risk" for residents living near it.
"It has done a great job for 60 years," Strowd said. "Historically, we've never seen a problem."