MILLS COUNTY, Iowa (KMTV) — There are 850 miles of levees in the state of Iowa and 48% of them are in a condition that Homeland Security considers "unacceptable," but efforts are underway to make improvements.
- “These levees need to be increased in height and width and in order to bring our levees up to the accredited status ... we need about $60 million dollars,” said Mills and Pottawattamie Levee District board member, Dennis Lincoln.
- “How do you get FEMA, your DNR, all these people, your levee districts and everything; it's trying to get all the government bodies to see the problem and to work on it together. It’s tough to do,” said Mills County Supervisor Richard Crouch.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Behind me is the old Plattsmouth toll bridge. In 2019 it served as a choke point for flood waters. I'm southeast Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel in Mills County where those flood waters overtopped the levees and inundated local farms.
“The debris and the restrictions at the Plattsmouth toll bridge crossing held the water back and caused the overtopping,” said farmer, Dennis Lincoln in a levee town hall meeting on Thursday.
Dennis Lincoln’s family farm sits on the Missouri River, next to the bridge. He says neither he, nor his 98-year-old father, ever saw floodwaters as high as they were five years ago. His farm even received a visit from then-Vice President Mike Pence.
“Water was up to the second panel from the top,” said Lincoln, pointing at his machine shed.
Lincoln is on the board of the Mills and Pottawattamie Levee District, which is responsible for the maintenance of the levees running through his property. He says the biggest barrier to levee improvement is, simply, money.
“These levees need to be increased in height and width and in order to bring our levees up to the accredited status ... we need about $60 million dollars,” he said.
Lincoln says that tax assessments along the 22 miles of levees in his district can’t bring in enough revenue. He wants state and federal help to prevent future catastrophes.
“So, right now, we’re in the blue skies. Flood waters are low. There’s low probability ... It’s one of those scenarios where now is the time to do strategic planning,” said a Homeland Security official.
The Homeland Security Office of Levee Safety held a town hall meeting in Glenwood Thursday.
They shared a report on the 850 miles of Iowa levees saying 48% of Iowa levees that were deemed “unacceptable” while 45% were considered “minimally acceptable.”
In addition to having adequate tax revenue, Mills County Supervisor Richard Crouch says there’s another challenge.
“How do you get FEMA, your DNR, all these people, your levee districts and everything; it's trying to get all the government bodies to see the problem and to work on it together. It’s tough to do,” said Crouch.
Last year, the Iowa legislature passed a levee improvement program and Thursday’s town hall was part of that process.
I’m your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel on the Lincoln farm in Mills County.
