The first webinar in the U.S. Levee Safety Coalition 2018-2019 webinar series was “US Army Corps of Engineers, Levee Portfolio Report.” The webinar was presented by Eric Halpin, Deputy Dam Safety Officer/Levee Safety Officer USACE, and Noah Vroman, Director, Levee Safety Center USACE on September 24, 2018 and repeated on October 9, 2018.
The USACE Levee Portfolio Report was recently released for public review. While the data is specific to USACE portfolio, information presented in the report and covered on the webinar is applicable to anyone designing, constructing, operating or managing levees. The webinar is intended to highlight facts gathered from risk assessments of approximately 2,200 levee systems totaling 14,150 miles in length and provide a starting point for conversations at all levels of governance. We will discuss flood risks associated with levees in the USACE portfolio, relative importance of factors driving the risks, and the roles of USACE, other federal agencies, states, tribes, regional districts, and local communities in assessing, managing, and communicating levee-related flood risk. As a Nation, we know little about the condition or risks associated with levees outside the USACE portfolio. As such we do not have a true national look at the risks and benefits levees provide to the Nation. USACE is currently coordinating with states, tribes, local, regional and private levee owner-operators to conduct a one-time inspection and risk assessment for all levees in the United States. The webinar will provide an overview of the ongoing efforts and discuss how this information will be included in the National Levee Database.
Managing risks associated with levees in the United States will require diligence and cooperation among all levels of government, the private sector and the public. As progress toward the establishment of a National Levee Safety Program continues, the US Levee Safety Coalition webinars and the presentation of the USACE Levee Portfolio Report provide an opportunity to start this conversation.
The one-hour webinar covered all eight sections of the Portfolio Report:
- Section 1: Introduction
- Section 2: USACE Levee Portfolio Characteristics
- Section 3: The USACE Levee Safety Program Risk Framework
- Section 4: Risk Characterization of the USACE Levee Portfolio
- Section 5: Hazards: What and How Likely are they to Occur?
- Section 6: Levee Performance: Understanding Levee Components and Expected Performance
- Section 7: Consequence: Who and What are in Harm's Way?
- Section 8: Estimating the Cost of Addressing Levee-Related Risk in the USACE Portfolio
The first webinar was brought to you by ASDSO on behalf of the US Levee Safety Coalition.
