Common Levee O&M Pitfalls – Keeping Sponsors Above Water

A levee system consists of several features that work together to provide a specified level of flood risk reduction. What makes levees more complicated compared to dams is the fragmented nature of roles and responsibilities, which can make O&M activities challenging. For example, one single levee superintendent may need employees skilled on several different types of maintenance activities, such as pump maintenance, electrical controls, standard operation of various underseepage mitigation systems, and several other different types of trades. Close coordination across all stakeholders and mutual understanding of each other’s roles are paramount for effective levee risk management.
Common challenges that levee sponsors face include, but are not limited to: 1) coordination with adjacent landowners and the intersections between their infrastructure and levee features; 2) documentation of best practices that allow for the continuity of operations during absences or retirements; 3) communication between various departments within the sponsor’s organization on required risk mitigation measures adjacent to the levee; and 4) coordination of right-of-way needs. These challenges can be further exacerbated by staffing shortages, funding constraints, and supply chain impacts. Some regulatory or agency coordination exercises, such as FEMA recertification or USACE periodic inspection, can bring these challenges to light, but also presents an opportunity to tackle them with implementable solutions.
The purpose of this presentation will be to describe examples of common operations or maintenance challenges levee sponsors may come across and identify strategies for addressing them. The paper will discuss how to effectively use levee system O&M manual to document design intent, track modifications, organize stakeholder/partnership agreements, and keep an up-to-date record of land ownership. Recommendations for internal agency practices will be provided with examples and lessons learned from a wide variety of levee sponsors and projects of different levels of complexity. The goal is to discuss strategies that have been used or are currently being implemented by other levee sponsors to provide examples of practical alternatives.