Levees: An Opportunity to Advance Strategic Connections in Flood Risk Management at All Levels of Government

Periodic flood events continue to shine light on the importance of levees and the need for a consistent national approach to better predict levee performance and manage them in the broader community context. Today, levee systems play a critical role in managing flood risk throughout the United States.
Yet levees are built by various governmental agencies or by private property owners, often using different standards, materials, and flood scenarios to inform their design. With over 24,000 miles of levees throughout the nation reducing flooding to about 2,400 communities, over 23 million people, and $2.4 trillion in property value (Figure 1), there exists a national need for gaining a more consistent understanding and management of this important infrastructure. (Continued)