The Upper Mississippi River Basin Association (UMRBA) strongly supports efforts to improve the ability of people and organizations to prepare for, respond to, and recover from major floods events. This involves improving and better utilizing information to understand their respective risk of being impacted from flooding on the Upper Mississippi River System and to assess their vulnerabilities.
UMRBA applauds the leadership of Representative Mary Miller and other members of Congress in improving flood protection on the Upper Mississippi River System. As such, the states support the basic purpose and objectives of the Upper Mississippi River Levee and Floodwall Design Standards bill (H.R. 5722), including by more frequently renewing surface water profiles and flood frequency probabilities.
UMRBA acknowledges the increasing likelihood that high intensity floods will be experienced on the Upper Mississippi River System and that people, economies, and ecosystems will be impacted. Levee systems authorized fifty or more years ago likely do not offer the same levels of protection as we understood them to have then.
In the spirit of continued cooperation with Congress, our federal agency partners, affected interests, UMRBA submitted to Congress the following comments regarding H.R. 5722:
- UMRBA acknowledges the importance of more frequently renewing surface water profiles and flood frequency probabilities to inform risk assessments and systemic and localized planning.
- UMRBA supports efforts to improve flood protection in certain places given current understandings of flood frequency probabilities and associated impacts.
- UMRBA’s interpretation of the bill is that levees would be automatically allowed to adjust levee protection without mitigation for impacts onto others. However, UMRBA recognizes that any adjustments to levee heights and placement must abide by applicable state and federal law. That involves evaluating, acknowledging, and mitigating for any resulting impacts to other areas of the river floodplain.
- UMRBA respectfully requests that the bill include language acknowledging that modifications to levee heights and placement must abide by applicable state and federal law.
Relatedly, UMRBA is seeking a federal authorization in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 to develop long term, integrated approaches to improving flood conveyance and storage in the Upper Mississippi River System floodplain, systemically and locally. We intend for the process to facilitate a collaborative approach to evaluating of an extensive array of structural and nonstructural measures that would collectively improve flood conveyance and storage.
Find the comment letter on UMRBA's website by clicking here.
