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News you can use
The Milk River Levee, built in the 1950s, stands south of the Milk River. The condition of the levee, including structures being erected too close, put it in violation of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers standards. The county is working on actions to bring the levee up to standards, otherwise people could be required to purchase flood insurance.
Federal, state and county representatives at a meeting Friday at the Northern Agriculture Research Center discussed Hill County's problems with the Milk River levee system.
Screenings by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May 2014 and January 2015 revealed the Milk River levee system is not up to standards, leaving the Havre downtown area susceptible to flooding.
Representatives from the Army Corps and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation gave informational presentations on the difference between FEMA and Army Corps levee standards, how the requirements of both can be satisfied and what it would take to get Havre's levee system back up to standards.
The three Hill County commissioners and Dave Shepherd, Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator; representatives from Great West Engineering and KLJ engineering firm, and representatives from Sen. Steve Daines, Sen. Jon Tester and Rep. Greg Gianforte attended the meeting.
The Havre-Milk River Flood Protection Project was completed in 1957 as a result of disastrous floods in 1938, 1944 and 1952. The levee system is made of the Milk River unit, which is county operated, and the Bullhook Unit Dry Dam, which is city-operated. The project is intended to provide flood protection against the 1 percent annual chance flood.
The 2014 and 2015 screenings showed that protection might not be provided by the Milk River Levee.
"There may be rocks on the edge of the river - you may have trees or shrubbery in the levee, too close to it. We've had multiple encroachments over the last 47, 57 years - people building a fence too close to the levee," Commissioner Mark Peterson said. "We have culverts that go under that need to be cleaned."
"We also have an opening on the west end, where the levee has been lowered for a gravel road to go across, and it's a railroad track. It's where the railroad did that. It's considered a deficiency because it doesn't meet that waterboard mark," Commissioner Diane McLean said.
FEMA will perform a "remapping," a floodplains assessment, the commissioners said. When that happens - the time is unknown - insurance costs are going up for everyone in the area if the levee system is not repaired.
"If FEMA remaps Havre and our levee is found lacking, then the requirement to buy flood insurance will be on every business, home and property that lies within the floodplain area," McLean said.
The next step, which is being discussed now, is a System-Wide Improvement Framework, a process that would keep the Havre levee system active and therefore eligible for Army Corps Assistance. The first step of the SWIF process, a letter of intent, was submitted Sept. 18, Peterson said.
The SWIF process can take up to two years.
Watch for more photos and an in-depth look at the levee in Hi-Line Living in Havre Daily News' Friday edition.
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