A pair of area Congressional Representatives are touting bipartisan proposed new legislation to boost levee protections along the Mississippi River.
15th District Congresswoman Mary Miller and 16th District Congressman Darin LaHood announced today they joined Illinois Representatives Mike Bost and Eric Sorenson in introducing the Upper Mississippi River Levee Safety Act in the U.S. House on Tuesday.
According to a press release by Representative LaHood Wednesday morning, the proposed legislation aims to give local levee districts along the upper Mississippi River more flexibility to maintain their systems and better prepare for future floods.
According to a report by Farm Week in an announcement by Mary Miller’s Office, the bill would require the Army Corps of Engineers to update flood probabilities used to set design standards for levees and flood walls with information no less than twenty years old.
Current flood district modeling sees rural districts on a 50-year flood frequency, rural and lower-populated at a 100-year frequency, and more concentrated urban and industrial areas set at a 500-year frequency.