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Portland’s 26 miles of levees along the Columbia and Sandy rivers need millions of dollars’ worth of repairs and maintenance, and a group of stakeholders is trying to keep the solution from breaking the bank.

Hurricane Katrina‘s devastating flooding in 2005 prompted Federal Emergency Management Agency officials to re-evaluate safety standards on levee districts nationwide, and, in 2012, the Multnomah County Drainage District received notification that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers‘ certification for two levee districts 鈥� Peninsula Drainage District No. 1 and Peninsula Drainage District No. 2 鈥� would expire in 2013.

Certification for the other two levee districts administered by Multnomah County Drainage District 鈥� the Sandy Drainage Improvement Company and the largest district (called MCDD) that is home to Portland International Airport and almost 20 percent of the region’s industrial land 鈥� is set to expire in 2017.

The levees that protect valuable North Portland real estate need to be recertified and reaccredited in order to remain active in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Levees must be accredited 鈥� recognized by FEMA as proven, from an engineering standpoint, to have been designed and maintained to protect low-lying areas from a 1 percent annual chance flood 鈥� in order to be eligible for the national flood insurance. Without it, residents, businesses and property owners would be required to purchase private flood insurance 鈥� much more expensive 鈥� to comply with development standards for flood plains.

鈥淚f you have a federally backed loan, and you’re in a flood plain, you’re required to carry flood insurance,鈥� said Jason McBain, a levee safety program manager with the corps’ Portland office. 鈥淟evee accreditation means a lot to property value and flood insurance because when you live behind a levee that’s accredited, you’re shown on (FEMA) maps as having less flood vulnerability and less risk.鈥�

In response to FEMA’s requirements, city and Port of Portland officials asked then-Gov. John Kitzhaber to assign the issue to Oregon Solutions, project manager Steve Greenwood said.

鈥淲e’re here to provide a neutral forum, a convening table, for bringing stakeholders together to make public projects happen,鈥� he said.

At a March 3 meeting, Oregon Solutions program participants chose to expand the engineering analysis, which so far has focused only on Peninsula Drainage District Nos. 1 and 2, into the other two levee districts.

Findings from a Cornforth Consultants study that was released at that meeting analyzed two of the four levee districts, indicating that 鈥渂oth systems continue to have targeted areas with deficiencies; however, the majority of the systems perform well鈥� overall.

Greenwood said the report and preliminary evaluation of the other two levee districts has stakeholders hopeful that the levees won’t require as much work for reaccreditation as estimated initially 鈥� between $100 million and $268 million. He added that FEMA will likely wait for stakeholders working collaboratively toward a solution before taking action.

鈥淔EMA has indicated that, because we’re being proactive, the clock hasn’t started ticking yet,鈥� he said.

If FEMA does begin a remapping process, it would require about 18 months to complete.

The next steps include using the corps’ findings to determine flood risk tolerance, begin discussion around setting new standards for protection and identifying flood risk prevention strategies, according to Jackie Dingfelder, Mayor Charlie Hales‘ policy director on the environment and sustainability.

鈥淲e’re moving into the second phase and are showing FEMA that we’re at the discussion table to make sure we are making good progress,鈥� she said. 鈥淢aintaining the Columbia River levees is vital for the city and the region. Next we have to look at how large and how expensive the project will be.鈥�

Amy Echols, public affairs officer for the corps’ Portland office, said it’s too early in the analysis process to determine repair and maintenance costs, but said the Oregon Solutions project team is considering cost along with safety when deciding on solutions for the levees.

鈥淭he team is working to get the level of surety we need in the most efficient way,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his area is a very important part of Portland’s economy, and the cost-efficiency will be considered along with life safety and protection levels.鈥�