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The Vicksburg District Levee Safety Program


In 2006, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created the Levee Safety Program to assess the integrity and viability of levees and to make sure that levee systems do not present unacceptable risks to the public, property, and the environment. The basic objectives of the Levee Safety Program are to:

• Develop balanced and informed assessments of levees within the program.
• Evaluate, prioritize and justify levee safety decisions.
• Make recommendations to improve public safety associated with levee systems.

 

 

The National Levee Database is a component of the Levee Safety Program which inventories all levees in the program and aims to continually improve inspection procedures. The Levee Safety Action Classifications (LSACs) will be placed in the Database. (Additional information about the National Levee Database can be found on the back of this brochure.)


• National Levee Database: Provides a comprehensive view of levee systems across the country.
• Levee Safety Action Classification: A risk communication tool to identify and prioritize levee systems based on the risk associated with the system.

LSAC - Levee Safety Action Classification

A key lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina is the importance of risk communication so that local officials, stakeholders, and the public have the best information available in order to make informed risk-based decisions. The Levee Safety Action Classification (LSAC) is one of the many tools we use to better inform our stakeholders and residents of the residual risk in their communities.

The LSAC is neither a levee rating or grade, it is a classification system designed to take into account the existing condition of the levee, the current and future maintenance of the levee and the consequences if a levee were to fail or be overwhelmed.


A levee that reduces risk for a dense population will receive a different classification from an equally constructed levee with a smaller population because the consequences associated with failure is greater.

Common Questions and Answers

What is the probability of a system being used and against what type of event?

There are different types of events that a system can defend against:
Riverine High Water
Rainfall Events
What people, structures, and property are behind the system?

LSAC looks at what would happen to the people, structures and property behind the system in the worst case scenario.
How many times has a system been operated and how did it perform?

LSAC looks at not only how a system performed in the past, but also how it is expected to perform in the future.Add Content...

National Levee Database (NLD)

The National Levee Database is accessible to the public and provides information on individual levee systems such as risk characteristics, inspection summaries, and the local Federal Emergency National Flood Insurance Program.
 
Information is available for more than 2,490 miles of levees in the Vicksburg District.
 
The NLD can be found here - http://levees.sec.usace.army.mil

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