March 27, 2008
District to Spend $2.5 Million to Improve Levee
Mayor Fenty's office sent out a press release on Wednesday to announce that the District will spend $2.5 million to improve the 17th Street levee. As you may recall, the Federal Emergency Management Agency proposed new flood maps in January to include an area in Southwest Washington from the Lincoln Memorial to Fort McNair. The change would have required many private property owners to purchase mandatory flood insurance, but FEMA recently agreed to delay implementation of the new maps. The city hopes the plan will prevent insurance premiums from spiking in the proposed flood plain.
“We’re taking immediate action to reduce the health and safety risk to the citizens, businesses, structures and institutions in the District,” Mayor Fenty said in a statement. “And it is critically important that we move through this process in lockstep with our federal partners.”
Details have yet to be hammered out, but Fenty's office is estimating the design and construction of improvements to the levee system will take 15 months. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Capital Planning Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, the District Department of the Environment, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Office of Planning and the Commission on Fine Arts will all be involved in the process.
Photo by LaTur
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how much are the feds ponying up for this? kudos to the fenty administration for taking the lead on this (it's wonderful that we are in a financial situation where we can afford to do this, unlike, say, new orleans). but this is going to help protect the IRS building, which flooded in the heavy rains last year, and other federal buildings downtown, so they better be throwing in their share!
Man, those are some sweet FEMA flood plan maps. Basically, everything around the Tidal Basin is under water (including the 14th Street Bridge). Good bye, IRS Building, hello Island of SW DC.
Time to bring back the canals and gondolas and Venetians singing La Traviatta. Like Grandpa Monkey used to screech, "When life gives you pee, make pee-aid."
The Commission on Fine Arts? Are they having like a really slow month?
When the levee breaks, the IRS will have no place to stay.
Now excuse me while I do some Jimmy Page air guitar.
Woah - that map Monkey linked to is whack! The Washington Phallus can become a lighthouse and ferry service can link the Jefferson Memorial Island to the Lincoln Memorial Peninsula. GW will become an underwater university. And the Georgetown movie theater will become the new Jacques Coustou Underwater Visitor Center.
Good thing global warming is just a myth and big hurricanes never plan a DC vacation.
the commission on fine arts (not the DC agency)
(cfa.org) is supposed to weigh in on stuff like this.
i hope it's so we don't enter another phase of international style architecture.
When I first saw that headline, I thought it was referencing the corpse of Gary Condit's missing intern-oops!
Loganmo, We can rebuild her. We have the technology.
IRS can't flood until I get my Economic Stimulus Package rebate check.