Osawatomie Completes Levee Certification
The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was pleased to announce they have accepted the accreditation materials for the City of Osawatomie levee system! Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. submitted the materials on behalf of the City of Osawatomie and was a tremendous partner in completing the accreditation. Now that the accreditation has completed, FEMA will produce a new countywide Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report and Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Miami County, Kansas. The levee will be shown as fully accredited on this future FIRM.
Completely this accreditation was a long work in progress starting on June 18, 2007, when the City of Osawatomie entered into a PAL (Provisionally Accredited Levee) agreement with FEMA. This agreement required the City of Osawatomie to have an evaluation of the levee system completed and submit evidence to FEMA by June 18, 2009 indicating that the levee meets FEMA requirements. A Phase I assessment was completed by Wilson & Company, Inc., Engineers & Architects WCI along with Wood Earth & Environmental, Inc. (now Wood) as a subcontractor on June 15, 2009. This assessment included data collection and review, field reconnaissance, and plan moving forward with accreditation and a Phase II assessment. The Phase II assessment was completed in June 2012 by Wilson & Company and Wood Earth & Environmental, Inc. (now Wood). The Phase II assessment included the evaluation of freeboard, closures, embankment protection, seepage, stability, settlement, interior drainage, and operations and maintenance as it pertains to the FEMA requirements and recommendations needed for certification. Of these recommendations, the construction of a new gate at Station 241+10 and raising the levee embankment surrounding the new gate and along the tie-back portion of the levee would require significant funds.
In October 2012, Stantec revised the original hydraulic model which had previously been used in the June 2012 assessment. Multiple openings along 6th Street and two railroads were added to the model. A second revision was completed in March 2017 by Stantec, under contract with FEMA. The railroad profile was lowered, in general, piers adjusted, and additional bridge openings were added along the railroad just west of the levee tie-back and structure at Station 241+10. Data for the revision was provided by the City of Osawatomie.
Ultimately, the report indicated that the Osawatomie Levee System is extremely well maintained by the City of Osawatomie and the levee system is in good standing with the US Army Corp of Engineers program. The City is following best management practices to the Maximum Extent Practical (MEP) when performing maintenance procedures.