Kansas River levees ruled "deficient"
9:36 p.m. Friday, August 1, 2008
It's safe to say Topeka could be in for some rough waters.
"There are some design deficiencies in our levees," Deputy City Manager Randy Speaker said.
The levees, which hold the Kansas River in its banks, are reaching the end of their lifespan. Built in the late 1930s, the concrete walls have a wood foundation which has rotted over the past years. If enough pressure was put on the walls, they would crumble.
"Those design deficiencies are the same ones of some of the levees down that Katrina caused to fail," Speaker said.
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As if that weren't bad enough, they will cost around $18 million to fix, and that's not the only flood control the city has to worry about right now.
"You have the river and the levees," Speaker said, "but you have other parts of the city that are susceptible to flooding."
Topekans know all too well what happens when rain forces the Shunga Creek over its banks. Last May, flooding from the creek caused thousands of dollars in damage to multiple parts of the city. Speaker says part of the problem was the vast amount of development in the southwest corner of the city.
"What has happened is there are more rooftops, more asphalt, more concrete therefore there are less opportunities for the water to be absorbed," he said.
While emergency workers know what the problem is and have become more efficient in warning people of flooding, the city has yet to develop a plan to keep the same events from happening again.
"Although we don't have an exact plan today, the plan will be done in the next year or so and then council will need to decided how we're gonna deal with it," Speaker said.
In the next year, the Army Corps of Engineers will team up with the city to develop a plan for the Shunga. However, just like with the levees along the Kansas River the biggest road block is money.
"If money was no object and we had all the money we wanted, then we could go solve it," Speaker said. "But in this case, we have to find out what's the most economical way in our resources to address the flooding."
That's because if they do nothing, the waters will be far from smooth in Topeka.
"With extensive pressure on the levees, the hydraulic pressure, if we don't correct those design deficiencies, then we could have some problems," Speaker said.
The city council is considering a sales tax increase. Part of the money would pay for flood control in Topeka.
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