As the next month and a half dissipates toward the official commencement of the 2006 hurricane season, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is "well on its way to accomplishing" the initial goal set for repairing and strengthening those segments of the hurricane protection system that were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, according to the organization.

"The effort to effectively restore the hurricane protection system that was so badly damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year is one of the largest and most ambitious civil works projects ever undertaken in the United States," said Maj. Gen. Don Riley, USACE director of Civil Works, in a recent Army Corps of Engineers announcement.

The current standing of restoration to the many miles of damaged levees is as follows:

• Orleans East Bank, 27 percent;
• Inner-harbor Navigation Channel, 64 percent;
• New Orleans East, 72 percent;
• St. Bernard, 74 percent; and
• Plaquemines, 74 percent.

The goal for completion of repairs to the damaged levees is June 1, 2006.

The effort to inspect the entire levee and floodwall system has been ongoing since September 2005. As such, the Corps continues to conduct both surface and subsurface inspections of the remaining 181 miles of the New Orleans-area levee system that was not visibly damaged by last year's hurricanes.

On low ground, surrounded by water on all sides, New Orleans depends on a manmade system to protect it from potential disasters such as floods, hurricanes and storms. Pump stations, some a century old, move water from city streets into a series of canals that ultimately lead to Lake Pontchartrain. Three major outfall canals drain water from the center of the city north to the lake. More than 14 miles of levees and floodwalls bordering these canals form part of the region's Hurricane Protection System; the 17th Street Canal, the Orleans Avenue Canal and the London Avenue Canal proved vulnerable to Katrina's massive storm surge.

So adding a structure at the mouth of each canal is considered key to better protection. These new structures can keep storm surge out and can permit existing pump stations to continue operation.

The fabrication and installation of temporary closure gates at the mouths of the three aforementioned outfall drainage canals continues to progress. Once installed, these massive structures should isolate the outfall canals and their levee walls from potential Lake Pontchartrain storm surge during the upcoming hurricane season. The gates will be closed only when the canals are potentially threatened by Lake Pontchartrain surge.

The first portions of the 17th Street Canal closure gate were placed on barges in late March to begin their movement to the installation site.

Approximately 38 miles of the system are topped by I-walls similar to those that were breached along the three outfall canals during Katrina. The several approaches that the Corps is taking to quickly minimize any possible I-wall deficiencies include the following: thoroughly inspect those that were not damaged; replace damaged I-walls with T-walls (2.4 miles); isolate the I-walls along the interior drainage canals from any storm surge (8.6 miles); and replace I-wall with levee enlargement in Plaquemines Parish (6 miles).

The Corps has also doubled the standard amount of quality-control and quality-assurance inspections to "ensure the soil and other materials, as well as their placement, meet the highest standards." All inspections — particularly along the I-wall portions — are enhanced by detailed information and analysis provided to the Corps by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET). The IPET, which is comprised of more than 150 engineers, scientists and other experts from government, academia and industry, will take a thorough look at the performance of the hurricane protection system during Hurricane Katrina.

Despite the Corps' "good news" regarding progress, though, there continue to be hindrances.

Last week, the Bush administration proposed spending an additional $2.5 billion for New Orleans levee construction and simultaneously issued long-awaited building guidelines for the flood-prone region that would require rebuilding many heavily damaged homes at least three feet above the ground. Wednesday's announcement, according to the Washington Post (via Concord Monitor) "is an attempt to lay to rest some of the fears that have stalled the recovery." When combined with previous efforts, the $2.5 billion proposal is intended to protect 98 percent of the population from a 1-in-100-year flood by adding stronger walls and making the levees taller, in some cases seven feet.

However, the plans do not include the south Plaquemines peninsula through which the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf. In fact, the USACE estimated it would cost another $1.6 billion to protect just 2 percent of the at-risk population, or about 14,000 people in small towns like Buras, Triumph and Venice. Last week's staggering new cost estimates for building levees in little towns in lower Plaquemines Parish is roughly more than $100,000 for every person living in such towns before the flood, federal rebuilding coordinators reported.

The Bush administration has already requested or received approval from Congress for $3.5 billion in levee improvements, and the plans do not require state contributions. Administration officials said they were still weighing whether to spend an additional $1.6 billion for levee improvements there.

The dismal cost-benefit analysis has thrown into doubt not only the levee project but also the continued existence of the rural communities that are depending on it in the water-rimmed strip about 60 miles southeast of New Orleans. Lacking proper protection would make it extremely difficult to rebuild in the area — new buildings might be required to be elevated as high as 35 feet to meet flood insurance requirements, officials have said — and many believe it could lead to its virtual abandonment.

Notes The Washington Post (via Detroit News):

With an estimated 20 square miles of coastal Louisiana disappearing every year, scientists have long raised the possibility that there may have to be a "managed retreat" from portions of the coast, with some unfortunate communities pulling up stakes as the waters encircle their settlements. Not fixing the levees in lower Plaquemines Parish, now a distinct possibility, would amount to the same thing, residents said.

"It would be the first time that this country has simply abandoned an entire community — at least I can't think of another example like it," said Benny Rousselle, president of the parish.

The new timetable for the reconstruction effort, according to the Corps, is as follows:

• June 1, 2006 — Completion of repairs to levees damaged by Katrina

• September 2007 — Completion of restoration of undamaged and subsided areas; completion of previously unconstructed portions of authorized projects

• December 2007 — Completion of final technical report that analyzes higher levels of protection (Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Report)

• 2010 — Certify the levees' flood protection as meeting NFIP's 100-year protection level, as well as additional improvements such as:

o Permanent Closure and Pumping Stations at the Outfall Canals
o Navigable Floodgates to Protect the Industrial Canal
o Storm Proofing of Existing Pump Stations
o Selective Armoring of Levees
o Incorporating a Portion of Non-Federal Levee in Plaquemines Parish
o Ecosystem Restoration.

"There is a great deal of work yet to be completed and inspected to meet the [June 1, 2006] goal," said USACE's Riley, "and much more to be done beyond that date to effectively meet long-term hurricane protection goals."