Last week, just after I posted an item on levee inventories throughout the US, California legislators proposed a bill that challenges the US Army Corps of Engineers’ current levee policy. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Corps adopted a national policy requiring vegetation removal from levees. Although a more recent update of that policy allows some exceptions, the California delegation says it’s not enough and is calling instead for regional or watershed-based variances.
Although the original justification for the policy was that tree roots might weaken earthen levees, there are several arguments against vegetation removal; one is that taking away all vegetation might accelerate erosion on the bare levees. Another is that removing native vegetation would destroy habitat and prevent states from complying with the Endangered Species Act. Another is that it’s simply too expensive to carry out the work—according to one estimate, about $7.5 billion to achieve compliance in California alone.
Many thanks to our editorial advisory board member Donald Gray, Professor (Emeritus) of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, for bringing the proposed bill to our attention. He comments, “The bill, dubbed the Levee Vegetation Review Act, requires the Corps to adopt regional variances with input from state and local entities, and provide flexibility to exempt areas from the current policy. The current policy does not provide for broader, regional standards or exemptions that recognize not only the environmental benefits of woody vegetation on levees but also the potential dangers to levee stability and safety of removing trees.”
An article in Environment & Energy Daily provides more detail on the bill. You can see find a past article from Erosion Control on the subject of vegetation and levees here.
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