The Monroe County Board heard good news on work to restore flood protection to the three-county area adjacent to the Mississippi River.

This concerned potential cost savings on a section of work in Madison County that will move toward restoring the system’s original protection level against a flood event that might be statistically expected in a 500-year interval.

Although the change would require removing already-installed plastic pipe in a water collection system with concrete pipe, it is thought that doing so could eliminate the cost measure of installing approximately 14,300 feet of concrete wall.  While final work is being designed, cost savings are currently estimated to be in the $14 million range – money that could then be used to advance work elsewhere on the levee system.

Perhaps of equal importance, commissioner Delbert Wittenauer noted, is a change that is bringing the Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA and Flood Prevention District closer together in a partnership versus a previously sometimes difficult working relationship…>>>

Read the full story in the September 23 issue of the Republic-Times. If you don’t already receive the paper, you can subscribe by calling 939-3814 or clicking here, or pick up a copy at any of these locations.