Pictured is a flood gate on the Prairie du Rocher levee system.

Prairie du Rocher and the 16.4-mile levee that protects it from Mississippi River flooding are under pressure again.

This time, it’s not the water level. Rather, it is the timeline for the process of getting the risk-reduction structure certified by engineers and then accredited by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as being able to fend off a so-called 100-year or 1 percent flood event.

To be mapped as being accredited, a levee system must first be thoroughly investigated by a certified engineering firm or appropriate government agency, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The study determines whether the levee system meets federal design, construction, maintenance and operation standards.

If it does and is so certified, FEMA will recognize it on its flood maps and accredit it as such. If the levee system achieves that recognition, it has a huge influence on flood insurance costs. Regular homeowners insurance does not pay for flood damage. Residential property protected by an accredited levee might cost only a few hundred dollars per year to insure.

But if a levee loses accreditation, that flood insurance could easily jump from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

The Prairie du Rocher Drainage and Levee District, which maintains and operates the levee, has been diligent for decades. They have protected the area and looked ahead to future requirements.  They have wisely invested money to reduce risk to people living in the area.

Following the flood of 1993, the levee — then graded as a 50-year rural levee — was raised to a higher level and additional relief wells were installed to combat levee underseepage during floods. Through hard work and no small expense, by 2004, the levee was adjudged as providing the 100-year level of protection and federally insured flood insurance was available at reduced rates.

In recent years, in the wake of floods elsewhere, the accreditation process has become more stringent. Also, many older levees are being found to have deficiencies that were previously unknown. This is often revealed during certification studies.

The Prairie du Rocher D&LD had already spent a great deal of money to secure a private engineering firm study of the levee.  When it was determined the Corps of Engineers could finish the work at less cost, that route was chosen.  The work already accomplished was turned over to the Corps, and two more payments of $41,000 each were made to the Corps.  Some $65,000 remains to be paid for the study, and all of it must be remitted before the study can be finished.

But time is running out, and may be doing so faster than initially expected. In fact, the community, which thought it had 18 months to finish the certification study, has been jolted to learn it may have to be done by March 2017.

A meeting is slated later this month in Prairie du Rocher. It will bring FEMA Region 5 representatives, Corps of Engineers experts and community leaders together to try to determine what is required and when it must be provided.

Prairie du Rocher Chamber of Commerce President Amy Barbeau is one of those engaged in this endeavor. She said that in recent weeks, the area has raised nearly $25,000 of the $62,000 needed to pay for the Corps to complete its work.

“That has included almost $6,000 from crowd funding, another $1,000 from neighboring Chambers of Commerce in Red Bud, Chester and Waterloo, and $5,000 from Harrisonville Telephone Company,” she said.

In addition, Randolph County has pledged to co-sign a bank loan against future taxes to be collected by the levee district.

And that’s not all.

Several events are on the calendar for this fall, including a raffle that may raise as much as $70,000 against study costs and any needed work identified.

Finally, volunteers have entered the fray.  The levee system includes the engineered dirt structure, drains to move water from inland to the river and closure gates.

It also includes 90 so-called relief wells. These are the steel pipes seen along levees. They are sunk into the subterranean soil to depths where water that seeps under a levee flows when pressure from flooding mounts.  The wells allow water to rise to the surface, where it is ponded and stored until after the flood.  If there are not enough relief wells, the water can wash soil from under levees, forcing it to the surface in sand boils. Left unchecked, this can cause levee collapses and failure.

Each of these wells must be inspected, and recently, levee inspection experts from St. Louis trained volunteers how to inspect the relief wells. The process calls for removing covers on top of the wells and lowering weights on measures to determine the well is still clear to its design depth.

Just getting to some wells was a struggle, fighting high, dense brush and bugs.

Finally, the results of each well check had to be precisely and properly documented.

This has been done and has contributed to bringing the remaining amount needed to the $62,000 figure.

“We have worked so hard,” Barbeau said. “We just don’t want to lose out to a date on a calendar. We have not been sitting and waiting for something to happen. We are in fact already working to upgrade items already identified as needing work.”

Nobody expects the certification process to find no faults with the levee. In fact, a Corps of Engineers expert has said additional relief wells are almost certainly going to need to be added.

“But if we can complete the certification process, the needed work can be aided by grants that we are hopeful will be available. We can’t get grants for the study work, though, and that’s the bridge we have to get across now,” Barbeau said.

And grants are by no means assured.

“So that’s why fundraising continues at a fevered pitch,” she said.
Barbeau told of another force pushing the community to meet deadlines and best ensure its future safety from floods.

“In 2022, Prairie du Rocher will be 300 years old. We believe we are the oldest community in Illinois.  We are proud of our past, happy in our present and determined to continue to do the right things a long way and time into the future,” she affirmed.  “This is important to us.  It is about reducing the risk to us all from floods.  It is very, very important.”