Council Bluffs Levee Restoration Information

Background: The L-624 Missouri River Left Bank, Indian Creek Left Bank, and Mosquito Creek Right Bank, L-627 Missouri River Left Bank and Indian Creek Right Bank, and L-627-624-611-614 Mosquito Creek and Upper Pony Creek Levee Systems that provide flood risk management to the City of Council Bluffs IA were damaged during the 2019 Flood Event, leading to the Project Sponsor submitting a Public Law (PL) 84-99 Rehabilitation Assistance request to the US Army Corps of Engineers – Omaha District.

Current Action: Design has been completed, with initial damages eligible for rehabilitation assistance only being found on the L-627 levee system.  The purpose of this rehabilitation project is to repair the levee system to the authorized level of flood risk management.

Next Steps:

  1. Advertise and award the levee repair construction contract.
  2. Repair the system to its authorized level of flood risk management.
  3. Conduct a follow-on damage assessment of the levee once the Missouri River water levels recede to determine if there is more damage to the levee system that is eligible for PL 84-99 Rehabilitation Assistance.

Status Updates:

03 February 2021 - The levee repair design is complete, and the contract will be advertised for construction once the sponsor finalizes real estate requirements.

08 September 2020 - The team continues to incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and will advertise the levee repair contract in the next few months.

16 July 2020 - The team continues to incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and will advertise the levee repair contract in the next few months.

10 June 2020 - The team continues incorporating additional repairs into the design documents and will advertise the levee repair contract in the next few months.

08 May 2020 - The team is working to incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and will advertise the levee repair contract in the next few months.

23 April 2020 - The team is working to incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and will advertise the levee repair contract in the next few months.

10 April 2020 - The team is working to incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and will advertise the levee repair contract in the next few months.

16 March 2020 - The team has completed the follow-on damage assessment of the levee system(s) and is determining if there are any additional damage locations eligible for rehabilitation assistance. The team will then incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and advertise the levee repair contract in spring 2020.

04 March 2020 - The team has completed the follow-on damage assessment of the levee system(s) and is determining if there are any additional damage locations eligible for rehabilitation assistance. The team will then incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and advertise the levee repair contract in spring 2020.

13 February 2020 - The team has completed the follow-on damage assessment of the levee system(s) and is determining if there are any additional damage locations eligible for rehabilitation assistance. The team will then incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and advertise the levee repair contract in early spring 2020.

31 January 2020 - The team has completed the follow-on damage assessment of the levee system(s) and is determining if there are any additional damage locations eligible for rehabilitation assistance. The team will then incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and advertise the levee repair contract in early spring 2020.

10 January 2020 - The team is anticipating conducting the follow-on damage assessment of the levee system(s) within the next few weeks. The team will then incorporate additional repairs into the design documents and advertise the levee repair contract in early spring 2020.

18 December 2019 - The team is anticipating conducting the follow-on damage assessment of the levee system(s) within the next few weeks. This construction contract will likely not be advertised until early spring 2020.

06 December 2019 - The team is waiting for water levels to recede to conduct a follow-on damage assessment to ensure all damage locations are being captured in the project design. This construction contract will likely not be advertised until early spring 2020.

22 November 2019 - The team is waiting for water levels to recede to conduct a follow-on damage assessment to ensure all damage locations are being captured in the project design. The construction contract will likely not be advertised until early spring 2020.

08 November 2019 - The team is continuing to work through the design and review process for this levee repair project.

24 October 2019 - The team is continuing to work through the design and review process for this levee repair project.

13 October 2019 - Engineering and design work continues on the initial repairs for the Council Bluffs levee system. Design is expected to be complete by early fall at which time a construction contract will be advertised and awarded to repair the system.

27 September 2019 – Engineering and design work continues on the initial repairs for the Council Bluffs levee system. Design is expected to be complete by early fall at which time a construction contract will be advertised and awarded to repair the system.

13 September 2019 – Engineering and design work continues on the initial repairs for the Council Bluffs levee system, with the design currently anticipated to be done in the November timeframe.

06 Sep 2019 – Team continues engineering and design work on repairs for the Council Bluffs levee system. Design is expected to be complete by early fall at which time a construction contract will be advertised and awarded to repair the system.

23 Aug 2019 – Team continues engineering and design work on repairs for the Council Bluffs levee system. Design is expected to be complete by early fall at which time a construction contract will be advertised and awarded to repair the system.

05 Aug 2019 – Engineering and Design (E&D) work continues for rehabilitating the Ida Grove levee system.  The team is now anticipating to be done with the E&D process by early-fall.

The team is still also planning to conduct a follow-on damage assessment for the Council Bluffs Levee Systems to determine if more damage is present after the water levels recede.

01 Aug 2019 – An initial site damage assessment and economic analysis has been completed.  From this initial assessment the USACE team has determined that there are damages to the L-627 levee system that are eligible for PL 84-99 Rehabilitation Assistance. Engineering and Design (E&D) work is on-going for rehabilitating the L-627 levee system.  The team is anticipating to be done with the E&D process for repairing the initial damage identified by late-summer.

The team is also planning to conduct a follow-on damage assessment for the Council Bluffs Levee Systems to determine if more damage is present after the water levels recede.

NOAA River Level Observations & Forecasts

NOAA Water Gauge Levels

Council Bluffs Levee Imagery

Levee L627 settlement damage identified by the USACE Omaha District team during their initial damage assessment in Story County, Iowa May 10, 2019.
Levee L627 erosion damage identified by the USACE Omaha District team during their initial damage assessment in Story County, Iowa on May 10, 2019.
Missouri River and Mosquito Creek high water on May 29, 2019. Photo captured looking North, just south of the Mid-American Power Plant.
Missouri River high water against the L-624 levee system. Photo captured south of Lake Manawa on May 29, 2019.
High water in Mosquito Creek on Mar. 14, 2019. Photo taken east of Lake Manawa looking south towards the Missouri River.
High water in Mosquito Creek on Mar. 14, 2019. Photo taken from the Hwy 92 bridge looking southeast towards the I-29 in Iowa.

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