Routine Levee Maintenance to Begin on March 1
Tracy Campbell, Storm Water Regulatory Compliance Manager has details.
“Levees here in downtown Missoula protect downtown from flooding, and so they are what we call accredited levees by the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” said Campbell. “They provide the area behind the levees on the north side, primarily downtown area with protection and those properties can then receive reduced flood insurance rates because they're in what's called a FEMA Zone X.”
Campbell said the vegetation maintenance is required by statute.
“We need to maintain our levees to the Army Corps standards,” she said. “We're going to be removing some of the large diameter trees which when they fall can end up disturbing the banks and affecting the stability of the levees. So we'll be removing some of the large trees as well as non native vegetation and we're going to encourage native shrubs on the slopes.”