Florida Governor Bush warns of levee failure (Lake Okeechobee)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 3 (UPI) -- Florida's governor is urging major work be done on the levee surrounding Lake Okeechobee after a report warned of a possible catastrophe.

Gov. Jeb Bush called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spend the weeks heading into the hurricane season to repair and revamp the levee, the Miami Herald reports.

But Corps engineers said the report was a mix of worst-case scenarios that didn't reveal anything new.
The Corps maintains the lake is far below acceptable water levels and isn't unsafe barring extreme weather scenarios.

The report, which Bush authorized, warns a break in the levee could release Okeechobee's waters onto entire south Florida, causing drinking water contamination and destroying parts of the Everglades along with possible injury or death.

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The aging, leaky levee surrounding Lake Okeechobee looms as an ''imminent and grave danger'' not only to 40,000 people who live along its southern rim, but to all of South Florida, according to an engineering report released Tuesday by Gov. Jeb Bush's office.
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Bush found the analysis, produced by three experts hired by the state, troubling enough to call for immediate federal action to shore up the dike in the weeks remaining before the start of this year's hurricane season.

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But they (corps managers) also stressed the review echoed their own previous studies -- although it did so in more alarming language -- and insisted the 70-year-old, 140-mile-long dike remains sound and safe going into this hurricane season.
''There is no big revelation in this report,'' said Steve Duba, chief of the engineering division for the Corps' Jacksonville district.

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In fact, because water levels are so low, Corps managers said, the levee and lake are in better shape than when Hurricane Katrina carved a 220-foot-long, 40-foot-deep hunk out of the dike near the Pahokee Airport last year.
High water, which can create internal erosion, is the biggest concern for the levee, he said. The lake's level on Tuesday was 13.41 feet above sea level -- below a 14-foot target the Corps had set for May 1 and far from an 18-foot mark that spawned an outbreak of ''near-failure'' leaks in 1995.

''I feel pretty good about that, better than I have the last few years,'' Duba said.

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Corps managers don't dismiss the worst-case scenarios but argued the threat is diminished when the lake level is below 18.5 feet. The report, they said, amped up both the fear- and risk-factors for the public -- mainly by using ``alarmist terminology.''

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With hurricane season approaching, Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday urged an immediate federal response to a report warning that the dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee is in extreme danger of failing and devastating South Florida's environment, economy and quality of life.
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"There are serious problems with the dike," Bush said.
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The grim outlook for the Herbert Hoover Dike is the focus of a report by engineering consultants for the South Florida Water Management District.

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Bush's words practically echoed those in the 78-page report, which concludes the dike "poses a grave and imminent danger to the people and the environment of South Florida. ... The basic problem is simple. Certain geologic formations that underlie the dike, and portions of the material that comprise it, bear a striking resemblance to Swiss cheese."

While agreeing the report deserves serious attention, Army Corps officials said Tuesday that the dike is secure and a safety program is in place to protect the public.
"There are no big revelations in the report," said Steve Duba, the Army Corps' chief of engineering based in Jacksonville. "It's pretty tough to surprise us in a big way."

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At a news conference Tuesday, a team of Army Corps officials said the report fails to include an analysis showing why the repairs under way are insufficient.

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CLEWISTON - Though he agrees the dike around Lake Okeechobee needs upgrading, the man in charge of the day-to-day operations of the levee around Lake Okeechobee said Thursday he has confidence in its stability.

But a report from an independent engineering group released earlier this week suggested there was a 50-50 chance of at least one breach of the Herbert Hoover Dike in the next four years.

The report called the dike an imminent and grave danger.

Nothing in this report was new to me, said Steve Sullivan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' operations manager at the dike, though he did not disagree that long-term improvements are necessary.
I have a very high confidence in the levee, very high confidence, he said during a press conference at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Clewiston office, because I have a high confidence in how we manage the water levels, how we provide surveillance.

Keeping the lake's water level low, especially during a hurricane, is key, he said. Doing that both reduces day-to-day pressure on the dike and any impacts from storm surge and wind-whipped waves during hurricanes.

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WASHINGTON · Army Corps of Engineers officials met with South Florida U.S. Reps. Mark Foley and Alcee Hastings on Tuesday to discuss concerns about the potential for disaster from the aging dike that surrounds Lake Okeechobee.

The meeting came on the heels of an 82-page report predicting widespread flooding throughout South Florida should a major hurricane strike the lake and damage the dike.

Both Foley, R-Fort Pierce, and Hastings, D-Miramar, found it troubling that many of their constituents would be in "grave and imminent danger" should the lake water overrun the dike, as the report warned.
"The report sounded like a Steven Spielberg movie," Foley said. "It kept using words like `ominous' and `danger.' That worried me."

Even though he is still "concerned" about the potential of a major flood, Foley said after the hourlong meeting that Army Corps officials eased his worries.
"I'm a little more comfortable," Foley said. "I am comforted by the fact that the Corps' engineers are comfortable with the system they have in place."

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