National Levee Safety Program

Last month we officially launched the National Levee Safety Program, a joint effort between USACE and FEMA to develop an integrated framework for managing reliable levee systems and improving community resiliency in areas behind all levees throughout the Nation.

Originally, we had scheduled a series of in-person and virtual workshops and engagement opportunities to assist Tribes and stakeholders in understanding this effort. Due to COVID, the in-person engagements have been canceled. I have attached a flyer with information about the upcoming virtual workshops. To register for a workshop, go to www.leveesafety.org and click on the “Get Involved” page.  Also, it is recommended that you click on “Sign-Up to Receive Email Announcements” to receive email announcements about this program.

Although the virtual workshops will be held in different regions, the workshops will follow the same agenda and are not intended to focus on any one specific geographical area. We encourage you to attend one of these virtual workshops to gain a better understanding of the effort and program.  All participants must register for a virtual workshop ahead of time.  Each workshop is limited to 100 participants.

The goals for our stakeholder engagement process include: (1) understanding the needs of the stakeholders this program is intended to support, (2) providing opportunities for meaningful input to shape decisions and outcomes on program design, components, and products, and (3) ensuring that the unique challenges of disadvantaged communities and tribes are well understood and incorporated into solutions. Our stakeholder engagement activities will be conducted in three phases.  Attached is another factsheet that describes each of these phases.

We are ready to begin the first phase which is set to last from now until March 31, 2022.   For this phase, we are focused on understanding stakeholder needs to help us shape the components of this program.  All materials related to our approach to develop this program, including specific questions we are seeking feedback on, can be found on our website at www.leveesafety.org.  There is also an opportunity for Tribes to be a part of the Committee on Levee Safety. I have attached requirements for that position as well as the application process that was recently posed in the federal register to this email.

We hope that you will join us as we develop this program. Program specific questions should be sent to hq-leveesafety@usace.army.mil.

Documentation for download:

Committee Levee Safety Tribal Requirements

Federal Register Post Levee Safety Committee

Levee Safety Program Fact Sheet

Stakeholder Engagement Fact Sheet

Virtual Workshop Fact Sheet