After more than seven years, funding to complete the final stage of the Winslow levee feasibility study has been approved.
Congress passed an omnibus bill that includes $670,000 for the study. As of press time, the bill was awaiting the President Obama’s signature. The funding will allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to finish the last portion of the study, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2015.
Navajo County Assistant Manager Homero Vela explained that the study has been underway since 2007, and the funding approved by Congress will allow it to be completed so that the project can move on to the next phase.
The feasibility study includes numerous components, including hydrology and geology studies that will determine how the levee must be repaired in order to provide flood protection. No work can take place on the levee until the study is finalized.
Vela noted that on Dec. 2, county staff met with corps officials to select a levee rehabilitation plan based on the existing results of the study. According to Vela, the selected plan will offer 100-year flood protection and meets the cost-benefit requirements set forth by the corps.
The $61-million plan includes the rehabilitation of five miles of the Winslow levee and one mile of Ruby Wash. The county and the City of Winslow will be responsible for funding 35 percent of the project, with the federal government covering the remainder. Funding is not guaranteed, however, and will be obtained in a similar manner to the feasibility study. Each year, the county and the corps must ask Congress to include funding for the project.
Funding was the main source of delays for the feasibilty study. In some years the county had funding available to move forward with the project, but was unable to do so due to a lack of matching federal money.
“The $61 million is at the limit of what we can afford,” Vela said.
He explained that the selected plan was one of several, ranging from taking no action to rebuilding the levee to provide 500-year flood protection. According to Vela, the selected plan represents a balance between affordability and providing suitable protection to Winslow homes, businesses and facilities against flooding.
Although a plan has been selected, completion of work on the Winslow levee is still several years away. Vela noted that the design phase is expected to take at least two years, and the construction phase at least three years, meaning that the levee rehabilitation would not be completed until at least 2020, depending on funding.
