St. Bernard Parish residence. Note debris on the roof. Photo/Mike Collins

After the Corps of Engineers’ levee system broke during Katrina, the 109th Congress crafted true reform legislation.

Modeled after the Countrywide Dam Safety Program, the Act created many new practices including, but not limited to, levee performance requirements, the first ever National Levee Database (NLD) and an new inspection process for all of our nation’s levees.

Most important of all, it had a quasi-independent Safety Review Board to provide oversight.

But three revisions later, the final bill was less than half the length of the original.  And it ultimately gave even more responsibility – without independent oversight – over all of our nations’ levees to the Army Corps of Engineers, the entity primarily responsible for the drowning of New Orleans.

Giving the Corps more authority over levees after Katrina is like giving BP more authority over deep-sea drilling safety after the 2010 Gulf disaster.

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