The Flood Control Act of 1965, Title II of , was enacted on October 27, 1965, by the 89th

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and authorized the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to design and construct numerous flood control projects including the

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...

and Vicinity, Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project in the New Orleans region of south Louisiana. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1965 was also part of (Title III).

Basic provisions

Sec 201 of the Act authorized the Secretary of the Army, acting through the

Chief of Engineers The Chief of Engineers is a principal United States Army staff officer at The Pentagon. The Chief advises the Army on engineering matters, and serves as the Army's topographer and proponent for real estate and other related engineering programs. ...

(of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) to design and construct any water resource development project, including

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

, and shore protection if the cost of any single project did not exceed $10 million. Any such project was subject to local cost sharing in the same manner as larger projects.

Surveys

Sec 208 of the Act authorized the Corps of Engineers to conduct surveys for flood control and allied purposes, to include drainage and channel improvements.

Impact on New Orleans

The pre-

Katrina Katrina or Katrine may refer to: People * Katrina (given name) * Katrine (given name) Meteorology * List of storms named Katrina, a list of tropical cyclones designated as Katrina ** Hurricane Katrina, an exceptionally powerful Atlantic hurrican ...

Orleans Levee District (OLD), governed by the Orleans Levee Board (OLB), owned considerable assets, mainly real estate, a peculiarity that stems from its history. In the early twentieth century, the OLD reclaimed a portion of Lake Pontchartrain, a 24-mile wide lake north of New Orleans. The OLD developed the land and sold it to raise money to build and improve levees. The Lake Vista, Lake Oaks, Lake Terrace, East and West Lakeshore subdivisions and other property between Robert E. Lee Blvd and Lake Pontchartrain are all examples of these developed properties. The OLD also owned a marina and a small commercial airport on a man-made peninsula created from dredged material in the early 1930s. In the Flood Control Act of 1965––legislation enacted in response to losses exceeding $1 billion (including multiple levee failures) during Hurricane Betsy––Congress directed the Corps, from then forward, to be responsible for design and construction of the hurricane flood protection system enveloping New Orleans. The Corps was ordered to work in consultation with the OLD which became the local sponsor for the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project. Congress directed the corps build a flood protection system to protect south Louisiana from the worst storms characteristic of the region. The corps began developing the storm model in 1959, called the Standard Project Hurricane (SPH). This model was not subsequently adjusted, despite the

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(the successor agency to the

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) recommending increasing the strength of the model: the Corps did not change its construction plans. The local levee boards retained the role of maintenance once the projects were complete. When authorized, this mandate was projected to take 13 years to complete. When Katrina struck in 2005, the project was between 60-90% complete and the projected date of completion was estimated to be 2015. Details of the congressional mandate are defined in the Government Accountability Office'
testimony
before the

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works The United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is responsible for legislation and oversight of the natural and built environment and for studying matters concerning environmental protection and resource conservation and util ...

on September 28, 2005. The opening paragraph of the twelve page report reads:

''"Congress first authorized the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity, Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project in the Flood Control Act of 1965. The project was to construct a series of control structures, concrete floodwalls, and levees to provide hurricane protection to areas around Lake Pontchartrain. The project, when designed, was expected to take about 13 years to complete and cost about $85 million. Although federally authorized, it was a joint federal, state, and local effort."

In 2005, the estimated cost of construction for the completed project is $738 million with the federal share being $528 million and the local share $210 million. The initial scope of the project was to provide hurricane protection to areas around the lake in the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, and St. Charles with the federal government paying 70 percent of the costs and the state and local interests paying 30 percent, the typical cost-share arrangement.

Specific projects

Sec 204 of the Act authorized projects in the following locations: * St John River Basin, Maine * Housatonic River Basin, Connecticut * New England - Atlantic Coastal Area * Long Island Sound * New York - Atlantic Coastal Area * Elizabeth River Basin, New Jersey *

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Basin, New Jersey *

Neuse River The Neuse River ( , Tuscarora: Neyuherú·kęʔkì·nęʔ) is a river rising in the Piedmont of North Carolina and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in ...

Basin, North Carolina * Middle Atlantic Coastal Area *

Flint River The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from the u ...

Basin, Georgia * Central and Southern Florida Basin * South Atlantic Coastal Area * Phillippi Creek Basin, Florida * Lower Mississippi River Basin, adapting the Birds Point - New Madrid project enacted by 45 Stat. 34 at an estimated cost of $189,109,000 * General Projects - Grand Isle, Morgan City, and Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana (Lake Pontchartrain at a cost of $56,235,000) *

Ouachita River The Ouachita River ( ) is a river that runs south and east through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It is the 25th-longest river in the United State ...

Basin, Louisiana * Red River Basin, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas * Gulf of Mexico - various bayous in Texas * Rio Grande Basin, Texas at a cost of $12,493,000 * Arkansas River Basin, as authorized by the

Rivers and Harbors Act Rivers and Harbors Act may refer to one of many pieces of legislation and appropriations passed by the United States Congress since the first such legislation in 1824. At that time Congress appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio and ...

of 1946 - various creeks and rivers in Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas * Missouri River Basin - various creeks and rivers in Kansas, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri, and Montana * Ohio River Basin - various creeks and rivers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia *

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

Basin * Upper Mississippi River Basin - various projects in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota and South Dakota * Great Lakes Basin * Little Colorado River Basin * Gila River Basin, Arizona * Eel River, Whitewater River, Santa Ana River,

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento� ...

San Diego River The San Diego River is a river in San Diego County, California. It originates in the Cuyamaca Mountains northwest of the town of Julian, then flows to the southwest until it reaches the El Capitan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the river ...

Basins, California * San Francisco Bay Area * Columbia River Basin, Oregon and Washington

San Francisco Bay water quality

Sec 216 of the Act authorized the Corps of Engineers to study the water and wastewater quality of various bodies of water in the San Francisco Bay area.

Modification of other Flood Control Acts

Flood Control Act of 1944 The Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 78–534), enacted in the 2nd session of the 78th Congress, is U.S. legislation that authorized the construction of numerous dams and modifications to previously existing dams, as well as levees acros ...

, with respect to roads impacted by Whitney Dam, Texas * Flood Control Act of 1958, with respect to the Minnesota River * Flood Control Act of 1960, with respect to funding limitations * Flood Control Act of 1962, with respect to the

Scioto River The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets t ...

, Ohio

References

{{reflist

External links

Levees.Org (non-profit flood protection group in New Orleans)
1965 in the environment 1965 in law 1965