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I am honored to serve as your Councilman and as Chairman of the Council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee. Mayor Tom Leppert and I wrote a letter that was sent and printed in the Dallas Morning News in response to a misleading article they printed on the Trinity River Corridor Project and the levees.
Please allow me to share it with you.
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Dallas Morning News Editor,
The city's safety and flood control have always been the driving forces behind the Trinity River Corridor Project. The Dallas Morning News' analysis suggesting that any city leader -- past or present -- has put the integrity of the Dallas levee system behind the larger vision for the Trinity River Corridor Project is uninformed, untrue and irresponsible.
For two decades, city staff has maintained and improved our levee system under the watchful eye of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Until 2009, every corps inspection rated our levees good or excellent. In fact, a 2006 inspection called the levees "structurally sound," declaring that the city "has effectively maintained the levees."
Only after post-Katrina changes did city levees fail inspection -- as has occurred in hundreds of other cities where the corps is now applying new, more stringent rating requirements.
Dallas levees are built to an 800-year flood standard, well above the 100-year standard levees being built in New Orleans. Nonetheless, Dallas is devoting substantial resources and funding to address corps concerns by repairing, maintaining and improving the levees as it has for years.
In the 1990s, the city improved levee stability and extended flood protection to the Rochester and Cadillac Heights neighborhoods. Our new lower chain of wetlands is reducing flood levels upstream.
Was flood control tied to recreation and transportation pieces of the Trinity River Corridor Project? Yes. Flood control projects are a hard sell. Voters rejected them in 1973 and 1978 bond elections. Still, levee improvements continued.
The News' troublesome analysis ignored history, context and this critical fact: 80 percent of the 198 fixes cited in the corps' 2009 inspection are now complete.
The Trinity River Corridor Project comes with tremendous challenges and opportunities. Levee integrity and the safety of Dallas citizens always come first.
The article originally printed by the Dallas Morning News can be found here: "Grand plans delay levee fix -- 20 years after floods, protective barriers have only gotten weaker," Sunday Analysis.
"I would like your feedback on these issues and how we can work together to continue this important project for our City."
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Please Contact Me
I value your feedback on how I can help you, your neighborhood, and the City of Dallas become a safer, cleaner, and more vibrant place to live and work.
Please contact me via email david.neumann@dallascityhall.com or phone at 214-670-0776 with suggestions or feedback on how I can continue to better serve you.
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Please keep in touch!
Thanks - Dave
Dave Neumann
Dallas City Council, District 3
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