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ALEXANDER COUNTY, Ill. (KFVS) - Representative Mike Bost continued to push for federal funding for the Len Small Levee. 

On the House floor on Tuesday, September 10, he countered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ determination that there was no navigational benefit to repairing the Len Small Levee.

Bost presented photographs of the flood damage and a U.S. Coast Guard warning that was issued for the region earlier in the summer.The Len Small Levee, located along the Mississippi River in Miller City, breached in the winter floods of 2015 and 2016. However, it didn’t qualify for rehabilitation because it did not present a positive benefit-cost ratio, according to the Army Corps’ flood protection criteria. 

Since the breach, the Corps spent money at the site to maintain commercial navigation, but it was not effective during the most recent floods. Several barges and tows were sucked inland at the breach site after the Coast Guard issued a safety advisory for the stretch of river near the levee. 

In July, Rep. Bost introduced the Levee Rehabilitation Improvements Act, which would require the Army Corps to weigh navigational benefits, in addition to flood protection, when determining whether a levee is worthy of repair.