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Funding approved for repairs on flood-damaged Orchard Homes levee

Posted at 5:18 PM, Dec 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-12 19:18:56-05
Orchard Homes flooding
Tyson Dupuis image.

MISSOULA – Missoula County Commissioners have approved funding to repair the Orchard Homes levee which was damaged due to flooding this past Spring.

The Army Corps of Engineers will oversee the project.

They are currently doing a study in the area to map river inundation to help prepare the levee for next flood season. Once that study is done,  the county will be presented with a plan and strategy going forward.

A timeline for the project will be unknown until that study and another that was requested by the county are completed, but the county hopes to have the project done by next flood season.

The estimated cost for the project is capped at $1 million and at this time the county will only foot around 20 percent of the cost.

“The Army Corps of Engineers comes in and looks at the levee and assesses the damage then comes up with a plan to fix the levee,” said Missoula County Office of Emergancy Management Projects Coordinator Nick Holloway. “In this case they came up with a plan to fix the levee that might cost up to a million dollars.  It might not cost the full amount but the board of county commissioners has agreed to pay 20 percent of the cost which right now is about $193,000.

The county is also looking at long-term solutions for that area to stand against future floods.