Recently a Groundbreaking Ceremony was held to mark the beginning of the repairs to the Massillon Levee. Congressman Bob Gibbs, Ohio District 7 joined Colonel Jason Evers, Huntington District Commander; Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry, Mayor of Massillon; Bob Fonte of Stark Parks; and Ramon Mejia, Project Manager, in celebrating the Groundbreaking.
The city of Massillon is protected by two independent earthen levees, East Levee and West Levee, on each side of the Tuscarawas River. To provide context, the East Levee extends approximately 11,500 linear feet (lf) and provides a line of protection for approximately 349 residential and commercial structures, along with Ohio State Route 21, a major thoroughfare. The Population at Risk (PAR) for the East Levee is 1,166. In addition, the West Levee extends approximately 4,500 lf and provides a line of protection for approximately 10 commercial structures, including a water treatment plant which provides potable water for approximately 90,000 citizens in Stark County.
Uniquely, the Massillon levees are jointly operated and maintained by the City of Massillon and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The City of Massillon has the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) responsibility for the pump stations, drainage structures, pressure conduits, and gate closures. USACE has responsibilities for the earthen levee, floodwalls, instrumentation, control weir, and seepage control features.
Recent high stage and extended intense precipitation events which occurred during the period of January to April 2018 resulted in erosional oversteepening and recession-related launching of stone slope protection along both levee systems.
These erosion issues are USACE’s O&M responsibility. Therefore, the funding for this project is 100% federal, and funded from the O&M appropriation.
In accordance with the provisions of the Flood Control Act of June 22, 1936, the project was authorized as modified by the Flood Control Act of August 28, 1937, and was selected for construction under the provisions of the Flood Control Act of 28 June 1938, Public No. 761, Seventy-fifth Congress, third session.
Due to the progressive nature of the erosion, the stabilization of the East and West Levees were selected for funding in the FY19 Disaster Relief Act (DRA), O&M Emergency Supplemental.