More money needed to complete levee repair

Palm Beach County’s flood fix plan budget runs dry

Three years after Tropical Storm Isaac flooded western Palm Beach County, a levee fix intended to protect nearby neighborhoods remains unfinished.

Now, county officials are asking the Florida Legislature to provide at least $3 million to complete the upgrade of a 6.4-mile span of levee holding back water in the 60,000-acre J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area in Loxahatchee.

Concerns arose during Isaac’s soaking in 2012 that the levee could give way and worsen flooding that had already swamped roads, surrounded homes and closed schools for days in Loxahatchee and the Acreage.

Since then, work to beef up about half of the levee already has cost taxpayers $4 million, but the work remains incomplete.

The Legislature, which meets in January, is being asked to pick up the additional $3 million construction tab.

“There is no money [in the budget] to Phase Two,” said Ken Todd, county water manager.

Isaac’s three-day deluge dropped 18 inches of rain on central and western Palm Beach County. The influx of so much water, so fast, overwhelmed South Florida’s drainage canal system, flooding low-lying areas from neighborhoods west of Boynton Beach to Loxahatchee.

The J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area, located at the north end of Seminole Pratt Whit- do resources