Decorah's levees will be inspected by a private engineering firm

The City of Decorah will have to hire a private engineering firm to certify that levees in Decorah are in good shape. 

Annual inspections of the levees have been done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the past, but new federal regulations say this work must be done by an independent engineering firm. 

FEMA has given the City of Decorah two years in which to get the certification done.  If the city doesn't meet that deadline, FEMA would redo the floodplain map for Decorah as if the levees did not exist.