Decorah's levee gets an upgraded rating

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has upgraded its rating of the levee system in Decorah--although it might not sound like it.

City Engineer Lindsay Erdman explains that the Corps uses just three ratings for levee systems: "unacceptable," "minimally acceptable" and "acceptable."  The Decorah levee system had been rated "unacceptable" because the Corps wanted Decorah to do several maintenance projects involving the levees, including cutting down numerous trees in the floodplain.

Erdman says the Corps has now classified Decorah's levee system "minimally acceptable."  "This is good news," says Erdman--although he realizes it might not sound like it.  He says his office also will be contacting the Corps of Engineers to determine what more must be done to improve the rating to "acceptable."