EDITORIAL: Levee legislation plugs maintenance gap

Now that the Little Calumet River levee maintenance plan has passed the Indiana House, the Senate also must agree to this plan. This legislation is needed urgently.

Monday's vote in the House was 84-10, a resounding endorsement of House Bill 1264. It should meet a similar fate in the Senate.

The legislation would require property owners in the Little Calumet River and Burns Waterway watersheds to pay a per-parcel fee starting in 2013 to complete the levee construction and to maintain the levees.

The fee structure is based on the use of each parcel — $45 for residential, $90 for agricultural, $180 for commercial and $360 for industrial or utility.

State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, the author of this legislation, said the bonus for property owners, besides no longer being at risk of flooding, is that once the levees are completed and certified, most can drop flood insurance or will pay less for coverage.

The levees cost hundreds of millions of dollars and took decades to build. They must not be allowed to deteriorate.

The massive flooding in September 2008 remains fresh in the region's memory. It was only recently that the agency put together to help the region recover from that flooding was finally shut down.

There have been other proposals for funding the levee maintenance, including a conservancy district, but the one before the Legislature now seems best suited for the task. It uses the existing Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission — expanding it from five members to nine — to oversee the levees. The commission also must report to the Lake County commissioners each year.

Now that House Bill 1264 has passed the House hurdle, the Senate should approve it quickly.

Don't let the levees fail because of the failure to determine how to pay for upkeep.