IMMEDIATE RESPONSE NEEDED FOR THE REPAIR OF LEVEES

Word last week that the U.S. House of Representatives had approved a measure that would make $50 million available for the repair of flood-damaged river levees that don't qualify for federal aid comes as good news to communities and farmers who have suffered through one of the worst and prolonged floods in recent history.

Although the $50 million the House approved for repairs before it wrapped up the session is a more encouraging figure than the amount the Clinton administration had earlier proposed -- $18 million -- much more will be needed to satisfactorily rebuild the private levees that help protect farming communities and croplands along the Mississippi and Missouri riverbottoms.

Remember that for whatever reason -- pressure from environmental groups, which would like to see the flood plains returned to their natural state, or cost concerns -- the administration did not want to repair any of the 482 non-federal levees that would be eligible for the House-approved funds. Later, in the heat of negotiations for votes in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement, however, the administration suddenly offered up to $150 million to fix many of them, only to announce Nov. 19 that $18 million would be available.

The House, with leadership from Republican Rep. Bill Emerson and Democratic Rep. Pat Danner, both of Missouri, managed to get that figure bumped to the $50 million. The Senate is expected to take up the measure early next year, and a lot of Missourians behind the levees in question will be looking to Republican Sen. Christopher Bond to take the lead in the fight for at least $150 million, which he has vowed to do.

Actually, the effort in Congress to get the $150 million for immediate repairs to the levees wouldn't be necessary if the Corps of Engineers had a way of deciding which levees will be fixed. The money, after all, is in a previous emergency appropriations bill, but it isn't available for levee repair because of the corps' method of deciding which levees get fixed.

Those living and farming behind the levees can't help but worry about next year, when the rivers again could rise. Their levees are broken and weakened, and without immediate repairs, they risk additional flooding at the end of the months between now and spring. Farmers, whose fields are unprotected by the damaged levees, could face another season of flooding. Back-to-back years without the rewards of crops could be devastating to them, not to count the billions of dollars in other damages that possible 1994 floods would cause.

To qualify, the levees must protect critical public infrastructure and have a public sponsor that can put up 25 percent of the rebuilding costs, provide rights-of-way and easements, and dispose of dredge material. Five percent of the matching money must be in cash. The sponsor also must agree to put the levee district into the corps program in the future.

All of the bureaucratic jargon aside, the remedy is simple: The federal government, through its Corps of Engineers, is responsible for getting those damaged levees that qualify for federal repairs up to standard as quickly as possible, at any cost. Those levees are an integral part of the federal levee system that the government itself has created, and they protect the livelihoods, homes and businesses of millions of people.

We hope Sen. Bond is successful in his efforts next year to convince the Senate of the importance of immediate repair of the levees. Anything short of immediate repairs is simply unacceptable.