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Federal and Interstate . U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Albuquerque District Office of Emergency Management Levee Inspections: On April 5th and 6th the Floodplain Mapping Coordinator for the Flood Protection Section attended two levee inspections initiated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Albuquerque District Office of Emergency Management. The two levees that were inspected during the two day field inspection were the Colorado levees identified in the Corps published list from the USA Today January 29,2007 article 146 U.S. Levees May Fail in Flood. The identified levees were those associated with the Albuquerque Corps projects along Willow Creek in Creede, Colorado and along the Arkansas River in Granada, Colorado. Since hurricane Katrina FEMA has taken as more strict approach to which levees can show as protecting on FEMA regulated floodplain maps. As a result the communities who sponsor Corps built levees are looking to the Corps for help in the recertification process. As a result the Corps is working with FEMA to develop a levee inventory throughout the nation and categorize each levee within the Provisionally Accredited Levee (PAL) system. . The Corps does not have the funding to recertify every levee that they have constructed within the nation and many levees due to many factors can not be recertified. As a result more in depth inspections are being performed by the Corps to determine whether Corps built levees meet qualifications to stay within their inspection program. The inspections that were performed at the beginning of April consisted of hydraulic assessment and a geotechnical assessment. Within a month of the inspection each community will receive a report that will identify issues that must be addressed within a year in order for the levees to remain within the Corps inspection program. The Corps will also categorize the levee as being acceptable, minimally acceptable or not acceptable as a result of their inspection. Within three months of receiving the findings from the inspections the sponsoring community will have to present a plan for how they will address the findings addressed in the Corps report and present any requests for variances. If the community is unable to adhere to the recommendations provided by the Corps within a year or at the end of any agreed upon time extensions the levee will be taken out of the Corps Rehabilitation and Inspection Program (RIP). Creede's levee is part of a channel drainage improvement project built by the Corps in 1950 before the creation of the initial (Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) which was in 1974 and later converted to a FIRM in 1986, but the levee was never shown as providing protection. The Granada levee is a double levee system built in 1980 and designed to protect the town from flooding caused by its wide expansive floodplain. Both Cree de and Granada are poor communities and it is expected that the Corps will request improvements to both project which are financially unachievable. . 1