COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Officials in western Iowa are worried that $50 million in levee repairs won’t be completed quickly enough to avoid having an area deemed a flood zone, which would require costly insurance coverage. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to remap Council Bluffs’ potential flood zones in 2023.

Mayor Matt Walsh says the city should be able to complete repairs in time. But the Army Corps of Engineers’ lack of funding has slowed down the approval process on the city’s repair plans. Walsh says the Corps hasn’t reviewed and approved any levee-repair projects since last spring. Walsh says that if the project isn’t completed in time and the area is deemed a flood zone, flood insurance costs could triple the cost of mortgages.